Get the state of the science and public policy related to wolves in the U.S. today. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) hosted this virtual conversation in a January 25 webinar. See the video replay here, or listen to this podcast replay.
Learn about the history of gray wolf persecution and recovery, PEER’s unique approach using the Pittman-Robertson Act, hear from a notable scientist about the state of the science about liberalizing wolf-killing, and explore an indigenous perspective for a new vision for wolves based on an ancient relationship. The webinar included Q&A from participants and a call to action for participants to protect wolves in 2022 and beyond.
Featured Speakers:
Adrian Treves PhD
Professor and Founder of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab
Adrian conducts independent research and advocates for future generations of all life, for scientific integrity, and for sovereign publics worldwide. He studies and speaks about the public trust doctrine and intergenerational equity around the world. Adrian earned his PhD at Harvard University in 1997 and is a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab since 2007. For the past 27 years, his research focuses on ecology, law, and human dimensions of ecosystems in which crop and livestock ownership overlaps the habitat of large carnivores from coyotes up to grizzly bears.
Peter David
Wildlife Biologist
Peter David a wildlife biologist with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, where he assists GLIFWC’s member tribes in the implementation of their off-reservation, treaty-reserved rights. He received his education (bachelors and master’s in wildlife ecology) from UW-Madison, and from the tribal elders and members for whom he has worked for the last 35 years. At the Commission, he has had the opportunity to work with a variety of natural resources – or “more than human beings” in the Ojibwe world view – ranging from wild rice to wolves.
Dave Parsons
Dave Parsons received his Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University and his Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology from Oregon State University. Dave is retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where from 1990-1999 he led the USFWS’s effort to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf to portions of its former range in the Southwest.
Chandra Rosenthal
Attorney, Rocky Mountain PEER Director
A Colorado native, Chandra heads up the office as Rocky Mountain PEER Counsel. Chandra, formerly staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife specializing in endangered species and public lands issues, has also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and, under a legal fellowship, worked on a Superfund site with the Department of Energy. Chandra earned her law degree in 1993 at the Lewis and Clark Northwestern School of Law, where she focused her studies on environmental law.
Moderator:
Hudson Kingston
Policy and Litigation Attorney at PEER
Hudson, a born and raised Minnesotan, helps public employees hold governments to account for environmental harm in the Midwest and across the country. He comes to PEER after working with public health, consumer protection, and environmental organizations in both Washington DC and the Midwest. Over the course of his career, he has worked on litigation and policy related to climate change, addressing the water pollution impacts of mining, pesticide regulation, the environmental and health impacts of e-cigarettes, and environmental injustices perpetuated by the administrative state. It has been his honor to partner in this work with tribes, local nonprofits, low-income advocates, coalitions of environmental and social justice groups, and local/state/territorial/federal public employees. Hudson received his law degree from the University of Iowa School of Law, and two Masters of Laws degrees in human rights and international law from New York University and the National University of Singapore. He received his bachelor’s degree in French and English Literature from Carleton College, in Minnesota.
Call to Action
Participants are encouraged to call Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland at (202) 208-3100 and encourage her to: (1) Use Pittman-Robertson funds as a lever to compel states to protect native predators and (2) Issue an immediate emergency listing of the Grey Wolf as an endangered species.
Links:
A Review of the Effects of Liberalizing the Killing of Wolves
(Pre-print of the peer-reviewed publication)
Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
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