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EPISODE SIX: Wolf Haven International · Talk Thurston to Me

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Talk Thurston to Me, where we explore the people, places, stories, and experiences that make Thurston County an unforgettable place to visit.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're taking you somewhere a little unexpected, just outside the small town of Tinaino, tucked into the woods of Thurston County.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: There's a place where the pace slows down, the trees get a little quieter, and if you're lucky, you might hear a howl in the distance.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: This is Wolfhaven International.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's a sanctuary dedicated to wolves and wolf dogs, but visiting Wolfhaven is about more than simply seeing these incredible animals.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's an opportunity to step into their world, learn their stories, and experience a side of our region that you may not even know exists.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Chelsea Taylor, and joining me today is Jeff Willard, Executive Director with Wolfhaven International.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Jeff, welcome to Talk Thurston to me.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad you're here to join us.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Chelsea, for having me.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was a really wonderful introduction and a really great way to set the tone for what Wolfhaven is all about.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, my pleasure.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very excited to have this conversation today.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I have to share with you, we met on my first visit and experience at Wolfhaven.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: And that experience really stayed with me.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: There was something about being out there with the wolves and hearing the ravens, and then they started their wolf howl that I just left feeling completely grounded and peaceful.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: It was one of those experiences that kind of just sticks with you.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll definitely be back because I haven't heard the end of it from my family for not taking them with me.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be excited to welcome you back.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that that's what makes Wolfhaven so interesting is it's really one thing to tell someone what Wolfhaven is, but it's another thing to actually experience it.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to start there.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: When people hear Wolfhaven, they probably have an idea in their head of what the visit looks like there.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: But what would surprise someone experiencing Wolfhaven for the very first time?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a great question.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So of course, we do get plenty of first-time visitors.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: We also get a fair number of visitors who haven't visited us in decades.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Wolfhaven has been around here in Denino since 1982 and has had visits to the sanctuary in that entire time.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we encounter many people in the community who remember coming to Wolfhaven on a school field trip in the late 80s or the 90s.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And they maybe haven't visited us since then.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: If someone in that situation comes back to us, it's almost like visiting for the first time, actually, because Wolfhaven has changed a fair amount.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's always a it's always a delight to see those folks who have a sense of what Wolfhaven is all about, but when they come back to us, they actually get a whole new introduction to what we're all about.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: To go back to your question, what folks can experience when they come to Wolfhaven for the first time or for the first time in a long time is they'll come to Wolfhaven.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think have a very similar experience of what you outlined in your introduction, which is it's a quieter space.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: You're outside of Olympia, you're at the very southern reaches of the Seattle metro area.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, many of our visitors come from that metro area or down in the Portland area.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And they come to Wolfhaven and it's on this gorgeous property, 80 acres of Mima Mound prairie land that is conserved and protected, old, mature dug fir stands, and rare Gary Oak ecosystems as well.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just quiet, it's peaceful.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: We provide habitat for a whole variety of native flora and fauna, birds in the trees and wild flowers, you know, being visited by butterflies and birds.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, we have our sanctuary.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: We currently house 41 wolves and wolf dogs who are basically two populations of animals.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: We have our permanent residents who are often rescued animals that have come from the black market pet trade, or maybe from a zoo that is decommissioning its wolf exhibit.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And those animals need a home.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: They need a place to live for the rest of their lives.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Those animals are not candidates for release into the wild, and they are here with us for the rest of their life.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: All of our wolves live in companionship with other animals.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other population that we have in our sanctuary is our endangered species animals.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So these are Mexican wolves or American red wolves that are actually part of a federal endangered species recovery program.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: We care for these animals in captivity.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those animals may be selected for breeding.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Fish and Wildlife Service makes that determination along with many other partner facilities.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the pups and young offspring that are products of that breeding activity are candidate, potential candidates for release into the wild.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Real quick example is we had an American red wolf who was born at Wolfhaven in 2016, lived here for seven years.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: He exhibited really great versive behavior, which made him a really good candidate for release in the wild.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: He wasn't habituated.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: He wasn't expecting handouts from people at all.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: He was constantly staying back in his enclosure.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so that sort of behavior made him a good candidate for release.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: The U.S.