Category Archives: Transhuman News

[SHI YU/CHINA DAILY]

When French journalist Alain Peyrefitte's book When China Awakes, the World Will Tremble was published in 1973, China was a backward country. Its annual per capita income was only $132, which ranked 114th in the world.

Peyrefitte's book title was a reference to a remark by Napoleon Bonaparte, who in 1816 said, "Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world." And in 2019, China clearly had awakened, although its per capita income was $10,262, ranking 68th in the world, and its GDP was $14.342 trillion, second only to that of the United States. And China's GDP is expected to surpass that of the US in 2028, not 2033 as previously estimated.

The people of Asia, of developing countries around the world, welcome the rise of China. They have benefited from China's rise and have every reason to emulate the Chinese experience. China was able to break the yoke of colonialism and escape poverty and backwardness. It has developed advanced technologies and academic, economic and administrative institutions, some of which are leading the world. China's path to development is inspirational to other developing countries.

China's revitalization does not rely on colonizing or plundering other countries, and neither does China seek to impose its own development model, culture, institutions or standards on others.

Fundamentally speaking, China's rejuvenation comes from the hard work and solidarity of its people. It has followed a balanced path, drawing strength from both its own traditional philosophies and the experiences of other countries, especially those of the West. According to an IMF World Economic Outlook report, China's outbound investment in 2019 accounted for 1.09 percent of its GDP, compared with zero in 1993. If China can come this far, feeding and educating one-fifth of the world's population, why cannot other countries follow in its footsteps?

The Renaissance used to be a beacon of inspiration for people who tried to learn from the West. However, after the Renaissance, the West inflicted racism, colonialism, imperialism and Western superiority on the world. The Western powers invaded, occupied, plundered and exploited other nations in the colonial era and have imposed embargoes, sanctions, suppression and discrimination in the post-colonial era.

They also have destroyed other countries' historical traditions, divided societies and hampered their development paths. By using the scheme of divide and rule and disputed border demarcations, they have even plunged some former colonies into protracted civil wars. As a result, the world has been divided into two parts: the modern developed world of the North, and the poor and backward countries of the South.

In its fight against imperialism, colonialism and for national independence, based on its actual situation, China adopted the strategy of "encircling the cities from the countryside" and achieved national liberation. In its pursuit of development, China did not destroy all the old traditions, nor did it Westernize completely. Instead, it has consciously combined Confucianism with scientific socialism. Through trials and tribulations, China has blazed a development path different from that of the West. The country has mobilized its people to develop infrastructure and pillar industries, creating a transportation network that effectively connects its vast land. China has chosen the path most suited to its national conditions and leveraged its labor resources. It has promoted development and fair competition, rather than coercion and conquest.

The path to a new world order is synergy, integration and competition, not hegemony.

To build a new world order the East and the West must be integrated. Any form of hegemony, control or imposed values is simply a dead end. The world order is not about a single political ideology or religious belief, be it communism or capitalism, Islam, Christianity or Judaism. It should respect all systems and religions, enable dialogue, set fair standards, give voices to all parties, and put all nations and peoples on an equal footing. It should be fair and transparent, not manipulated by a clique of nations, secretly or semi-secretly in the name of the "international community". In some areas, the so-called international community now represents only the interests of a handful of countries and blocs, which want to control money, power and the key sectors. They have weaponized the media, the internet and banks, and use military operations and intelligence to suppress and control other countries. The way they handle international affairs lacks transparency, which often runs counter to the interests of humankind.

Like citizens of a nation, regardless of their wealth, all countries of the world are entitled to their rights and have obligations to shoulder. There should not be "second-class" citizens or nations. There is no such thing as a perfect nation with absolutely good governance, nor a completely rogue and terrorist nation. If a country is flirting with the idea of invading another country or actually taking actions, the international community should be able to define such aggression and show a united front based on internationally accepted standards.

The absence of universally accepted criteria to define concepts such as aggression, terror, injustice, freedom and slavery, should never be excuses for certain countries to take matters into their own hands, in the name of the international community, and deprive other countries of their legitimate rights. Those that do so are the power-hungry countries that have a history of colonizing, invading and isolating other countries. They have not cast off their colonial mentalities and dream of going back to their old ways. The occupiers of the Palestinian territory and their supporters are a telling example.

The United Nations has condemned colonialism and the deprivation of others' rights. Chapter XI of the UN Charter and a raft of UN resolutions have stated the importance of independence of former colonies, emphasized the self-government of their peoples, and condemned racism, colonialism, terrorism, and the transatlantic slave trade. The UN, which regarded colonization as a crime against humanity, has pledged to eliminate all forms of colonialism, demanding reparations be paid to former colonies.

Belt and Road Initiative a return to equality and fair competition

Detouring from the ancient trans-Eurasian Silk Road, Europeans went on maritime expeditions to seek new trade routes that ushered in an age of geographical discovery. A case in point, Christopher Columbus's voyage was intended to pioneer a new sea route to bring spices from India. The European maritime discoveries confirmed the Earth is round and discovered new continents, contributing to the development of human society and civilization.

However, the fruits of these geographic discoveries and the scientific achievements of the Enlightenment have been used by the West to pursue colonialism on a scale rarely seen in human history. We must be aware that any achievement of the West has come at the cost of the great suffering of people in other countries and regions and its colonialism is the reason why the world is divided between the North and the South, the West and the East, the developed and the developing countries.

Moreover, over the past several centuries, although the West has led an improvement in human capacity, the world's ecosystems and the environment have paid a hefty price for that. Specifically, it has disrupted the balance between the material world and the spiritual life, between individuals and collectives, and between humans and nature. It has broken the bonds between different continents and regions, and advocated a barbaric life philosophy centered on egoism, hedonism and mercantilism.

The Belt and Road Initiative, a revival of the ancient Silk Road, aims to restore the balances that have been lost. The term, Silk Road was coined in 1877 by the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen to describe the ancient network of trade routes connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. Before he used the word, this extensive trade network had existed for hundreds of years, when the East and Asia were the unrivalled center of the world economy, science, governance and religion. However, with the rise of Western colonialism, the centrality of Asia declined. The Silk Road used to be the logistical, cultural and social networks of ancient times, enabling cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts between countries, but it was torn apart by Western colonialism.

Some countries find the rise of China and the revival of the Silk Road quite upsetting because they fear a return to equality and fair competition and a rejection of discrimination, arrogance and unfair development. Turning to the East does not mean abandoning the West but letting the East and the West play to their respective strengths. It breaks away from countries bolstering themselves at the expense of others, from enriching themselves at the cost of impoverishing others, from moving ahead at the price of dragging others down, and from forcing others to accept their rules and values.

Reviving the ancient Silk Road responds to the fundamental needs of people all over the world. In ancient times, countries vied to go to the Middle Kingdom, now China is embracing the countries of the world. In either direction, the engagement is mutually beneficial, but some Western countries are trying to distort this fact. The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is of great significance for China and for the revitalization of the East, Asia, the West and the world.

As of Jan 30, China had signed 205 agreements with 140 countries and 31 international organizations under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Essentially, the ancient Silk Road provides a gateway for the world to explore and understand China, opening a door for a deeper understanding of the mysterious Chinese civilization, especially its silk-making technique. Trade between the East and the West was an important vehicle in the renaissance of the East and Asia. The Silk Road helped with the exchanges of the goods and the spread of culture, religion, customs, experience and social values. After centuries of unbalanced and unfair colonial rule, the Belt and Road Initiative, which is the new Silk Road, will be an effective path to restore balance and fairness.

Just like the Silk Road was needed in the old days, our era calls for the Belt and Road Initiative. The Silk Road connected people and civilizations for hundreds of years, and the Belt and Road Initiative will too. The initiative heralds the return of Asia and Africa. Indeed, it is a path to rejuvenation for all nations. It aims to promote exchanges and mutual understanding, not to destroy other civilizations or steal their wealth.

