They were standing at Soda Butte, overlooking the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, when there was suddenly a wolf, down below, in plain view.

In one direction, the group could see elk, and in the other, bison, and swans dotted the broad basin.

More wolves swiftly came into view and gave chase to the elk.

The canines failed to catch one, but as they were regrouping, they howled to one another. As the howls rose up from the valley floor, everybody in the tour group went silent.

Their guide, Meredith Taylor, watched as their faces slowly broke into awed smiles. Finally, one of them said, "Oh, my God."

"For many people, their greatest highlight is seeing and hearing wolves," Taylor said. "It's the call of the wild. I know it sounds parochial, but it's true. We should be celebrating the return of the wolves, not denigrating it."

Taylor co-owns Taylor Outfitting, based in Dubois, and guides winter wildlife trips, as well as summer natural history trips in Yellowstone National Park. Since their reintroduction 1995, wolves have expanded and diversified her business, Taylor said.

She even led a camera crew from the British Broadcasting Co. on a wildlife- and wolf-filming venture.

"There are all kinds of outfitters that have just been invented over the last 10 years because of wolves," Taylor said. "It's a major part of Wyoming's tourist arm, and it's unfortunate that the state is not supporting that part of Wyoming's tourist industry."

After the removal of wolves from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, Wyoming will manage the canines in the extreme northwest of the state outside the national parks as trophy game animals, where it will be illegal, in general, to kill them without a permit.

Outside of the trophy game area, in the majority of the state, wolves will be managed as predators, similar to the way coyotes are. It will be legal for citizens to kill wolves on sight, as long as each kill is reported.

Taylor believes a more prudent approach to wolf management would be to classify wolves as trophy game animals throughout the state, to better protect their numbers and to encourage wolf-watching tourism.

"Wolf watching and winter wildlife watching is already big business," Taylor said. "This, to me, is a no-brainer. You just make them 'trophy game.'"

The argument that gray wolves kill off elk herds is a myth, she said, based on fear rather than facts.

"Wolves are not the big bad wolf that people expect; they're just another wild animal trying to make a living," Taylor said. "Every single elk herd around the Yellowstone ecosystem is over (the state's) objective. For some reason, Wyoming has an anti-predator philosophy, and it's unfortunate."