Ryan Devereaux: Yellowstone’s Wolves and the Politics of the American West
November 12 @ 6:00pm
Wheatgrass Books to Host Journalist Ryan Devereaux for Conversation on Yellowstone’s Wolves and the Politics of the American West
November 12, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. | Wheatgrass Books, Livingston, Montana
Wheatgrass Books will welcome award-winning investigative journalist Ryan Devereaux on Thursday, November 12, at 6 p.m. for a conversation about his new book, The Hunt: A True Story of Resurrection and Retribution in the West. Devereaux will be joined by Malou Anderson, cofounder of the Tom Miner Basin Association, and Marc Cooke, president of Wolves of the Rockies, for a discussion of Yellowstone’s wolves, wildlife management, and the cultural and political conflicts shaping the future of the American West.
In The Hunt, Devereaux takes readers into the tumultuous world surrounding Yellowstone’s iconic wolves, exploring a single season of wolf hunting and its far-reaching implications for wildlife, rural communities, conservation, and Western identity. Through meticulous investigative reporting, he traces the tangled relationships between politics, power, and the natural world, revealing how one of the region’s most contentious wildlife issues has become a flashpoint in the broader American culture wars.
The book offers a deeply reported account of the competing values and passions surrounding wolves, asking difficult questions about wildlife management, the role of government, and what it means to share a landscape with wild animals. Both a gripping narrative and an examination of political polarization, The Hunt illuminates the challenges of finding common ground in a region where wildlife conservation and rural livelihoods are often portrayed as opposing interests.
Devereaux is an award-winning journalist and Type Media Center fellow based in Tucson, Arizona, where he covers the intersections of politics, power, and justice in the American West. From 2013 to 2024, he served as a senior investigative reporter at The Intercept, covering conservation and the environment, immigration and the border, the War on Terror, and the drug war in Mexico. His reporting has received numerous honors, including an Edward R. Murrow Award, the Deadline Club’s top prize for feature reporting, and an Online Journalism Award for best feature writing for a small newsroom.
Joining Devereaux for the conversation, Malou Anderson brings a perspective grounded in ranching, community relationships, and coexistence with wildlife. Anderson grew up working on her family’s ranch north of Yellowstone National Park. After attending boarding school in the East and earning a degree in psychology, she lived and worked in urban centers across the American West before returning home to raise her family and continue her education in regenerative agriculture. Her current work focuses on conflict prevention in wild landscapes. As a cofounder of the Tom Miner Basin Association, she works to preserve the traditions of the rural West while supporting diverse wildlife populations and building trusting relationships within rural communities.
Marc Cooke, president of Wolves of the Rockies, brings the perspective of a Montana-based organization dedicated to wolf conservation and education. Together, the three speakers will explore the complexities of wolf management and the challenges of balancing wildlife protection, ranching, community values, and the political forces influencing decisions across the West.
Advance praise for The Hunt reflects the book’s ability to connect the story of Yellowstone’s wolves to larger questions about American society. Nate Blakeslee, bestselling author of American Wolf, calls it “an indispensable resource” for understanding the challenges of wildlife management amid political polarization. Author and environmental activist Bill McKibben praises Devereaux’s detailed reporting and measured approach to the human forces shaping the fate of wild animals.
The November 12 event offers an opportunity for readers and community members to engage with these difficult questions through a conversation informed by investigative journalism, local experience, and wildlife advocacy. Rather than treating the wolf debate as a simple conflict with easy answers, the discussion will invite a closer look at the competing interests, deeply held beliefs, and possibilities for coexistence that define this complicated issue in the Greater Yellowstone region.
The event is free and open to the public.
Event Details
What: Ryan Devereaux in Conversation with Malou Anderson and Marc Cooke
When: Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Where: Wheatgrass Books, 120 N. Main Street, Livingston, Montana
Book: The Hunt: A True Story of Resurrection and Retribution in the West
For more information, contact Wheatgrass Books at WheatgrassBooks@gmail.com or visit the bookstore at 120 N. Main Street in downtown Livingston.