A rising China inspires all developing countries

The developing countries do not find China's rise unnerving, because China has proved to be a loyal friend. It has offered unwavering support in different historical periods, during the struggles for national liberation, the pursuit of development, and the efforts to protect values and traditions. China respects the sovereignty, traditions and values of other countries, which is a far cry from the Western countries that hard-sell their own systems, development models and values. The Communist Party of China is one of a kind, because it has no intention to export China's models and has great respect for other countries' choice of development path according to their national conditions, for there is no one-size-fits-all solution to realize national development.

From being semi-colonial and semi-feudal, China has achieved national independence and liberation by mobilizing the people and adopting the strategy of encircling cities from the countryside. Since it initiated its reform and opening-up in late 1970s, it has been committed to building a socialist market economy, keeping public ownership as the mainstay and allowing multiple forms of ownership to develop. It has given full play to market forces and leveraged both domestic and international markets, reaching a new level of development.

The model of the Soviet Union strangled competition by putting quantity before quality, state demands before the demands of the people, and central government before local government. Following the laws of the market, China has been working on satisfying consumer demands. Thanks to its market-based policies and production standards, made-in-China goods are very competitive, some of outshine Western products in terms of both quality and cost.

As a result, to dent China's growing influence and exports, the West has resorted to demonization and trade protectionism. The model of China has proven to have real and powerful strength to reinvent itself, sustain its development and help the world. The Western countries have reached an advanced stage characterized by better social welfare and the protection of civil rights; however, they did not get there overnight, and they must maintain long-term unity and stability to build up their strength and resolve their social conflicts.

History has proved and will prove again that if a country's national strength wanes, then both its capacity to cope with social conflicts and the scope of its people's freedom will shrink, whether it is a socialist nation or a capitalist nation.

China helps the developing countries formulate development plans and supports them in their defense of sovereignty and pursuit of national liberation and independence. Directly or indirectly, it has helped developing countries improve the living and working conditions of low-income groups by providing them with high-quality yet inexpensive goods.

For instance, as far as Iraq is concerned, China has been a loyal friend. It respects our sovereignty and our choices, and it has never imposed its own development model, values or policies on us as other countries did. It does need energy, but it has cooperated with us in good faith. Back in 2008 and 2009, while other foreign oil companies were hesitant to do business in Iraq, China National Petroleum Corporation signed cooperation agreements with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, which ushered in China-Iraq cooperation. Because of China's help, the capacity and exports of the Iraqi oil industry have jumped respectively from being the world's eighth and 10th to be fourth and third in the world.

At this moment, Iraq ranks second among the OPEC countries for both oil exports and production capacity. Chinese companies are critical for the Iraqi oil industry, for it has introduced a lot of know-how and experiences to Iraq through personnel exchanges.

The Belt and Road Initiative offers a strong framework for cooperation, and the oil contracts with China have provided impetus for Iraq's recovery, financing many large projects and providing financial, technological, institutional and legal tools for sustainable economic, political, security and social development. The booming cooperation with China has declared Iraq's departure from being a rentier state that is rife with corruption and unfinished projects. Now Iraq's fiscal revenue is no longer subject to the fluctuations in the international oil market.

Sowing the seeds of fear is ultimately self-defeating

China is another target of Western demonization. The victims are numerous, as any country refusing to take orders from the West and pioneering its own path of socioeconomic development is always demonized by the West. When it comes to punishing these "unruly" countries, the West tends to be rather arbitrary. Imposing harsh sanctions or showing some lenience is based entirely on its own calculation: how much money they have lost and how defiant the other party is.

Since the Donald Trump administration took a series of unilateralist moves, the US and China became more estranged. The Western media have demonized China on full throttle. At the beginning of the millennium, over 60 percent of the people in the West had a positive view of China. However, the poll result would be quite different now, partly because the West has kept painting China in a bad light.

In the past, Western countries, especially the US, benefited from their investment in China, and their multinational companies achieved innovation and business success in China. As it started to claim an increasingly larger share of global trade and investment, establish its own telecommunications, trade and industrial systems, and make breakthroughs in high-tech fields (for instance, its moon and Mars probes), China has enjoyed more political clout in the region and even the world at large. The shift in dynamics has provoked the West to demonize China and peddle the so-called China threat theory.

There is talk about China overtaking the US, the East defeating the West, and the failure of the West. Some people are simply sharing how they interpret the situation as they see it, but some are sowing the seeds of fear.

The truth is that no one is trying to defeat the West. It is self-defeating for anyone to destroy the West, and it is equally self-defeating for anyone to destroy the East. The West is still strong, with great innovation capacities. Of course, colonization, aggression and racial discrimination have been defeated or will be defeated. This is not discrimination against the West, but a universal norm applied to the world.

External forces have neither the will nor the ability to defeat the West; the West can only be defeated by itself.

If the West continues to cling to its failures, insists on seeking a tangible or intangible hegemony, sacrificing the interests of most countries for the interests of a few, adopting double standards and playing geopolitical games, it will meet its own demise.

More and more people have come to realize that destructive conflicts are not in the interests of humanity, and that mutual cooperation and acceptance are in the interests of all peoples. This is the general trend. The West has made indelible contributions to human development, but if it fails to reflect on its own history, experience, and relations with other countries, if it refuses to reposition itself in the world, it will lose its great legacy and the trust of the whole world. I am heartened to see many leaders, social activists and young people in the West share my view.

In the future, all the nations will regain their right to equal development. They will be free from plunder, sanctions and oppression, violence, terrorism and extremism. The oppressors will be defeated by themselves. Regardless of where the oppression comes from, the oppressed will rise up and claim the final victory.

The author is former prime minister of Iraq. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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China's rejuvenation comes from the hard work and solidarity of its people - Chinadaily USA

As the second-largest state in the U.S., Texas covers an extraordinary amount of the geographical area in the U.S. Measuring

As the second-largest state in the U.S., Texas covers an extraordinary amount of the geographical area in the U.S. Measuring approximately 268,597 square miles, Texas can fit 15 of the smallest states in its boundaries. Because of the size of the state, its often said that everything is bigger in Texas and it certainly rings true. Texas is home to three of the 10 largest cities in the country: Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. Not only that, but Austin claims the title of being the Live Music Capital of the World. The dining scene across Texas is also pretty robust thanks to the states signature barbecue and Tex-Mex cuisine. Plus, with plenty of sun-drenched beaches, wilderness landscapes and Texan-sized festivals at visitors fingertips, theres truly something for everyone in Texas. Read on to learn more about all of the fun things to do in Texas. (Note: Some tours and excursions may be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. New policies may be in place, including capacity restrictions, mask mandates and parking reservation requirements. Check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of State and local tourism boards before traveling.)

Dallas

If its your first time visiting Dallas, you might want to begin exploring this vibrant and culturally rich city in the downtown area, one of 13 distinct neighborhoods across the city. Downtown is where youll find several top attractions, including the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. This museum is dedicated to the legacy of President John F. Kennedy, and the exhibits, photos and films on display document his life and the day of his assassination. Downtown is also home to urban green spaces, the Dallas World Aquarium and the Reunion Tower GeO-Deck. Known as one of the citys most iconic structures, the Reunion Tower GeO-deck takes visitors on a ride to the top of its tower for panoramic views of the city from 470 feet in the sky. For accommodations, make reservations at The Adolphus Hotel, a historic luxury property that receives top marks from travelers and is home to a spa, multiple dining options and bars, and a rooftop pool. And when youre ready to head out on the town, make your way north to the Uptown neighborhood. This area is known for its variety of dining venues, trendy boutiques and lively nightlife.

