2021 saw momentous victories that were years, and in some cases, even decades in the making. Notably, Project Coyote helped usher in a new era of human-wildlife coexistence in New Mexico, California, and Wisconsin. In March, Roxy’s Law banning traps, snares, and poisons on public lands in New Mexico finally passed into law after a decade of unwavering work from a diverse and dedicated coalition of advocates for the safety of wild and domestic animals.
In August, we celebrated with local advocates after Mendocino County finally terminated its contract with the rogue USDA Wildlife Services program that kills millions of animals across the country every year at the behest of agricultural interests. While we’re focused on national reform for this program, every county that turns this indiscriminate killing mindset down is a victory. We’re now collaborating with the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to implement a modern, effective and science-based non-lethal program. And in October, we blocked an impending wolf hunt in Wisconsin — which would have been an unheard-of second hunt in a single year — with our lawsuit filed with co-plaintiffs and represented by our stellar public interest lawyers at Greenfire Law, PC, Animal & Earth Advocates, and Laffey, Leitner & Goode, LLC.
We are collectively closing out the year thankful for the many wolves, coyotes, other wildlife (and even family dogs) that are saved through these vital victories that promote coexistence and make our public lands safer for all.
Our work to expose and end wildlife killing contests continues with Maryland becoming the eighth state to ban wildlife killing contests in April of this year. Additionally, we’ve seen significant progress in states such as New York, New Jersey, Nevada, and Virginia. In Nevada, Reno City Council and Clark County Board of Commissioners each passed resolutions condemning wildlife killing contests this year. We are also continuing our public awareness campaign, in collaboration with National Geographic filmmakers, with the release of the documentary, Wildlife Killing Contests. This film has already provoked a huge response from across the country and we are confident that momentum will continue through 2022 as even more people are exposed to this egregious practice and speak up in defense of voiceless wildlife.
Our work also expanded to meet evolving needs on two foundation fronts. First, we launched a new campaign Protecting America’s Wolves (PAW) to support and coalesce our focused efforts in protecting wolves now that they lost federal protections and state-sanctioned slaughter is renewing the war on wolves. We are striving to protect wolves in every state, for federal emergency relisting and a national recovery plan. Second, we are proud to join colleagues in the creation of Wildlife For All by serving on the nascent group’s advisory committee. This coalition will focus on much-needed state wildlife governance reform, progress on which will be integral to all our long-term coexistence efforts.
Project Coyote’s pack continued to grow this year with the addition of Mandy Culbertson as Project Coyote‘s new Operation and Outreach Manager, Sarah Killingsworth as our Keeping It Wild Youth Education and Outreach Program, Francisco Santiago-Ávila as Big River Connectivity Science and Conservation Manager, and Kelly Borgmann as our Big River Connectivity Coexistence Coordinator. We’ll also soon be hiring a Carnivore Conservation Advocate to help advance our national Protect America’s Wolves, Coyote Friendly Communities, and Carnivore Conservation & Coexistence programs.
Our science, education, and advocacy work will continue in 2022 to ban wildlife killing contests state by state and nationally, to fight for wolves across their range, to promote coexistence with coyotes and other wild carnivores, and to empower our supporters to speak up in defense of voiceless wildlife.
We are immensely grateful for your continued support!
CARNIVORE CONSERVATION & COEXISTENCE
Booting USDA “Wildlife Services” in Mendocino County, California
August marked a great victory for Project Coyote and ally, the Mendocino Non-lethal Wildlife Alliance, when the Mendocino Board of Supervisors terminated their contract with USDA’s Wildlife Services. Project Coyote has been advocating for termination of this contract since 2014, when they first appealed to county supervisors after information revealed that a federal trapper had killed more than 400 dogs in the county during his course of business as a taxpayer-subsidized federal trapper.
“We commend the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors who voted in support of ending this deadly contract,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote Founder and Executive Director. “For far too long this agency has run rough-shod over native wildlife and unsuspecting communities — trapping, snaring, and poisoning wildlife at taxpayer expense at the behest of private ranchers. We know through science that indiscriminate killing of coyotes, bobcats, bears, mountain lions and other wild animals is not effective at conflict mitigation and more and more, communities are questioning the ethics of this archaic approach.”
