FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 13, 2016
The Fund for Wild Nature Names Project Coyote Founder & Executive Director Camilla Fox Grassroots Activist of the Year
Project Coyote’s Camilla Fox is Changing the Landscape for Wild Predators
Sebastopol, Calif. – For her outstanding efforts and dedication to wild predators, the Fund for Wild Nature is proud to announce that we have selected Project Coyote Founder and Executive Director Camilla Fox as our 2015 Grassroots Activist of the Year. Project Coyote is a national organization based in the Bay Area that has fought relentlessly on behalf of coyotes, foxes, cougars, bears, bobcats, and wolves in wild rural and urban environments. Backed by an advisory board of prominent wildlife scientists, Project Coyote works to stop the indiscriminate killing of wildlife across North America; reform predator management; and create successful models of coexistence for the health, sustainability and resilience of our communities.
Fox founded Project Coyote in 2008 after having worked in the field of wildlife and environmental conservation for more than 15 years. “I felt there was a need for an organization that would be a voice for coyotes, bobcats, wolves and other maligned and misunderstood native carnivores who are afforded no protections and yet are so critical for healthy, fully functioning ecosystems,” said Fox. “I also saw agencies and local governments desperate for information, tools and resources to help communities reduce negative encounters between people, wildlife and domestic animals – we help fill that need.”
Operating on a lean budget and largely volunteer network, Project Coyote plays a key role in exposing and challenging the lethal predator management policies of state and federal agencies. At the same time, Fox’s group has successfully challenged wildlife killing contests (competitive entertainment that offers prizes and money for the most animals killed) across many Western states where they take place. In 2014, Project Coyote successfully petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to prohibit prizes and other inducements for killing coyotes, bobcats, foxes and other wildlife — thereby making California the first state to end this practice. Project Coyote’s upcoming documentary film about killing contests — supported by the Fund for Wild Nature — is intended to raise awareness about the nature of killing contests, and inspire popular support for banning them in the states where they continue to occur.
Of Fox’s achievements and character, the Fund for Wild Nature President Marnie Gaede said, “Camilla possesses that rare combination of confidence and humility that allows her to tenaciously defend and persuasively advocate for native carnivores. She possesses the essential qualities that make wildlife activists most effective.”
In recognition of the award, The Fund for Wild Nature will present Fox with a check for $1,000, and a Golden Badger statue. The public is invited to attend the award presentation, which will take place Thursday, December 15, at the Bay Club at Shelter Bay in Mill Valley. The presentation will be part of a holiday benefit to celebrate the recent release of Dan Flores’ critically praised book, Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History. Tickets are available at http://www.projectcoyotegala.org/
About the Fund for Wild Nature – www.fundwildnature.org
The Fund for Wild Nature invests in bold grassroots organizations and innovative conservation efforts that meet emerging needs for protecting biodiversity and wilderness.
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