[See more of Dallas: Things to Do | Tours | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden

This 66-acre urban oasis located in the Lake & Garden District in East Dallas is home to 11 display gardens that boast color year-round, three outdoor dining terraces and the Indoor Tea Room at Restaurant DeGoyler, which is open to visitors 13 years and older. After exploring the gardens, the picturesque setting along White Rock Lake is perfect for an afternoon stroll or a relaxing picnic. If youre traveling with kids, previous families highly recommended checking out the fun and educational activities at the Rory Meyers Childrens Adventure Garden for a nominal fee. You can also watch cooking demonstrations and take cooking classes at A Tasteful Place, a 3.5-acre garden, kitchen and pavilion focused on growing and preparing local, sustainable food. If you visit in the spring, dont miss Dallas Blooms Spring. The colorful six-week celebration includes as many as 500,000 tulips, Easter events, live music and entertainment, wine and beer pairings, childrens activities and more. For an extended stay, make reservations at a nearby Airbnb, such as The Loft@White Rock Urban Homestead.

Houston

The states largest city is emerging as a top travel destination thanks to major sporting events, outdoor adventure activities, world-class museums and a diverse culinary scene. With so much to see and do in the Bayou City, plan to spend several days here and splurge on a stay at one of Houstons renowned luxury properties. Two traveler-approved options are The Lancaster Hotel in the Theater District and The Post Oak Hotel in the posh Uptown and Galleria area. While in town, catch a Houston Texans (football), Houston Rockets (basketball) or Houston Astros (baseball) game. You can also take in a play or the ballet in the Theater District, spend an evening at the Houston Symphony, or take advantage of the citys many nightlife options. Houston is known for its Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine, so be sure to grab lunch or dinner at one of the citys notable restaurants such as Oaxacan-inspired Xochi in downtown. For a casual evening, head to The Original Ninfas on Navigation, one of the citys legendary Mexican restaurants.

[See more of Houston: Things to Do | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Space Center Houston

Fans of space exploration, and budding young astronauts, will want to visit Space Center Houston. Youll need to allow at least one day to see the exhibits and attractions, such as Starship Gallery, which features flown spacecraft from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras. You can also view an extensive collection of spacesuits, step inside a replica of the shuttle Independence and listen to mission updates in the Mission Briefing Center. Dont miss one of the highlights, the NASA Tram Tour. This experience offers a behind-the-scenes visit to the working hub of the NASA Johnson Space Center. It also includes a visit to Rocket Park, where youll see one of the three remaining Saturn V rockets that took astronauts to the moon. For a real treat, reserve a spot to have breakfast with an astronaut, offered on select Fridays and Saturdays. You can also book the Level 9 Tour, a four- to five-hour guided VIP excursion that covers all things space exploration and includes a second-day ticket to explore on your own. Several hotels are conveniently located near the space center, including the Courtyard Houston NASA/Clear Lake.

Houston Museum District

The Houston Museum District encompasses approximately 9 square miles, has four walkable zones and is home to a remarkable 19 museums. Visitors to the city can delve into everything from history to fine and contemporary arts or culture highlighting Houstons diverse population. Kids will appreciate the 90,000 square feet of interactive exhibits and fun at the Childrens Museum Houston. The Houston Museum of Natural Science features a planetarium where you can explore the universe, realize the vastness of space or watch a light and sound show to Pink Floyds The Dark Side of the Moon. You can also have an interactive health experience, watch an educational movie in 4D and get a close look at how the human body works at The Health Museum. If youre planning to take in several or all of the citys museums, reserve accommodations in the heart of the Museum District at Hotel ZaZa Houston. This unique boutique hotel features themed suites with names like For Your Eyes Only and Houston We Have a Problem. The property receives rave reviews and also has beautiful standard rooms and suites, or you can stay in one of the posh pool bungalows or villas.

Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District

Experience a slice of life in the Old West, learn about cowboy legends at the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and watch the worlds only twice daily longhorn cattle drive at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. After the cattle drive, theres plenty more to do around the stockyards. Dont miss the re-enactment gunfights every Saturday and Sunday after the drives in Stockyard Station. You can also go on a horseback ride with city views or sit back and relax during a horse-drawn stagecoach ride. Friday and Saturday evenings, catch the nonstop action at a championship rodeo at Cowtown Coliseum. After the big event, stop in for a cold brew, and listen to live music or go dancing at one of the districts bars or honky tonks, like Lil Reds Longhorn Saloon or The Cantina Cadillac. Or, if youre not afraid of the dark, check out some of the best-known paranormal activity in the U.S. during a nighttime 90-minute walking ghost tour. Plan to stay in town several days, and close to the fun, while enjoying Texas-style hospitality at the historic Stockyards Hotel.

[See: Americas 15 Coolest Ghost Towns to Visit.]

San Antonio

The Mission Citys rich history dates back to 1718 with the establishment of the first of five Spanish Missions along the San Antonio River. In 2015, The World Heritage Committee recognized the five mission complexes as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. San Antonio is also home to the citys vibrant River Walk, another not-to-be-missed top attraction according to past visitors. This 15-mile urban waterway in the heart of downtown, is an excellent way to explore the city on foot, by bicycle or on a GO RIO river barge, which offers a narrated history of the city and River Walk. Along the way, wander through the historic King William Cultural Arts District and Southtown Arts District to see the museums, boutiques, parks, micro-distilleries, coffee shops and more. Make reservations to stay at the waterfront Hotel Emma, which used to be a brewhouse during the 19th century.

[See more of San Antonio: Things to Do | Tours | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Explore The Alamo

Built as Mission San Antonio de Valeros chapel in 1718, and renamed The Alamo in the early 1800s, this Shrine of Texas Liberty has a long and colorful history. Occupied by five independent nations and serving as the stronghold for five different armies, the former mission is probably best known for the 1836 Battle of The Alamo. As part of the Texas Revolution, this battle earned Texas independence from Mexico, becoming a self-governing republic. The U.S. annexed Texas as the 28th state on Dec. 29, 1845. Today, guests can book a history talk, take a self-guided audio tour or schedule a guided tour to see the highlights of the renowned mission. Top attractions include the church, which is free to visit independently, with a timed ticket. Other top-recommended stops are the living history encampment, which features hands-on demonstrations showcasing what life was like in the 1830s under Mexican rule, and the exhibit hall with its extensive collection of artifacts and historical documents. For an extended stay in town within walking distance of the historic site, plan to stay at Mokara Hotel & Spa, located on the citys acclaimed River Walk.

Enjoy an excursion to the Natural Bridge Caverns

Discovered by four college students in 1960, this underground labyrinth of passageways and unearthly formations in San Antonio is one of Texas largest show caves. Descend 180 feet down into the caverns via the hourlong Discovery Tour, which allows visitors to admire stalagmites, flowstones, chandeliers and other formations. For the more adventurous that dont mind getting a little dirty, book the three-hour Adventure Tour. This excursion includes getting decked out in caving gear, crawling on your stomach through cavern rooms and climbing a steep 20-foot hill. When youre ready for fun above the ground, head over to the Twisted Trails Zip Rails & Ropes Course, or try to find your way out of the 5,000-square-foot maze. Natural Bridge Caverns also offer a limited summertime afternoon combination excursion with the Discovery Tour where you can see the largest bat colony in the world take flight at nearby Bracken Cave. For an extended stay, make reservations at the nearby JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, located about 2 miles from the caverns.

Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country boasts scenic landscapes replete with rolling hills, grasslands, rivers, lakes, charming small towns and fields covered in vibrant varieties of wildflowers, such as bluebonnets, buttercups and Indian paintbrushes. There are also over 50 wineries to explore, each with its own terroir and unique approach to winemaking. For a longer getaway, take a road trip through the region beginning 32 miles northeast of San Antonio in New Braunfels, looping around clockwise and ending in Austin. Along the way, stop in Utopia, where you can book an overnight stay high atop the trees in a magical treehouse at Treehouse Utopia. Then, head about 80 miles northeast to historic Fredericksburg. Founded by German immigrants in 1846, this small town retains its unique heritage with German architecture, and exhibits and demonstrations at the Pioneer Museum. Youll even find German cuisine at several local restaurants and biergartens, and theres an annual Oktoberfest in the fall. For overnight accommodations in Fredericksburg, splurge on a suite at the Hoffman Haus, a luxury bed-and-breakfast previous visitors loved.

[See: The Top Texas Wineries to Visit.]

New Braunfels

Situated between San Antonio and Austin, New Braunfels is another Texas Hill Country town that celebrates its German heritage. Stroll through the historic downtown brimming with cafes, coffee shops, boutiques, museums and more. Theres also a beautiful green space, Landa Park, just a short distance away. Additionally, the town hosts many festivals, parades and street fairs throughout the year, including the annual Wurstfest. The German-inspired festivities are held in early November along the Comal River and feature Bavarian-style foods, German and Texas beer, and live music. To learn more about the German history of New Braunfels, be sure to visit the Gruene Historic District. For even more fun, especially if youre traveling with kids, plan to stay at The Resorts at Schlitterbahn. This entertainment and lodging complex offers a wide variety of accommodations, including resort rooms, riverside lofts and luxurious Treehaus Suites. Once youre settled in, head out on the property to take a refreshing ride on water slides, chutes and miles of rivers.

Take the family to Moody Gardens

This multifaceted nonprofit tourist destination began as a hippotherapy facility for individuals with head injuries in the mid-1980s. Today, after a vision as big as Texas and many new projects over the years, Moody Gardens in Galveston is one of the top leisure and educational facilities in the Southwest. Highlights here include the Rainforest and Aquarium Pyramids; a Discovery Museum; the MG 3D Theater, which boasts the biggest screen in Texas; and a 4D Special FX Theater. You can also take a ride on the 1800s-style Colonel Paddlewheel Boat, relax along the white sandy shores of Palm Beach or zip across the property 60 feet in the air for incredible views of the pyramids and tropical gardens. You can even hit the links for a round of golf or take time to relax back at the Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa and Convention Center. If youre visiting in the winter, be sure to check out the Festival of Lights, the largest holiday light spectacle of its kind on the Gulf Coast.

[See more of Galveston: Things to Do | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Austin

As the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin is known for its eclectic neighborhoods and entertainment districts featuring more than 250 live music venues. The city is also the capital of Texas, so theres plenty more to explore, including art museums and galleries as well as the State Capitol. The landmark granite Capitol building opened in 1888 and boasts a beautiful 218-foot rotunda. Free guided and self-guided tours are available daily of the Capitol and grounds, and come highly recommended by previous visitors. Be sure to check out another Texas Historic Landmark, Mount Bonnell at Covert Park. This popular tourist destination since 1850s features a vantage point overlooking the Colorado River, affording some of the best views of the city. While in town, plan to stay at The Driskill hotel, which is conveniently located near many of Austins top entertainment and nightlife spots.

[See more of Austin: Things to Do | Tours | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

South Padre Island

Situated off the southern tip of Texas on Laguna Madre Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, this barrier island is the only tropical island in the state. Perfect for a romantic getaway or a family vacation, South Padre Island boasts more than 300 days of sunshine, 34 miles of white sand beaches and emerald-tinted waters. Top attractions include a visit to Sea Turtle, Inc., a rehabilitation facility for sea turtles that focuses on education and conservation. You can also book a lesson with a master sand sculptor to create your own masterpiece while visiting the Sandcastle Capital of the World. And when it comes to sunsets, previous visitors and locals say the views here are hard to beat, so head out to one of the islands bayfront bars or restaurants for that perfect Instagram shot. For accommodations, book a room with a view at the Isla Grand Beach Resort.

[See more of South Padre Island: Things to Do | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Admire art at Cadillac Ranch

This quirky art installation, dating back to 1974, features 10 Cadillacs buried nose-down in an empty and dusty field off of iconic Route 66 and I-40, approximately 10 miles southwest of Amarillo. A group of art hippies from San Francisco, known as The Ant Farm, created the offbeat installation silently funded by the eccentric billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. His goal was to baffle the local residents with a public art display. The Ant Farm responded to his wishes with the creation of this bewildering memorial to the Cadillacs tail fin evolution from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Cadillac de Ville. Over the years, the cars have been defaced, stripped and splashed with DayGlo paint and graffiti, but it still remains one of the most popular roadside attractions for travelers visiting Texas from around the world. If youre headed into Amarillo after your visit to Cadillac Ranch to see a little more of the Texas Panhandle, plan to stay at The Barfield, Autograph Collection. Located in the historic Barfield building, this boutique hotel is an excellent choice for accommodations in downtown.

[See: 13 Unusual Roadside Attractions Across America.]

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Situated 110 miles east of El Paso in West Texas, this rugged wilderness landscape covers more than 76,000 acres and boasts the four highest peaks in Texas. The park is a hikers paradise with 80 miles of trails, ranging from easy to strenuous with steep and rocky climbs. The 8.5-mile trail to the Top of Texas is difficult and takes about six to eight hours round trip to complete. But once you reach the pinnacle, youre rewarded with unforgettable views of the mountains and desert from atop Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet above sea level. Other highlights include McKittrick Canyon, especially during fall foliage season, the 2,000-acre Salt Basin Dunes and the Frijole Ranch Museum, which documents the areas settlements from the early Native Americans to ranchers in the 1900s. For overnight stays under the starry skies, pack up the tent and reserve a spot at Pine Springs or Dog Canyon campgrounds. Its important to know that there are no paved roads, no gas or supplies for 35 miles and very few amenities in this remote park.

Enjoy history and adventure at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site

Established by a group of Caddo Indians, this village in Alto (about 150 miles southeast of Dallas) dates back more than 1,200 years. Located in the Piney Woods region in East Texas, the village was the southernmost location for the Mississippi Mound Builder Culture. Three of these ceremonial mounds still exist today. The Caddo Indians remained in this area until the 1830s, when Anglo-American colonization efforts forced them to move to the Brazos River. After another relocation, they finally settled in western Oklahoma in whats known today as the Caddo Nation Headquarters. Self-guided and guided tours are available to visit the ancient site, and walk along the two interpretive trails, a part of the El Camino Real de los Tejas. This 150-year-old 2,500-mile route through Texas and Louisiana contains many historic sites related to the battle for Texan independence, the growth of cattle ranching when Texas was part of Mexico and the efforts by the Spanish to missionize American Indians. At the Caddo Mounds, theres also a visitors center and museum store where you can learn more about of this significant part of Native American history. Some of the closest hotels are in downtown Nacogdoches (around 30 miles east), including the mid-century-style boutique property, The Fredonia.

Check out the Annual Texas Renaissance Festival

The Annual Texas Renaissance Festival is the largest of its kind in the U.S., hosting as many as 500,000 people every year. The event usually runs from early October to late November and features jousting knights, kings and queens, jugglers, clowns, acrobats and magicians. There are more than 20 stages with live entertainment, 400 shops with Renaissance-themed items and souvenirs, a myriad of dining and beverage options, and 231 acres of camping sites across the 70-acre property. Theres even a Royal Fireworks display every evening. Additional offerings include activities like a daily high tea, escape room adventures, scotch tastings and the festivals highlight The Kings Feast. This two-hour daytime event includes an all-you-can-eat feast, mead, ale and wine, along with plenty of frivolity and entertainment. Be sure to take home the commemorative drinking vessel to remember the experience. So, don your best knight in shining armor or damsel in distress costume, and head out for a medieval adventure to remember. You can find the Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission, about 55 miles northwest of Houston.

