In his new book, Chadwick takes us The Wolverine Way

Glutton, demon of destruction, symbol of slaughter, mightiest of wilderness villains...the wolverine comes marked with a reputation based on myth and fancy. Yet this enigmatic animal is more complex than the legends that surround it. With a shrinking wilderness and global warming, the future of the wolverine is uncertain. Engagingly told by Douglas Chadwick who volunteered with the Glacier Wolverine Project ,The Wolverine Way reveals the natural history of this species and the forces that threaten its future.

The five-year study in Glacier National Park, complete with blizzards, grizzlies, sheer mountain walls, and other daily challenges to survival, uncovered key missing information about the wolverine’s habitat, social structure and reproduction habits. Wolverines, according to Chadwick, are the land equivalent of polar bears in regard to the impacts of global warming. 

To purchase this Patagonia published book,click here.  Also, to learn more about Doug and his wolverine experience, check out this video:  www.YouTube.com/watch?v=S7Bkh-P54ws.

The author and (a sedated) Mr. Badass Himself -- the male M3, conqueror of Mt. Cleveland, the tallest mountain in Glacier Park. He climbed the last 4,900 vertical feet up one of the steepest, most formidable rock faces in midwinter, when it was buried in ice and snow. It took him 90 minutes. Gotta be an all-time record. Then he went on up into British Columbia, crossed into Alberta and down through Waterton Lakes National Park into the northeastern corner of Glacier, covering several hundred square miles along the crown of the continent in about one week. He is the Ghengis Khan of gulos, ruling an ever-expanding international territory. (Rick Yates Photo)

A wildlife biologist who studied mountain goats and grizzlies in the Rockies, elephants in Africa and whales in the world’s oceans, Doug Chadwick began writing about natural history and conservation for national magazines. On assignments from Siberia to the Congo River’s headwaters, he has produced several hundred popular articles and ten books. He is also the vice chair of the board of Vital Ground, a nonprofit land trust that has helped safeguard more than 600,000 acres of wildlife habitat in Alaska, Canada, and the western US. He lives with his wife Karen Reeves in Whitefish, Montana.

Doug is a long-time supporter of Wildlands Network and Wildways, large landscape corridors for wildlife.  We are honored to be mentioned in his book along with our partners and a hefty argument for connectivity.

Rick Yates, field coordinator for the Glacier Wolverine Project, taking a sedated M3 out of a trap while the author (mostly obscured by branches), looks on. If we didn't get to one of these traps made of thick logs within 6-8 hours, the wolverine would have chewed and clawed -- exploded -- its way out and be running free through the mountains. Tough customers. There's wild, and then there's wolverine.