"Some years ago," said artist Judy Larson®, "I hiked alone for several days with my two dogs in the White Mountains of Arizona, home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The scenery was nothing short of breathtaking and I watched eagerly for wildlife. I knew that black bear, bobcats, deer, elk, coyotes, foxes, skunks and other animals were native to this area, but there were no signs of any of them. I was stunned that not once in two days did I hear a single bird, see one animal track or catch sight of even a small rodent. The wilderness was eerily silent.

"It was as if the forest trees were saying to me, 'We are the only ones left to testify as to what once was, but no longer is.' So I imagined that a number of animals were present around me, hidden just out of sight: a mountain lion, an eagle, a fox, a bobcat and a black bear. In my mind’s eye, I saw a young grizzly padding his way softly through the light snow (the last grizzly was killed in Arizona in 1939) and I caught just a glimpse of an elusive Mexican gray wolf."