Corpus Christi

Situated on the Gulf Coast of Texas, Corpus Christi offers miles of beaches, plenty of fresh seafood and Tex-Mex dining options, and even indoor activities like the Texas State Aquarium in North Beach. The aquarium features 18 exhibits with sea creatures and wildlife that take you from the Caribbean Sea to the jungle and beyond. While in North Beach, you can also visit the USS Lexington on Corpus Christi Bay. This aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1943, took part in almost every major operation in the Pacific Theater over 21 months of combat during World War II. While here, you can also take flight as an F-18 pilot in the flight simulator or check out the thrilling feature films at the Joe Jessel 3D Mega Theater. If you prefer to spend time outdoors, kick back and relax poolside, take a horseback ride along the beach or go snorkeling or deep-sea fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. For accommodations with a bay view, make reservations at the Omni Corpus Christi Hotel.

[See more of Corpus Christi: Things to Do | Hotels | When to Visit | Photos. ]

Ride the Texas State Railroad

Located about 110 miles southeast of Dallas, the Texas State Railroad takes a step back in time with an old-fashioned rail journey crossing over 24 bridges through the Piney Woods region of East Texas. During the four-hour round-trip ride from the Palestine Depot, you can sit back and relax, enjoy small snacks and drinks and watch the world go by while listening to the narration about these historic steam locomotives. The vintage 1920s car offers seven accommodations including a glass-top dome car boasting comfy leather seats and a personal valet. Other seating options available include caboose seating, two presidential cars, first-class seating and an open-air coach. During a one-hour stop at the Rusk Depot, youll have time to grab lunch at the Mail Car Caf. If youre traveling during the Christmas holidays, kids will delight in the magical Polar Express journeys that include hot chocolate, cookies and keepsake mugs. For a quiet getaway in a romantic setting thats close to the depot, stay at Sabor a Pasion, Estate & Vineyard, an intimate bed-and-breakfast.

Experience The State Fair of Texas

For all things Texas, you wont want to miss the annual State Fair of Texas that runs for several weeks typically from late September to mid-October. Highlights of the Dallas-based fair include musical performances on the Chevrolet Main Stage and three exhibits at the Texas Auto Show. The fair also features youth livestock auction for up-and-coming ranchers, bull riding at the rodeo and more than 70 rides on the midway, including the 212-foot Texas Star Ferris wheel. Sign up in advance for the Chevy Ride & Drive event where you can take a new car, truck or SUV for a spin on the test track. Visitors say you shouldnt miss the decadent fair food that includes everything fried from beer and gumbo to peaches and ice cream. Before heading out, snap a photo of Big Tex, the iconic 52-foot-tall cowboy figure that watches over the festivities.

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21 Top Things to Do in Texas originally appeared on usnews.com

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21 Top Things to Do in Texas - WTOP

By Paige Blankenbuehler, High Country News

This story was originally published by High Country News and is republished here by permission.

In the early days of October 2020, a soft breeze blew across Cold Spring Mountain, rustling the sagebrush and aspen groves. Three prominent conservationists camped near the weathered land marker that identified the junction of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, hoping to hear something that had long been absent from this landscape: the howling of a pack of wolves.

Conservationist Karin Vardaman, who is widely recognized as one of the nations experts on wolves, was collecting data for the Working Circle, a nonprofit she founded that works to reduce conflicts between predators and livestock producers. That winter, a wolf pair and as many as four others were spotted in Moffat County, Colorado the first pack of wolves in the state in more than 80 years. By that fall, just months after they crossed the nearby border into Wyoming, three of them had been shot and killed. Throughout that summer, wildlife biologists conducted howl surveys of the area to see if any of the others had survived. Vardaman, who had been tracking the pack, was a key part of those efforts.

We were able to put together the pieces of the puzzle about how these wolves were using the landscape where they were hunting, where their rendezvous spots were, Vardaman told me by phone in May.

At the same time, Gary Skiba, a wildlife biologist who had worked for Colorado Parks and Wildlife for more than two decades, and Matt Barnes, a scientist for the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, were searching for the pack along the Green River.

Wildlife scientists tend to be lone wolves themselves, with a strong protective streak; they often keep their findings and the locations of their cameras private, obscuring details, such as pack movements, so the wolves theyre tracking cant be easily targeted. Vardaman had crossed paths with Skiba and Barnes before, however; what Skiba likes to call the wolf world is a small place. Vardaman told them that she had heard howls in the area a few days earlier, so they all camped nearby, staying close together and hoping to hear them again. Vardaman recalls chatting with the others, sharing information, and then Barnes and Skiba went back to their campsite. They sat up drinking and discussing the landscape.

And then the howling began: At least three distinctive sorrowful peals, long and deep, carried along by the slight breeze faint but unmistakable amid a chorus of higher-pitched yips from a pack of coyotes. It lasted scarcely more than a minute, but Skiba said it made his hackles rise. It was primal, Skiba told me. Its very emotional, a real connection to wildness and a connection to this bigger landscape. Its a feeling of recognizing a system thats functioning properly.

In the world of wolf restoration, that feeling is exceedingly rare. Gray wolves are native to this part of Wyomings Wind River Mountain Range. They once flourished across the Western United States, ranging the Rocky Mountains in numbers at least into the tens of thousands. But years of lucrative trapping much of it government-sponsored in the 19th and 20th centuries, followed by liberal hunting regulations and development and habitat loss, devastated the population, and the constantly changing federal and state guidelines havent helped. Now there are only around 2,000 gray wolves in the entire Western U.S., and they reside almost exclusively in the Northern Rockies. Skiba, Vardaman and Barnes knew that the wolves they heard that night were among the only known wolves in Colorado the few surviving members of what some were calling the Pioneer Pack.

The fate of the Pioneer Pack was a painful reminder of the obstacles faced by gray wolves in the West: Since January 2021, federal protection for the majority of gray wolves has been stripped away in the Lower 48, and wolves are managed by whatever state they happen to wander into. They are trapped in a web of overlapping and intersecting barriers, from the protected territories within Indigenous lands and national parks to the hostile country in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, where most wolf takes are legal and culturally acceptable. Wolves that cross the invisible boundary into Wyoming, into its predator management area, are vulnerable to the states draconian policies, which allow wolves to be killed any time of the year without a license. In Idaho, where the Nez Perce Tribe successfully oversaw the reintroduction and management of wolves from 1995 to 2007, the state now permits the killing of up to 90% of the population, which is currently about 1,500. In Utah, ranchers dont need a license to kill wolves that prey on livestock. Since Colorado adopted a management plan in 2005, wolves are welcome as long as they get into the state on their own.

In November 2020, Colorado took yet another step toward wolf restoration, when residents primarily people in left-leaning urban, suburban and micropolitan areas like Telluride and Aspen voted to pass Proposition 114, which mandates wolf reintroduction. The people who live where the wolves will reside mainly rural, ranching and conservative western Colorado largely voted against the proposition. (Moffat County, where the Pioneer Pack had localized, overwhelmingly voted no.) Now, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the states wildlife agency, has until the end of 2023 to establish a sustainable population of gray wolves.

Once wolves are back on the landscape, a long-broken link in the chain will be mended: Wolves will be connected along the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico for the first time since the early 20th century. Conservationists believe this will increase biodiversity at a time of catastrophic global loss.

Now its up to Colorado to establish viable packs, not just by getting wolves into the state, but by making sure they can survive. Gray wolves are excellent dispersers and habitat generalists that have long flourished across their native historic range. Their survival doesnt really depend on finding vast swaths of connected habitat and lots of prey to eat it depends on human tolerance for them. But rural and ranching communities have viewed wolves as a threat to their way of life for more than a century. Achieving a sustainable population means convincing these communities that coexistence is in their own best interest and that wont be easy.

