The Sierra Club El Paso Group will launch a new Return of the Wolf to Texas Education Initiative with a lecture by Rick LoBello at the Rubin Center on the UTEP campus on March 18, 2015, at 6pm. The free program is open to the public and is part of the Citizen Culture: Artists and Architects Shape Policy event at the center from Feb 5-April 25.
Prior to the war against the wolf that started in the 1800s and ended around the middle of the last century; wolves once roamed a large area of West Texas including the Davis Mountains region and the area now called Big Bend National Park. LoBello states in a recent article he wrote for the Rio Grande Sierran newsletter “that for the sake of wilderness and the future of humanity the wolf should be given the chance to reclaim its rightful role in the Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem.”
LoBello is the Education Curator at the El Paso Zoo and serves on the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club in El Paso. He has dedicated his life to conservation education. After working and living in national parks as a park ranger, researcher and administrator, Rick developed a vision for his life that would enable him to promote the conservation of wildlife habitats and endangered species. At the Zoo he oversees all education programs including informal and formal programs for the general public and schools; conservation programs, animal information for graphics and other media outlets including the website; conservation partnerships and overall support for public relations and marketing efforts. He serves on a number of local environmental group boards including Senator Rodriquez’s Environmental Advisory Committee. In 2009 he authored a book for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International entitled: Guide to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park: Home to Critically Endangered Mountain Gorillas.
Featured photo by Hollingsworth John and Karen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service