Denali’s Wolves

Argumentative essay

12/15/2004

Denali's Wolves

For many years my family and I have traveled around the country to visit our national parks and view the wildlife they protect. I've been from Hawaii to Maine to the Virgin Islands. My favorite memories as a child are those of camping with my family in these national parks. One of the few parks I have not had the pleasure of visiting is Denali National Park in Alaska. Last year while reading a magazine, I learned of something that troubled me very much. There was an article about wolves and how you can see them living in their natural habitat just by driving through the park. After reading this article, I wanted to visit Denali and see these amazing creatures, but these wolves are being slowly eradicated. Our national parks are supposed to protect wildlife, and preserve a small portion of land for our children. If we allow these wolves to decay into history we will be disrupting a fragile ecosystem and disappointing future generations. If enough people support the outright protection of these creatures we will be able to share their beauty with the world forever.

Our society has adopted a belief that no one person can make a difference. Americans see negative things happing in our country and hope that someone will make changes, but are afraid of taking action themselves. This kind of thinking is called deindividuation. Deindividuation into a group results in a loss of individual identity and a gaining of the social identity of the group. The three most important factors for deindividuation in a group of people are: Anonymity, so I can not be found out. Diffused responsibility, so I am not responsible for my actions. Group size, as a larger group increases the above two factors (Deindividuation). Our society has made anonymity, and diffused responsibility part of our everyday lives. If you choose not to help conserve the wolves of Denali you won't be discovered or persecuted, you can go on living your life. Anonymity is something we need to make it through the day or we would be bothered by everyone with a different request. Diffused responsibility is where we can find most of our society's problems. There is always that voice in the back of our heads telling us that someone else feels the same way we do and is going to do something about it. We rationalize with ourselves and put the blame on society. When we feel in our core that something must be done but brush the responsibility onto society's shoulders we are lying to ourselves.

Denali National Park is home to the majority of our nation's and the world's most frequently viewed wolf population. This summer alone 30,000 tourists experienced these wolves without even leaving their vehicles. Denali is Alaska's number one tourist attraction, and covers more than 6 million acres. It began as Mt. McKinley National Park