It also means protecting wolves as they move through the landscape. Wolves can travel 60 miles at a stretch, though some have been documented traveling hundreds and, in rare cases, even thousands of miles typically in search of mates. For long journeys like that, they often rely on natural wildlife corridors, which cross state lines and pass through zones with conflicting rules about protection.

Corridors require habitat that is connected across vast distances, where a wider ecosystem of flora and prey animals can flourish. Since so much habitat has been developed or fragmented, these pathways are rareand becoming rarer, as urban newcomers invade rural communities. This makes finding viable corridors critical to wolves survival: If a route could be shown to offer that degree of connectivity, then public awareness of its potential could lay the groundwork for its protection, not just for the sake of dispersing predators but for other wildlife, too.

In the spring, after Colorado passed Proposition 114, Matt Barnes, one of the three scientists who heard the wolves in Three Corners, started finding clues that wolves were traveling the Green River corridor. The Green snakes from the Wind River Mountains through southwestern Wyoming and into the Southern Rockies where the Uinta Range begins in Colorado and Utah. It wasnt yet widely considered a potential dispersal corridor, but Barnes hoped it might prove to be a safer option than crossing Wyomings Red Desert.

If you look at it broadly, not just the water itself, but the entire corridor, plus a little buffer distance on either side, it actually is a more direct line from the thick wolf and grizzly bear country of the Wind River Range and the upper Wyoming Range to the northwestern corner of Colorado, he told me at a coffee shop in Ignacio, Colorado, in March. (The Green River) is the only river that very nearly connects the Northern Rockies to the Southern Rockies.

But the Green River corridor also passes through some of the most dangerous territory for wolves in the entire West, and Barnes knew that the likelihood of wolves making it safely through the area was low. So he decided to scope out the corridor by river this summer. From late May to June, Barnes canoed, kayaked and packrafted 400 miles of the river in what became a mission to see how viable the corridor was.

I joined him for part of the journey to see for myself. For a two-week period in June, I explored the corridor by river and by land, hoping to better understand whats preventing gray wolves from repopulating the Southern Rockies on their own.

In Justin Wrights living room, leering at you from beside his television set, is a stuffed gray wolf mounted on wheels. The wolf is nearly five feet high at its shoulders, and it stands on a fake rock accented with wisps of fake prairie grass. The wolfs eyes are fixed, its paw pointed. Wright calls it the Minnesota Mount, because he sent the wolf to Minnesota to get the body mounted. The wheels are useful, because he likes to move it between the living room and kitchen.

Wright, who lives at the northern point of the Green River Valley in Cora, Wyoming, has built his life around proximity to big game. He owns several businesses: the Kendall Valley Lodge & Saloon and Mule Shoe Outfitters, which are 20 or so miles from the Green Rivers headwaters. He leads guided hunts for bighorn, mountain lion, bear, elk and deer in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Wolves that wander onto his land (and many do) are vulnerable to Wrights rifle.

Wright has decorated his lodge and saloon with bleached wolf skulls and pelts from some of those hunts. Inside the saloon, a poster of a busty, bikini-clad blonde aiming a bow hangs next to a blown-up photo showing Wrights arms wrapped around a recently killed wolf. Its glazed eyes are fixed on the camera, its paws are bloody, and its mouth turned up in what can only be described as a grin. Wrights arm is draped across its shoulder, his wedding ring and blood-covered fingers visible in the animals thick gray, black and white coat.

Despite wolves propensity to range, Wyoming Game and Fish has managed to keep them concentrated mostly in the 8,250 square miles of its Trophy Game Management Area, simply by making it legal to kill them if they wander too far away from it. Outside the trophy game area lies the states predator management area, where wolves are considered vermin and can be killed any time of the year without a license. The predator area comprises about 85% of the entire state. For wolves that leave the manufactured habitat of northwest Wyoming, the first leg of a southward journey leads through the Kendall Valley and then the predator area. Wright told me that hed been exploring the idea of guided wolf hunts, but for now, it was off the books, done only by request. Knowing where they are, he told me, we think we can offer the likelihood of a pretty successful hunt.

Wyomings wildlife managers, legislators and the wider public see this conditional existence as a good thing; the habitat in the states northwest corner supports what they consider a sustainable wolf population. And the threshold of human tolerance for living alongside predators seems to have been carefully calibrated over the threeis i decades since wolves were reintroduced in 1995. If the wolves leave that boundary, well, theyre fair game. Ths all density-dependent, Ken Mills, a large-carnivore biologist with Wyoming Game and Fish, told me. The more (wolves) you have, the more likely theyre going to get in conflicts and the more you have to kill, so were holding the population down in this 160-range. Humans are the single limiting factor for exponential growth in wolf populations.

In the evenings, Wrights saloon is filled with tired ranch hands, property owners and construction workers. Nobody I spoke to there said they would pass up the opportunity to kill a wolf though later that night, I caught a group of the construction workers outside howling at the waxing moon with a kind of drunken admiration.

One of Wrights regulars is Joe Sondgeroth, whose family has lived in Wyoming for generations. Sondgeroth told me about a hunt last fall where he shot a wolf at a dead run. That thing was sprinting away from me, but I could make it out, and I got my shot, he said.

Sondgeroth, who is 70, has killed three wolves in his life so far. He has shiny eyes and wears a faded hat from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He and his wife, Annie, a former public health worker from California, earn much of their income from renting the multiple properties they own in the area. They are especially proud of their home, which they have spent over two decades renovating. When I visited them there, in between showing me photos of wolf hunts and laying out pelts on the living-room floor for me to admire, they gave me a tour of their new master bedroom and bathroom.

For Joe, who grew up in the nearby town of Pinedale, wolf encounters are an uncomfortable part of an otherwise idyllic life spent working in the area and watching the Super Bowl at the VFW Hall. I dont hate them, he told me. But I dont want them to be in my yard.

Joe views himself as a protector, defending not only the local people and animals, but also a place that he loves. I feel like Im helping all the game in this area, he said. (Wolves) are eating machines. They have no mercy.

This is an attitude that goes back generations. Like many people in the Cora and Pinedale area, Sondgeroth has a connection to the ranching tradition in western Wyoming. As a young man, he sometimes worked as a ranch hand, occasionally helping his friends run cattle into the summer grazing allotment in the high country by way of the Green River Drift, the oldest continually used stock drive in Wyoming.

The Drift is an intensely contested piece of land. Only 11 ranching families in the Cora and surrounding Green River area use it, but many view it as a living connection to the Wests ranching heritage. Environmentalists oppose grazing cattle in the upper Green River watershed, but Wyomings politics remain firmly on the side of ranching.

Ironically, the Drift makes for a bad cattle run. In sections, it is a relatively narrow corridor, like a conveyor belt into the high country with barbed wire on each side. There, a herd traveling it becomes elongated; the individual cows can get separated from each other, making them more vulnerable to predator attacks. Its unlikely that a wolf or a grizzly will attack a dense herd of hundreds of cattle, but spread the animals out, and occasionally a few will get picked off. According to 2020 data from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, these types of kills are rare. Wolves prefer to prey on wild ungulates like elk or moose. But whenever an incident does occur, it leaves an outsized impression on the ranchers. One multigenerational Cora ranching family, who asked not to be identified for fear of harassment by environmentalists, repeated a claim Id heard from others: That wolves kill for fun, that they are vicious. They dont just go after (calf), sometimes theyll cripple or kill three or four (cattle) and then only eat one. People dont understand that.