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Fish and Wildlife Service brought him out to Northern North Carolina, the recovery region for American Red Wolves, released him into the wild.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: He immediately joined a pack and became the breeding male of that pack.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And now for three years in a row, the past three springs, he has fathered three large litters of pups of American Red Wolves.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is amazing.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: I really dove in.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I really dove into some detail there.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, a visitor will come and be able to learn about all about those populations of animals and learn about what has led our animals to reside in our sanctuary, some of their individual backstories.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: I love that and experiencing it for myself.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: I did witness that.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so that just speaks loudly about the service that you provide for these wolves in the sanctuary and how you've built that out.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: What an incredible thing to really look forward to.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_02: Both as a visitor for the first time and someone who might be coming back after many years of experiencing it for their first time.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Before we get further into the experience, I'm glad that you gave us that detail.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: I thought that was wonderful.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know about you.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: How did you find your way into this work and to Wolfhaven?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's been a phenomenal ride through my career in conservation.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in the conservation field for over 20 years.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I initially got into it because I just had a passion for animals and a passion for wildlife and a passion for the idea that we were going through a biodiversity crisis.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: We still are going through a biodiversity crisis.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we are at a real inflection point civilizationally to figure out how we can sustain our own livelihoods as a growing human population on this planet while still allowing for wildlife to thrive.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so early on in my career, I was enlisted into that mission to help us find reasonable ways to coexist with wildlife of all kinds.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I quickly came to understand that wolves are a beautiful animal, an incredible product of evolution, a keystone species that has an outsize impact on the other animals and wildlife that live in the ecosystems where they're present.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I also came to understand that if we are successful in conserving and protecting habitat that can support wild wolf populations, then we would also just inherently, therefore, be being able to conserve that same habitat for a whole variety of species.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because wolves require a lot of space.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Then that means we're also conserving a lot of land for many other species to thrive.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up getting a master's degree in conservation planning from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And my research focused on how we can mitigate conflicts between wolves and livestock.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's part of my goal that we as a civilization, as a society, can live alongside wolves, but also we can do that in a way that has the absolute least possible amount of negative impact on human livelihoods.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so one of the greatest impacts that wolves present us with is occasional conflict with livestock.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so I studied that with the goal that I can help communities across the western United States learn to coexist with wolves and also do what we can to minimize the likelihood of conflicts.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what eventually led me to Wolfhaven.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: You have a very intriguing career path.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I appreciate your interest in it because I too find it so important to ensure that we are conserving the natural resources for the wildlife that we're living among.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: I want to touch base on what you said about working within this community to ensure that the community is taken care of, but also making sure that you can do your part in your role.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: What has working at Wolfhaven taught you about this community?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I love this community.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I feel very much at home here in South Thurston County, the South Puget Sound region, Tanino in particular.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a wonderful collection of folks, very engaged.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: I've been extremely impressed with how engaged the folks who I meet in the community are and how desirous folks are of implementing a positive vision for our collective future.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And Wolfhaven has become very much a part of that.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I've been extremely impressed with the number of ranchers here in the Tenaino area who have active cattle operations and who are concerned about the potential that wolves could recover locally and might therefore pose a threat to their own operations.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: But these folks, the ones who I've been engaging with, are nonetheless extremely kind and gracious about working with Wolfhaven, connecting with Wolfhaven to explore proactive, reasonable solutions to what could become a problem in the future.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: I really love that, especially being new to Thurston County.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think that personal connection really is a big part of what makes places like Wolfhaven feel different and the communities around them to be able to support what's thriving within that community.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to talk a little bit about what someone would actually experience when they come here.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: I want to paint our listeners' experience to the best that we can while also leaving them wanting more.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: So walk me through that experience for someone who has never been here.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: What happens from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we do weekend visits, and those are reservable on our website, wolfhaven.org.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you were to reserve, for example, a 9.30 a.m.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: visit on a Saturday, you would arrive to Wolfhaven maybe sometime after nine to give yourself some time to settle in and really feel that feeling of peace and serenity that you were describing a few minutes ago.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: They'll already be surrounded by some beautiful stands of mature dug fir and other local trees.