“It's a wonderful idea. We would have control over what is happening here right now and not be at the mercy of the Snohomish County Council. We need to control growth or we will look exactly like Lynnwood — no trees, no wildlife. Soon we'll reach a breaking point, and there's no going back. That's incredibly scary.”

“The students come here to have hands-on experience in forestry education. The Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Science manages the Dixon Center. Each Auburn forestry student spends one 10-week summer term at the Dixon Center taking basic field forestry coursework prior to their junior year and more advance on campus courses.”

“The successful history of conservation in the Big Woods of Arkansas is a result of great partnerships federal and state agencies working with other organizations, local communities, hunters and landowners. And this addition to the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge is the latest success story - one that will add habitat for waterfowl as well as the ivory-bill and other species that live in these magnificent woods.”

“It's a tradition that continues, and yet we have opposition from groups that think that animals should have equal rights to human beings, and that's probably the biggest threat we have. Other than that, I think there is general acceptance that we need to have wildlife, we need to have outdoor recreation of all kinds.”

I don't mean to defend zoos. Close them all down if you want (and let us hope that what wildlife remains can survive in what is left of the natural world). I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusion about freedom plague them both.

I'm not into animal rights. I'm only into animal welfare and health. I've been with the Morris Animal Foundation since the '70s. We're a health organization. We fund campaign health studies for dogs, cats, lizards and wildlife. I've worked with the L.A. Zoo for about the same length of time. I get my animal fixes!

I'd come to the country to do my Thoreau bit, so I needed an office that looked out onto the woods for inspiration. I converted one of the bedrooms into my workspace and through its windows watched the wildlife appear each morning with the sunrise. Many were the days I would sit in wonder, coffee in hand, for hours.

“As a kid, I loved being surrounded by mountains, creeks and animals, and volunteering with my mom on initiatives to help protect the environment. Being part of this contest is one important way I can help ensure we all get to experience the beauty and wonder of wildlife, such as the bald eagle, that enrich all our lives and make us proud to be Americans.”

You think back and you ask yourself why you became so interested in wolves. I think it was because when I was very small, growing up in a little hamlet near Shap, we would go to Lowther Wildlife Park for birthday parties. Now closed, it was only three miles from my parents' house.

I've often been asked what drives me, particularly through the last 50 years of abuse, and ridicule. What has kept me going is one word - care. I care enough about the land, the wildlife, people, the future of humanity. If you care enough, you will do whatever you have to do, no matter what the opposition.