The idea that wolves are vicious killing machines has deep colonial roots. Across the continent, Indigenous peoples have lived alongside and hunted wolves long before Europeans arrived. Fossil evidence suggests an ancestral offshoot of gray wolves were abundant in North America as far back as 500,000 years ago. In many Indigenous nations spiritual beliefs, wolves are seen as protectors that model hunting behavior, sharing the bounty from their kills.

In 2007, the Northern Arapaho Tribe and Eastern Shoshone Tribe published a Wolf Management Plan for the Wind River Reservation, where, in 2020, at least 21 wolves were documented. The tribes spent two years developing it. They included interviews with tribal elders, who summed up the traditional views of both tribes as people who recognize wolves as deserving of respect and placed here by the Creator for a purpose. According to an Arapaho oral history, a young boy got so engrossed in playing that he did not realize that his tribe was breaking camp. He was accidentally left behind. As night fell, he began to cry, the report said. A wolf appeared and told

him not to be afraid that he would help him. Wolves gathered around the boy, collected brush and used flint to start a fire. They took care of the boy and raised him. Wolves could teach virtuous things to people, one Shoshone elder told officials. They were an example of how to care for family members, because they took good care of the young as well as the old. Today, the Shoshone and Arapaho people regard gray wolves as kin, as helpers, as strong, according to their wolf-management plan.

In some powwows, Shoshone people have a traditional social dance in which wolf hides are worn over the dancers heads. The dance celebrates bravery and wisdom, and it is considered honorable to wear the skins of an animal one is trying to emulate. Neil Thagard, director of Wildlife Division for Nez Perce Tribe, which oversaw the successful restoration of gray wolves in Idaho beginning in the mid-1990s, says that the tribes management of the species has been an intentional reversal of colonial policies. Their summer range, transitional range and winter range has been disrupted by man, Thagard told me by phone in August. And the human footprint continues to expand. Today, we dont have a lot more space on the ground at least in the Lower 48.

It wasnt until European colonization that wolves in North America became a threatening symbol. The wolf-trapping era, which spanned from the 1850s throughout the early 20th century, took place as beaver and bison populations were being decimated. Many former trappers went on to kill wolves in staggering numbers as their pelts rose in popularity. In Montana alone, between 1870 and 1877, professional and civilian wolf hunters, known as wolfers, purportedly killed an estimated 100,000 wolves per year. An article in the Northern Wyoming Herald from this period laid out the stock-raisers goal: to eliminate practically all of their tormentors within two years time. In 1905, the U.S. government instituted its own eradication program, in which federal wolf hunters killed more than 24,000 wolves in under 30 years, including the last wolf killed in Yellowstone National Park. By 1960, wolf populations in the Lower 48 had hit a low point, but government-backed bounties of up to $50 per wolf continued to be offered until 1965.

But the United States political relationship with the predators was about to shift: In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law to be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Eastern timber wolves and the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves were listed as endangered, among the first series of species to receive federal protection under the law. The designation and the protections it afforded were expanded to the majority of remaining wolf populations in the Lower 48.

In 1994, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho announced they would begin restoring wolves into the Northern Rockies. Some of the animals had already begun to disperse throughout the West, flirting with parts of their historic territory in the Northern, Central and Southern Rocky Mountains. In the 1980s, for the first time in decades, a naturally recolonizing wolf pack, known as the Magic Pack, from Canada, denned in Glacier National Park, Montana. And in 2015, a pack known as the Shasta Pack returned to California for the first time in nearly a century. Around that time, DNA tests confirmed that a gray wolf was living near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon the southernmost point the species had been confirmed in almost a century.

But just as more wolves began to resettle on the landscape, they began to lose federal protections. Once beleaguered animals begin to recover, theres less reason to keep them on the endangered species list. In 2000, the Fish and Wildlife Service under President Bill Clinton proposed changing the wolfs status from endangered to threatened, a designation that carries milder protections. And by March 2008, the population of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies the packs in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming were taken off the list altogether. The day protections were officially removed, one of Yellowstones most recognizable wolves, 253M known as Limpy because of his wobbling gait was killed near an elk feeding ground in the Green River corridor, outside Daniel, Wyoming.

In the wake of delisting and Limpys death, environmental groups sued Fish and Wildlife en masse over the delisting. When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the administration paused the decision, but months later the Interior Department affirmed it, and the states were eventually put in charge of managing their gray wolf populations. A decade later, the Trump administration finalized the delisting of gray wolves in the Lower 48 blowing up any distinctions between gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and their cousins in the Great Lakes. Six environmental groups responded by suing to reinstate Endangered Species Act protections, while the National Rifle Association joined to defend the federal government and uphold the delisting. The case is still pending.

As I traveled south along the Green River corridor from its headwaters in Cora, Matt Barnes was paddling down the river. I met up with him just north of Fontenelle Reservoir, in mid-June.

Barnes is a lanky man of 46, with wiry arms and sharp features. Every day when we reached camp even after rowing more than 20 miles he changed into fitted Wrangler blue jeans with a large silver belt buckle. Hes an easy person to be on the river with, laid back but a little lofty; he considers himself a modern-day adventurer, but in a good-humored rather than arrogant way. When the wind on the river was too strong and the sun too hot, we would pull over and search for clues a mule deer or elk carcass, scat or prints that might indicate that a wolf had passed through. In the dirt amid a constellation of pebbles on a rocky ridge overlooking the reservoir, I found nothing more than a small skull. Rabbit? I guessed.

Reservoirs are an impediment to dispersing wolves, and Fontenelle is on the westernmost boundary of Wyomings massive Red Desert, a formidable landscape with little cover for any wolves that are trying to follow the movements of an abundant food source: the nations largest elk herd, which roams this arid 361,000-acre swath of land.

This is a risky landscape for a wolf to travel. There is little vegetation to hide in, leaving the animals exposed to ranchers, farmers and hunters. Any passerby with a gun in the truck could legally kill a wolf on sight. In 2020, 43 wolves were killed in the predator zone, and chances are most of the wolves that dispersed from their northern packs never even made it as far as Fontenelle.

We camped at the dam on the reservoirs southern point. All night, I could hear the plink, plink, plink of a single pump jack, like someone methodically plucking a guitar string. I awoke to the sound of two beavers smacking their tails and splashing in the river. On the opposite side of the dam were smokestacks. It was a dusty scene, with little to see but yellowed bunchgrass and concrete and garbage. But a ferruginous hawk circled overhead, and I enjoyed my coffee in the company of my wild neighbors, who didnt seem to mind the industrial dcor.

South of the dam, the Green River flows through the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, a long and narrow ribbon of protected land that links forest and desert. As we neared the refuge, I noticed the water changing. The reservoir above Seedskadee had been more opaque; now the water became so clear that the stones of the riverbed were visible. Beavers swam around us, and trout hunted smaller fish around our canoe, like little sharks.

Despite the beauty because of the beauty we were hyper-alert, almost jittery, and we jumped at the movement of anything larger than a pine marten. On and off the water, we searched for even the slightest hint a bedded-down area in the trees, fragments of bone that a wolf might have been around recently.

But there have been no definite wolf sightings in Seedskadee. Tom Koerner is the refuges manager. Hes of medium build, with a graying red beard and brown hair, and his mouth curves on the side of his face, like a crescent moon, when he talks, somewhere between a smile and a smirk. Koerner, who has been at Seedskadee for more than a decade, told me that over the years he has had some surprise visitors. In the mid-90s, Koerner remembers his wife telling him that she had spotted a North American river otter, Lontra canadensis, a species never before documented on the refuge. He doubted it at the time until he saw the animals for himself. Now, he estimates that some 35 otters live in the refuge year-round. Still, he has yet to confirm a wolf sighting.

Weve had reports of wolves shot outside the refuge above us, below us, Koerner told Barnes and me. So logic tells you, just like any canine, theyre going to need some water at some point.