Project Coyote’s National Carnivore Conservation Manager, Dr. Michelle Lute has been appointed to a committee to help develop a non-lethal plan to assist the county with human-wildlife conflicts in place of the Wildlife Services contract.
Ending Trapping Cruelty on Public Lands ~ Roxy’s Law, New Mexico
Roxy’s Law, passed in March, protects the approximately 22 million acres of national forest and public lands in New Mexico from indiscriminate traps, snares and poisons. The New Mexico House of Representatives passed Senate Bill (SB) 32 (Roxy’s Law) on March 18 which was then signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham the next day.
“With this momentous legislation prohibiting traps, snares and poisons, the Land of Enchantment has joined a class of enlightenment along with more than 80 countries and a handful of other U.S. states,” said Michelle Lute, PhD in wildlife science and National Carnivore Conservation Manager for Project Coyote.
Project Coyote celebrates this victory with Animal Protection Voters, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered Species Coalition, New Mexico Wild Action Fund, New Mexico Veterinary Medical Association, the Southwest Environmental Center, the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, and other organizations who supported and worked to pass SB 32.
Protecting Wolves in Wisconsin
In the biggest news for wolf protection in the United States in 2021, a court in Wisconsin issued an injunction on November 6 requiring the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to set the quota at zero wolves for the 2021 wolf trophy hunt. The injunction was granted at the request of Project Coyote and co-plaintiffs as part of a legal action filed against DNR. Judge Frost’s decision rested on his concern that DNR has violated the law by failing to follow its own policies and instead relying on a 2012 emergency rule.
“DNR needs to stop it,” Frost said in his oral ruling issued from the bench. “They need to actually comply with the law.”
This injunction will temporarily stop hunting of wolves in Wisconsin, and so Project Coyote and partners will continue to fight for protections for wolves.
In fewer than three days this past February, hunters used hounds, guns, and traps to slaughter over 216 reported wolves—almost twice the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) quota of 119 wolves and likely far fewer than the actual total killed if unreported kills are taken into account. Our Science Advisor Dr. Adrian Treves estimated that reported and illegal killing has likely resulted in 330-337 wolves perishing.
Ending Wildlife Killing Contests in Nevada
In September, the Reno City Council passed a resolution condemning wildlife killing contests. The vote passed 6-1, much to the relief of local residents, scientists, activists, and national wildlife conservation organizations. The resolution recognizes that coyotes and other native carnivores play a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, such as controlling rabbit and rodent populations, and that wildlife killing contests threaten the safety and well-being of hikers, dog walkers, bird watchers, hunters, and other outdoor enthusiasts. This resolution came on the heels of the Clark County Board of Commissioners voting 7 to 0 in favor of a similar resolution condemning wildlife killing contests and calling on the state wildlife agency to ban the practice in March. While great victories, Project Coyote, our partners, and citizens on the ground continue to push for a state ban in Nevada.
Banning Wildlife Killing Contests in Maryland
Maryland became the eighth state to ban wildlife killing contests in April this year with the passing of HB293/SB200. The bill put an end to cruel and wasteful killing contests that result in hundreds of animals being removed from the landscape, and countless more being orphaned. The passing of the law put Maryland in the company of seven other states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington — that have banned wildlife killing contests.
Protecting America’s Wolves
To support our efforts in protecting wolves in Wisconsin and across their historic range — a new campaign we’re calling Protecting America’s Wolves (PAW) — we partnered with our friends at Comfort Theory to launch a series of videos promoting the benefits wolves provide to healthy ecosystems.
Check out our YouTube channel for the videos we’ve released thus far to counter false narratives with science demonstrating why wolves should be protected from state-sanctioned slaughter.
Reaching the Masses ~ Project Coyote’s Billboard Campaign
Project Coyote, in collaboration with concerned citizens and allied wildlife advocacy organizations, initiated a national billboard campaign to bolster our efforts to end wildlife killing contests and highlight the plight of wolves via our PAW campaign, beginning with the placement of three billboards in Eau Claire and Rock Counties in Wisconsin through the spring.
Starting in May and running through October, we partnered with Wyoming Wildlife Advocates to install a billboard in Cody, Wyoming. The signs point to ProjectCoyote.org and urge viewers to sign our Petition to End Wildlife Killing Contests on Federal Public Lands.
