By Stephanie Taylor, Wildlife Intern
“Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of the wolf.”
- Aldo Leopold
Greetings! My name is Stephanie Taylor and I’m Oregon Wild’s Wildlife Intern in the Portland Office. I’m currently a Senior at the Evergreen State College in Washington, majoring in Environmental Science and Wildlife Conservation. When I’m not working in the office, I’m out adventuring in the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest or volunteering for a variety of community-based organizations. My hobbies include hiking, traveling, tree climbing, rock climbing, canyoneering, white water rafting, and practicing wilderness medicine.
I’m a spawn of Southeastern Idaho (cattle country), and have lived in Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. I found home in the Pacific Northwest 13 years ago, and fell absolutely in love with the Cascadian watersheds, snow-peaked mountains, and old-growth forests creating habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. We truly live in one of the most breathtaking regions in the US, many thanks to the organizations and community activists who fought to protect it!
My passion has always been critters of the landscape, protecting their habitat, and the science of the surrounding ecosystems. I have a deep appreciation for wildlife, wilderness, and all that is wild. With my work at Oregon Wild, I will be focusing largely on wolf protections in Oregon. This year is a critical point for the future of wolves in Oregon because the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wolf Management Plan is under revision. Thanks in large part to the management plan, wolves have made positive steps toward recovery in our state -- you may have heard the good news about the newly established Rogue pack in Southwest Oregon -- but ODFW may revoke state protection status for wolves, which would be detrimental to the recovery process.
What we need is a large, unified, statewide voice demanding that Oregon continue to lead the recovery initiative for wolves and other endangered species. My efforts will concentrate on monitoring the revision of the Wolf Management Plan, organizing educational events, interpreting scientific data, and providing community outreach to youth and college students. I look forward to participating in Oregon Wild’s Annual Wolf Rendezvous in Eastern Oregon this summer, and I especially look forward to meeting the numerous Oregon Wild members and supporters at our events!