He had heard whispers about a recent wolf kill at Pilot Butte, a landmass that rises like a pyramid out of a flat expanse of sagebrush and greasewood, some 40 miles outside the refuge. Koerner, Barnes and I looked out at Pilot Butte from the back deck of the refuge headquarters.

Back on the river, Barnes and I reached the boundary of the refuge too soon. It marked the end of 44 safe river miles for wolves. Now, the corridor becomes a checkerboard of private, state and federal lands in the predator area.

The intentional return of predatory animals that the ancestors of todays ranching community worked so hard to extirpate is like a repudiation of an entire worldview and one version of what the future of landscapes in the West should be, Barnes said soberly, as we paddled along.

Its not the wolves themselves, but what they represent to people that really, really matters.

In the refuge, the river was lined by cottonwoods, but the closer we got to the boundary, the sparser the trees became. The cover afforded by Seedskadee shade from the sun shining harshly at altitude, a community of flora, fauna, insects and birds all sharing the cottonwoods, willows and sage all but disappeared.

The landscape after the refuge could not be more different sparse, sunbaked and dirty. Yellow foam gathered on the banks of the river and oil slicks beaded on its surface.

We floated down the river towards the intersection with Interstate 80, around 60 miles from the Colorado border and a major barrier for wolves. Outside of James Town, Wyoming, an old railway bridge and powerlines crossed overhead; Green River Garbage Collection had tied rusted car parts and other metal waste in dense bundles along the riverbank. Barnes was quiet through much of this. An industrial wasteland, he called it later.

We havent been in decent wolf habitat for quite a long time now, Barnes said.

During the weeks Barnes and I spent on the river together, we often talked about the lone female wolf, known as 314F, who made the journey from Montana through Wyoming, passing in and out of the Green River corridor, more than a decade ago. She left Montanas Mill Creek Pack in 2008, and her incredible and erratic journey, documented by a radio collar attached to her by the then-Montana Game and Fish Department that summer, defies logic. She pinballed her way through Wyomings Wind River Range, winding through parts of the headwaters of the Green River. She was most likely searching for a mate outside her own pack. Three separate times, she encountered Interstate 80 and was turned around, but all the time she kept steering toward Colorado.

The interesting thing to me about her journey is how it looks like she was determined to go south, Barnes said one day.

As we paddled through some of the same country, we traced her steps, using a crude map of her long, strange trip. Though she didnt use the Green River as her guide, she did find her way back to it and its tributaries again and again first through Wyoming and then in Utah, and finally in Colorado. As we pushed south, much as she had, we took note of the places we knew she had skirted.

We imagined her traveling at night, when she would have been safer from a landowners gun. We thought about how she might have gotten by, how she ate and where she found water. Often during the trip, I remembered my own drive through the Uinta Mountains in Utah on my way up to the put-in for the Green River. She had traveled solo through the same area. Around a hairpin turn that crested at the top of a mountain pass, I stopped my car and looked out at an expansive view of the Uintas. If I were a wolf, I thought, I would have enjoyed hanging out in a place like that lush, steep and rocky, with alpine flowers just beginning to bloom on that early June morning. I longed for 314Fs survival, even though I already knew what had happened to her.

When we floated quietly, rather unnervingly, under a bridge covered with nesting cliff swallows while Interstate 80 roared overhead, we pictured her anxiously approaching and turning away.

On the final leg of our journey, toward the latter half of June, Barnes and I paddled through Red Canyon near Dutch John, Utah, just a few miles from Colorado. When the Green River flows over the Utah border and into Colorado, it enters the Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge. Though gray wolves dont take note of such borders, there is a marked change in the landscape within this refuge, too.

According to Fish and Wildlife, which manages Browns Park, there are 68 species of mammals, 15 different types of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 220 bird species in the refuge. Its a lush riparian zone, teeming with milkweed and evening primrose. Floating through, we counted pronghorn and mule deer on the banks; Id never before seen so many trout swimming in schools, uniformly packed together. If 314F had traveled through hostile country in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah and then finally ended up here, in Colorado, its vibrant landscape must have felt like a relief. For whatever reason, after traveling at least a thousand miles across five states, this time she decided to stay.

The West Cold Spring Wilderness Study area in Colorado, just five miles south of the Wyoming border, stretches across the deep draws and plateaus of the O-Wi-Yu-Kuts Plateau. The tallest peak is Cold Spring Mountain, and the Green River Valley and its tributaries snake through mountain mahogany, sagebrush and Douglas fir, where mule deer and elk bed down. This was the summer territory of the Pioneer Pack, whose howls Skiba, Vardaman and Barnes likely heard, before its remaining members disappeared.

This is the northern tip of the Southern Rockies and its old-growth, rumpled landscape looks like the promised land a sea of green after the arid expanse of southwestern Wyoming. In February of 2009, 314F arrived in the Cold Spring area of northwest Colorado; she meandered along the Yampa and Little Snake rivers within the Green River Valley and continued pushing west. She was 22 months old, of breeding age, but because she kept trekking west and south, the wildlife biologists charting her journey assume she had not yet found a mate. Onward she ventured, moving deeper into Colorado.

By March 31, 2009, her collar had stopped transmitting data. According to documents obtained by Wildearth Guardians through a Freedom of Information Act request, one official wrote: It doesnt look good, I think she may be dead. She is ~ 6 miles north of Rio Blanco.

Wildlife officials found her carcass about 24 miles north of Rifle, Colorado. With its mountainous surroundings, Rio Blancos landscape is similar to Montanas Paradise Valley, where 314F was born.

Wolf 314Fs death dispels the notion that the Southern Rockies and Colorado are a sanctuary for predators. This mix of private and public land makes for a deadly conflict zone between predators and private property owners, and Rio Blanco is a conservative ranching county with attitudes similar to those in southwestern Wyoming. In the spring of 2021, the Rio Blanco Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to become a Wolf Reintroduction Sanctuary County, declaring that Colorado Parks and Wildlifes artificial reintroduction would not be allowed.

After years of investigating, agents with Fish and Wildlife concluded that 314F was killed by Compound 1080, a lethal predator poison that was banned in 1972, following its widespread misuse, including the death of an untold number of birds. (It became legal again in 1985 and remains in use today.)

You couldnt have come up with a more tragic, ironic ending, Barnes told me.

Wildlife managers will soon restore wolves in Colorado. The missing link of the chain between the Northern Rockies and native wolf range in the Southern Rockies will be replaced. But while technically the range will be connected, have the politics and perspectives changed enough to make connectivity actually possible?

In early June, as Barnes and I made our slow and steady progress down the Green, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff conducted observations of the rumored den site of a recently localized wolf pair in Colorado. Two gray wolves M2101 and F1084 had made separate dispersal journeys into Colorado, found one another and denned together in North Park, in north-central Colorado. Agency staff observed the site and confirmed six pups, the first known wolves born in the state in more than eight decades.

The news spread like wildfire. Colorados Democratic governor, Jared Polis, welcomed the states new wolf family, its parents dubbed John and Jane. The state buzzed with excitement.

With voter passage last year of the initiative to require re-introduction of the wolf by the end of 2023, these pups will have plenty of potential mates when they grow up to start their own families, Gov. Polis said in a statement.

But Colorados new pack remains vulnerable. Colorado still has to reckon with the same anti-wolf attitudes that pervade much of the Western U.S., and certainly Colorados Western Slope. Cora, Wyoming, the Kendall Valley and Wyoming Game and Fish have calibrated their own idea of coexistence, a conditional balance where only small populations of wolves are tolerated. Meanwhile, at least so far, the wolves that have arrived in Colorado on their own like 314F and the Pioneer Pack have not managed to survive here for very long.

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Why have gray wolves failed to gain a foothold in Colorado? - The Colorado Sun