Plans are in the works for additional billboards in strategic locations across the country and one of our steadfast supporters has offered to match donations up to $10,000 to support this campaign! Listen to the national radio coverage and read more.
Exposing the Brutality ~ Comfort Theory’s Wildlife Killing Contests Film
This year saw the release of a gripping new film, Wildlife Killing Contests. Project Coyote launched this film in partnership with Comfort Theory, a film production company founded by incredibly talented National Geographic filmmakers.
Wildlife Killing Contests launched in February and has helped catapult our campaign to end wildlife killing contests to another level. Compelled by the shocking revelations of the film as well as the supporting social media campaign, more than 63,000 people have signed our Petition to End Wildlife Killing Contests on Federal Public Lands.
Additionally, the film was selected for inclusion in the DC Environmental Film Festival. DCEFF has since added the film to their Summer Shorts: Conservation I series and has also been submitted for consideration in additional film festivals. Watch the film trailer and read coverage of the film in The Hill and on NationalGeographic.com.
ARTISTS FOR WILD NATURE
Inspiring Action in Michigan ~ Spirit Of The Hunt Art Exhibit
Project Coyote and the Michigan Technological University’s (MTU) College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences partnered this year to present The Spirit of the Hunt, a multimedia art exhibition. All pieces were generously donated by the artists, including works by Project Coyote’s Artists for Wild Nature Monte Deignan and Sarah Killingsworth, renowned photographer Jim Brandenburg, and local Michigan artists Joyce Koskenmaki and Ladislav Hanka. The exhibit ran from August 28 through October 17 and has moved to Northern Michigan University campus in Marquette, Michigan until mid-December. The overall timing was chosen to raise awareness and consideration of current proposed legislation regarding wolf policies in Michigan and beyond. The artwork after the exhibit will be placed for auction with all proceeds donated to Project Coyote to support our work protecting wolves and other wildlife species.
COYOTE FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES™
Project Coyote continues to partner with the National Animal Care and Control Association in coordinating efforts to encourage coexistence between people, domestic animals, and our native predators. We’ve launched a new webpage as a one-stop-shop for animal control officers nationwide to access co-branded Coyote Friendly Communities signage and information. Future additions to the website will include videos and other resources so those in the field can share best practices.
RANCHING WITH WILDLIFE
Ranching with Wildlife Coordinator Keli Hendricks has long been one of Project Coyote’s most in-demand speakers. 2021 was no different. Her informative and engaging presentations about coexisting in harmony with our wild neighbors and employing nonlethal methods of predator control always garner enthusiastic responses and no doubt save the lives of countless animals from native carnivores to domestic companion animals. Keli gave many much-appreciated presentations to communities, ranchers, and the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control & Welfare and several informative interviews, including Resistance Radio with Derek Jensen on the Progressive Radio Network.
SCIENCE, & STEWARDSHIP
Science Advisory Board members Dr. Adrian Treves and Dr. Francisco Santiago-Ávila published Quantifying the effects of delisting wolves after the first state began lethal management in PeerJ in July and Modeling concerns confound evaluations of legal wolf-killing in Biological Conservation. They were joined by Science Advisor Dave Parsons and other co-authors on Evaluating how lethal management affects poaching of Mexican wolves in Royal Society Open Science. Dr. Treves joined by Science Advisor Dr. Paul Paquet on Large carnivore hunting and the social license to hunt in Conservation Biology. Chris Mowry and colleagues conducted many interviews and published Interface of Human/Wildlife Interactions: An Example of a Bold Coyote (Canis latrans) in Atlanta, GA, USA in Diversity.
EVENTS
Project Coyote continued to engage the public and disseminate our message of compassionate coexistence through multimedia platforms. Notably, we participated in the California Fish and Game Commission online workshops about Coyotes in the Urban Environment with Workshop #2 featuring Dr. Michelle Lute as a member of the expert panel. Check out coverage of the workshop in The Malibu Times.
Project Coyote, in collaboration with The Rewilding Institute, implemented a pandemic-friendly series of informative and engaging webinars. To date, topics have included (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Coexisting; Becoming Wolf: The Eastern Coyote; and Predator Photography: An Ethical Approach. Many members of the Project Coyote pack have been interviewed and featured in podcasts, news articles and other media which can be read here and here. Check out our Webinars and Events pages for past media and news about upcoming presentations.