Who We Are
“I always felt a deep affinity for nature and animals but it was seven wolf puppies that drove me, through love, into action.”
– Susan B. Eirich, PhD
A Story of Grace and Grit
By Susan B. Eirich, PhD
Co-Founder of Earthfire Institute
I wasn’t exactly searching for a life-changing event. I was happy with my life, absorbed by my career as a psychologist and periodically taking time off to explore other cultures around the world. I’ve always been drawn to seeing the world through the eyes of others, whether those eyes were human or animal, and to looking at things from the broadest frame possible.
I originally earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. The curriculum at the time was heavily oriented to the hard sciences, but I was more inclined to become a naturalist and didn’t see a career path forward. Disappointed, I then followed my interest in learning about my own species and earned a Ph.D. in psychology.
I’ve been fortunate to spend time with the Waonari tribe in the Amazon, a Sherpa village on the border of TIbet, and with the Inuit peoples of Sanikiluaq Island. In between travels, I worked in the prison system as a psychologist, including at a supermax facility in Colorado, and I taught at universities in the US and around the world, including the US military in Japan. My life was interesting and fulfilling, and yet… I missed nature.
Coming back from a year teaching psychology in Greece, I took a job directing a preserve with The Nature Conservancy.
Shortly thereafter, I met professional animal handler Jean Simpson. His deep affinity for animals set him apart from anyone I’d ever met. His innate ability to communicate with and understand any and all living beings is astounding. I was especially captivated by his work with wolves. He invited me to help him on a Disney film for which he was training wolves. When I arrived on the set, Jean surprised me with seven 10-day old pups, asking if I wanted to help raise them.
That was the end of life as I knew it and the beginning of my lifelong commitment to connecting humans with wild animals.
Soon after our introduction, the wolf pups fell desperately ill and needed around-the-clock nursing. While holding them close, bottle feeding them, and feeling their hearts beat, something profound happened to me. Willing them to live and sensing their intense vitality and intelligence, I felt a connection that has lasted all these many years. The depth of this experience opened me to the possibility of connection with all forms of Life and became the driving force for the founding of Earthfire Institute. I couldn’t keep this to myself, knowing that we humans are all capable of finding such joy, beauty, and meaning in our lives.
Disconnection from nature is at the root of all of our difficulties. When we connect deeply with other living beings, we begin to understand the interconnected relationships among our Earth’s ecosystems and make better choices about how we consume natural resources. It’s hard to destroy something we love—something that nurtures, heals, and sustains us. The need to expand our definition of community to truly include all Life and reach back to our wild origins is the basis of Reconnection Ecology®, an approach to conservation that is urgently needed during these times of environmental crisis.
Together, Jean and I have built Earthfire—literally. Starting In 1998, we were able to secure land and permits and constructed a bridge to the undeveloped property. Working 24/7, we built every structure by hand and developed the mission in partnership with the animals under our care. Over the decades, we’ve worked to place Earthfire Institute at the forefront of an experiential, creative, and joyful approach to Life that expands our sense of community to include all the incredible beings we live with on our Earth.
It has been a difficult and joyous journey since 1998. Each day, each week, and each year is a delight, a trouble, and an amazement. An ever-increasing awakening. A microcosm, I believe, of our human journey. In the end, the story of Earthfire is simply a story of applied love, as we work to make a meaningful contribution to conservation on a global scale.
The Human Pack
While we come from a variety of backgrounds, the humans that support the mission of Earthfire all share a love of animals and the natural world.
Our Namesake
Earthfire Institute is named after one of the original wolf pups. She was a lovely silver gray creature, so hesitant and easily startled that we thought for a while she could barely see. Yet it was also she who stopped the squabbles between siblings from getting out of control, always with gentleness, as the pups fought for their place in the pack. She emanated the quality of Earth Mother, with the sense of a fire in her belly to protect anything vulnerable. Earthfire: a fitting name that symbolized what we set out to accomplish on our land.
Wildlife Ambassadors
Coming to us through a variety of circumstances, our domesticated wildlife cannot survive in the wild. Some were kept as pets, some came from fur or meat farms, and others were surrendered to us. All of them are loved and cared for throughout their lifetimes. Our animals serve as vibrant, evocative ambassadors for their species and for species individuality
The soil, made up of finely ground stones and the leaves of plants that once soaked up the sun, is a miracle of intricate life whose secrets we have only begun to understand. It is full of tiny microbes living their lives, supporting more life. The roots of the trees in the forest are connected by a vast, unseen, underground network of fungi. Trees communicate with each other from one end of the forest to the other through these living conduits, sharing information and nutrition.
– Susan B. Eirich, PhD
The Land
By Susan Marsh
Advisory Circle
On top of the Tetons is a secret, the bare rock blasted by winter snows and seared by summer heat… Eons ago, the first life form thrived at the bottom of Earth’s early ocean—mats of blue-green algae that began to oxygenate the water for other life. Now, at the very top of a young mountain range, we can find those very mats. Our Earth is a vibrant, moving, living thing.
Earthfire is located in the heart of rural Teton Valley, Idaho, the quieter side of the Tetons.
The Teton River runs from the surrounding mountains north to meet the Henry’s Fork of the Snake, gathering waters from the Teton and Big Hole Mountains. The valley, also known as Teton Basin, is surrounded by forested highlands, most of which are part of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks lie just beyond the forests. These public lands comprise the southwestern part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Ancient schists and gneisses, resistant to weathering, form the backbone of the Tetons. Other nearby mountain ranges are part of the sedimentary rocks of Overthrust Belt, which weathers into deep, loamy soil. In spring and after a heavy rain, the creeks naturally run high and full of silt. The rich soil sustains subalpine parklands with diverse wildflowers. The steep tilt of many of the geologic strata and the presence of cavern-forming limestone help direct groundwater movement from the peaks to springs in the canyons.
High mountain peaks, rolling hills of sage, and lush river valleys add to the diverse physical character of the land and create habitats for wildlife and fish. The millions of acres of wild land in the Yellowstone region provide critical protection for these habitats and the animals they house. Yellowstone National Park includes one of the few remaining grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states; the largest elk herds in North America; the largest free-roaming bison herds in the country; the biological stronghold of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout; the longest elk, pronghorn, and moose migrations in North America; and the greatest concentration of bighorn sheep in the contiguous 48 states. Teton Valley itself hosts a high concentration of raptors, including great gray owls and wintering rough-legged hawks.
Earthfire encompasses 165 acres of precious habitat including and directly adjacent to the critical South Leigh Creek wildlife corridor, giving wild animals the opportunity for safe travel between the Teton mountain range and the rich habitat of the Teton River. Forty acres of our property houses sanctuary animals that are native to our area: wolves, cougars, bison, brown bears, foxes, coyotes, and more. Additional undeveloped acreage that includes portions of the creek and natural habitat was purchased and preserved by Earthfire in 2020.
A Love Song to the Land
Susan usually writes about the animals, or sometimes about the trees. But the land itself has a voice that needs to be heard. Without that connection to the land, we are ultimately lonely. We need to feel part of the community of life from which we arose.