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then they'll make their way to the visitor center where we'll be congregating.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: The group will visit our visitor center.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: We have a variety of merchandise and apparel on sale there, as well as information about our wolves and our animals and the native ecosystems that we care for.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then when the visit starts at 9:30, folks will watch a 10-minute documentary about Wolf Haven just to provide everybody with some basic background on our history and what we're about and what our principles are.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: What we'll do then is we'll head and check out our prairies.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's not crazy to think that maybe a hundred years ago or more there were even wild wolf packs using our prairie land in Thurston County because wolves are a native animal and would have existed in this part of Washington State historically.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'll start turning towards the sanctuary and we'll eventually come to the gate.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we really take the volume level down and the activity level down, and we really try to embrace the mindset of sanctuaries.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: When we go into the sanctuary, we are guests walking into the wolves' home.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: All of our wolves are in enclosures, so it's not the kind of situation that some people may imagine where you can interact with the wolves or come up close to them or even potentially be at risk.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's all very safe.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: We allow our wolves to dig dens, which is a natural behavior.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Wolves will do.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Visitors will be able to see all of those sorts of features when they are looking at our wolves in their enclosure.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then our education guide will be sharing information about the individual biographies of the animals who we're observing and also general kind of wolf biology and behavior and ecology and the relationships that wolves have with other wildlife in the ecosystems that they live in.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: We'll possibly hear a wolf howl.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty common that our whole sanctuary will go up in a howl 10 or 12 times a day.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's things like trains that pass by or sirens that might be in the distance that sometimes gets the whole sanctuary going.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or it might be just one of them is feeling really excited about something and will start to howl, and that'll make the whole rest of the group start going as well.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't always happen, so it's not a guarantee that might happen on a visit, but it can happen and it's always quite lovely when it does.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'll wrap up our visit and we'll leave the sanctuary, head back to the visitor center where we'll close up.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for sharing that and for setting the stage for us.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I wanted to touch on, which you didn't mention, but I know from my visit, is that you intentionally keep the number of daily visitors limited.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you did mention you make the experience guided.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: But I'd love to share with our listeners why that is so important to the way that Wolfhaven cares for the animals and the experience that it creates for the person visiting.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for bringing that up.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is an important part of Wolfhaven's identity and our principles and the way we approach sanctuary.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So historically, Wolfhaven was a little bit more open to visitation by humans.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We would have many visits a day, drop-in anytime, and we would accommodate anyone when they showed up.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And while that may have been nice for visitors at that time, it was actually quite a big impact on the wolves.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so we've increasingly adopted over the last decade an approach that the sanctuary is for the wolves, and humans are guests in their space.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we have severely limited the number of visits, and we've also severely limited the size of the groups that do visits.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: We do six visits per weekend.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's three on Saturday and three on Sunday, and those are reservable online.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the groups are quite small, only about 10 people per visit, plus our guide.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we've certainly encountered a situation where there's much greater demand for a visitation than we're able to really meet.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Our visits do sell out in advance.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we always recommend if people want to come on a visit at Wolfhaven that they try to book early a couple months in advance is good.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Check out our website for available visits.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: The accreditation that Wolfhaven sought and then obtained from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's called GFAST, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're like the gold standard internationally for sanctuary accreditation.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: They have very high standards for how sanctuaries must operate in order to receive their accreditation.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Wolfhaven met their standards starting in 2015.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then every year since, we have to maintain those standards in order to continue to have accreditation.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And in 2020, Wolfhaven was honored by winning the Outstanding Wildlife Sanctuary Award from GFAS.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we were selected from over 200 sanctuaries around the world to receive this.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just an indication that here in Tinaino, here in South Thurston County, there is a world-class sanctuary that is really setting the bar for how wolf sanctuaries and other wildlife sanctuaries can operate.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, excellent.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for touching on that.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: I just found that a very important thing for people listening to here and to understand how important it really is to the vitality of the wolves that you are taking care of.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I appreciate that.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, at the heart of everything you do here at Wolfhaven, there's a relationship between people and the animals.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: What do you hope people understand or feel about wolves after spending time at Wolfhaven that they may not have understood before their visit?
