She wanted to be a Wyoming resident, to hear wolves howl and know they roamed free. She wanted to raise her daughter in the wilds of northwest Wyoming in an ecosystem just a little closer to how it was before wolves were exterminated.

Instead, she, her husband and young daughter had to leave. An emergency surgery resulted in extensive nerve damage, and the resulting chronic pain and other complications required she live near a major medical facility with access to specialists. The family still has a house in Wilson, and Askins returns frequently.

“I will heal, and I will return to my beloved Wyoming,” she said. “Hopefully to spend the rest of my life enjoying what I believe to be the most beautiful place on earth and its full complement of native wildlife.”

But 20 years after wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone, their future in Wyoming remains in limbo. The animal has been removed from the endangered species list and placed back on it twice.

Legal arguments are at the center of the public debate. Some dispute Wyoming’s plan to allow wolves to be shot on site in 85 percent of the state. Others worry about a lack of genetic connectivity. Some want the state to have a larger buffer in minimum wolf numbers.

It’s a limbo that still troubles Askins.