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: There are many things.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, everyone may come to a visit at Wolfhaven with their own background and experience and knowledge about wildlife.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: We do find that many people who maybe have only engaged with wolves conceptually through things like fairy tales, you know, the big bad wolf, and stories like that.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Those sorts of stories make wolves out to be quite villainous and quite aggressive towards people.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think one thing that might surprise people is actually how wolves are not these violent and aggressive animals.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you were to encounter a wolf, or if you were to be in wolf terrain in the wild, it's very unlikely that you would even see a wolf because they'll probably know that you're there first and they're going to run away.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit of a myth.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one thing that people do tend to leave their experience at Wolf Haven with is a better understanding of really what makes these animals work and what their behavior is like.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then beyond that, I would hope that also folks sense that there is a real ability for us to coexist with thriving populations of wild wolves.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_02: The possibilities are endless, it sounds I think you have an amazing role within the community.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I really appreciate you sharing that.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: I want to touch on something lightly, and uh it's okay if you can't share too much about it, but I know that Wolfhaven is very intentional about the way that people experience the sanctuary.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I also understand that there's something new on the horizon that I got really excited about when it was mentioned.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I've heard about the new tree house that you're creating for larger groups.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: I love the idea of experiencing Wolfhaven from that perspective.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: What inspired that project and what do you hope it allows people to experience differently?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for asking about this.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're extremely excited about this project.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Wolfhaven is embarking on a process to raise funds for and then construct a treehouse learning center.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have a mature stand of Doug Furs that actually overlooks our sanctuary that was identified as a perfect location for a treehouse.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we partnered with Nelson Treehouse, which is headquartered up in Fall City, Washington.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: They're behind the reality TV show called Treehouse Masters, if you've ever seen that.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And they came down to do a site visit.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: They looked at our Doug Furs and they said, yes, this is a perfect spot.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually about 80% of the way to our goal.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're hoping to close out this capital campaign this fall.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually participating in the community foundation of South Puget Sound's annual give local event from November 2nd to the 20th, with the goal to construct the treehouse sometime in January, February of 2027.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: A little more than a decade ago, when we realized that we wanted to start reducing the amount of activity inside the sanctuary.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: But we thought, well, what opportunities do we have to do more programs outside of the sanctuary, including ones that demonstrate ethical wildlife viewing from a distance?
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so the treehouse is a perfect opportunity for this because folks will be able to come to Wolfhaven and still have a really cool thing to visit for visits that don't necessarily go inside the sanctuary, but be able to wind up a 250-foot ADA accessible ramp, get elevated up into the Dugfur canopy, get out onto a deck surrounding the treehouse, and then look down into a wolf enclosure and watch the wolves observe their natural behavior and do so from a distance.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be able to host school groups to share lessons about ecology and ecosystems.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll also be able to do lessons about prairie ecosystems.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: And after being up in the treehouse, the school group can then go walk out on the prairie, actually interact with the birds and butterflies and other wildlife that are out there.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: That is fantastic.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: I love how much thought is going into creating the right experience for people.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's intentional and it shows.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: And as a visitor, that is something that I think not only myself will appreciate.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: So looking forward to that.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Congratulations on being so close to your goal.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know yeah, that it's it's a big thing.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think that's a very exciting next step for Wolfhaven as a whole.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be really fantastic.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be an incredible new landmark on our local landscape.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it has a minimum 30-year lifetime that Nelson constructs these really high-quality, sophisticated tree houses.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: So several generations of students at least will be able to form really long-lasting memories of their visit to Wolfhaven that we hope will help shape the whole next generation of wolf and wildlife conservationists.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: I believe it will.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Everything you've shared really does speak to the experience that people can have here.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: And Wolfhaven really is such a unique place to have right here in Thurston County.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so I want to zoom out for just a minute.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_02: I would love for you to share some local love.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: And if someone came to Thurston County to visit you at Wolfhaven, where else would you send them?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So there's so many lovely places nearby.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Miller Sylvania, that's one of my favorite local parks.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: We have a great relationship with Off at Lake Resort and Lady of the Lake.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love taking folks out to the lake on a sunny afternoon and getting a drink and hanging out on their patio.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's really fun.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love to take folks down to Don Juan's in in Tenaino.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: They have wonderful Mexican food and a great community rock for the downtown Tenaino area.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then out to the new Tenaino Ag Park, maybe show folks the Colvin Ranch display there and pick up some fresh meat from Colvin and then maybe head out to Black Lake.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love to go stand up paddleboard on Black Lake.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of my weekend haunts.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I might do for a fun day.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: That sounds like a wonderful day.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: My family and I actually just purchased paddleboards.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe we'll catch you out at the lake sometime because we also go to Black Lake.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for those suggestions.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think we've officially given everyone a reason to put Wolfhaven International on their list.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: And before we wrap up, I want to give you the final words.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we've talked about the people, the place, the experience, and what makes Wolfhaven special.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I would love for you to finish this sentence.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thurston County is arriving and filled with just the greatest people.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's a beautiful response.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: I like that.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Jeff.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesse.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, now we've talked about it, you've heard the story, gotten a taste of what makes Wolfhaven special, and hopefully you're ready to discover it for yourself.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: You can find Wolfhaven International in Tinaino, and that's just one of the many reasons to explore Thurston County.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: Ready to see what else is waiting for you, head to experienceolympia.com and meet Ollie by Gali, your guide to discovering more places to go, things to do, and adventures to find throughout Thurston County.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes the best adventures aren't the ones you planned, they're the ones you discover.