<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">FOR RELEASE: </font></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:black">Wednesday, July ,7, 2021<br><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><b><font size="4"><span style="color:black">NEW:</span> Indigenous-directed<span style="color:black"> short film asks Interior Secretary Haaland to return federal protections to gray wolves <br><br></span></font></b><span style="text-align:start;color:black"><b><font size="4">Over 120 Tribes have signed "The Wolf: A Treaty of Cultural and Environmental Survival" and call on Secretary Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation regarding the Treaty</font></b><br></span><b><span style="color:black"><br></span></b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><i><span style="color:black">Montana—</span></i><span style="color:black">The Global Indigenous Council today released “</span>FAMILY<span style="color:black">,” a short film highlighting the deep cultural connection Indigenous Nations share with wolves and the major threats currently facing imperiled wolves in the lower 48 states. Watch “</span>FAMILY<span style="color:black">” on the Global Indigenous Council </span><a href="https://bit.ly/3AyrsLP" target="_blank">YouTube page here.</a></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:black">“</span>FAMILY<span style="color:black">” appeals to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to reverse President Trump’s decision to remove federal protection from gray wolves in the lower 48 states and to relist the wolf under the Endangered Species Act. Leaving the Trump Administration’s wolf delisting rule in place contradicts President Biden’s Jan. 26 “Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships,” as the vast array of tribes impacted by the former administration’s decision were never consulted.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:black">In a recent interview on “</span><a href="https://earthjustice.org/blog/2021-may/biden-wolves-coyote-peterson-endangered-brave-wilderness" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Brave Wilderness</span></a><span style="color:black">,” President Biden said “I’m in” when asked about protections for wolves. The president also articulated the message conveyed by “FAMILY.”</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:black">Over 120 Tribes and numerous highly respected Indigenous spiritual leaders, authors, orators, and water protectors have signed</span> “<u><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://www.globalindigenouscouncil.com/wolf-treaty" target="_blank">The Wolf: A Treaty of Cultural and Environmental Survival</a></span></u><span style="color:black">.” Contrary to the law on federally mandated tribal consultation, the Trump administration declined to meet with tribal government signatories or even accept receipt of the treaty. Echoing “FAMILY,” Tribal leaders are calling on Secretary Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation regarding the Treaty and to reinstate protections for wolves.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">This year, several states have passed legislation or implemented management decisions that could push the species back to the brink of extinction. In Wisconsin, a February hunt resulted in the death of 216 wolves in just 60 hours, far exceeding the state’s allowed quota. In Montana and Idaho, governors recently signed a slew of bills that aimed at reducing wolf populations by 80% and 90%, respectively. The laws enshrine unethical practices including lethal neck snaring, use of motorized vehicles to chase and kill wolves, baiting, spotlighting at night and an extension of the hunting and trapping seasons.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> <br><span style="color:black">“These wolf extermination bills passed and signed by right-wing extremists at the state level demonstrate that they are not only hunting democracy to extinction, they are also conflating Euro-Medieval sadism with so-called wildlife management to the same ends with wolves,” <i>said Rain</i></span><i>,<span style="color:black"> </span>producer of </i><a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/explosive-new-mmiw-documentary-say-her-name-dubbed-eye-opening-by-mainstream-media-as-it-spotlights-an-epicenter-of-the-crisis" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:blue">Say Her Name</span></i></a>, <a href="http://www.somebodysdaughter.com/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:blue">Somebody’s Daughter</span></i></a><i><span style="color:black">, and the director of</span></i><i> “FAMILY<span style="color:black">”. </span></i></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;line-height:normal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="color:black"><font face="arial, sans-serif">The film aims to heighten awareness of the threats wolves are facing nationwide, while stressing that preservation and management of the species is a social justice issue for Tribal Nations. </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> <br><span style="color:black">“Who can’t see this decimation of the wolf as part of the continuing war on Indigenous cultures? What is happening to the wolf is a social justice issue for Indigenous people. The wolf has a vital role in so many of our cultures <i>—</i> in our clans, our songs, our ceremonies. Yet, our voices are ignored,” <i>said award-winning actress </i></span><a href="https://www.academy.ca/2021/crystle-lightning/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration-line:none">Crystle Lightning</span></i></a><i><span style="color:black">, (‘Yellowstone’/’Trickster’) narrator of “</span></i><i>FAMILY<span style="color:black">.” </span></i><span style="color:black">“Whenever the voices of any people are silenced, it is suppression. We are the First People of this land but always the last to be heard.”</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;line-height:normal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:black">Partner organizations who supported the project and are appealing to Secretary of the Interior Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation regarding the Wolf Treaty and to restore protections include:<b> the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity,</b></span><b> <span style="color:black">WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, the Endangered Species Coalition, and the Animal Welfare Institute. </span></b><b></b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/program/documents/Relist%20Northern%20Rockies%20Gray%20Wolves_Ltr%20to%20Haaland_Williams%206.28.21.pdf" target="_blank">In a letter to Haaland on June 28</a><span style="color:black">, Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) urged the Secretary to return the wolf to ESA protections “before the wolf population is decimated, undoing the decades of work toward wolf recovery.”</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> <br></font></p><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="text-align:center"><span style="color:black">The film can be found </span></span>on the Global Indigenous Council YouTube page here<font color="#000000">: </font><a href="https://youtu.be/8ZWmfMK6bfc" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/8ZWmfMK6bfc</a><br><br></font><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:black">Contact:<br>Courtney Bourgoin, Sierra Club, </span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">248-214-6682</span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:black">, </span><a href="mailto:courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:blue">courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org</span></a><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:black"> <br></span><font face="arial, sans-serif">Matthew Koehler, WildEarth Guardians, 406-396-0321, <a href="mailto:mkoehler@wildearthguardians.org" target="_blank">mkoehler@wildearthguardians.org</a><br><br><div style="text-align:center"># # #</div></font></div><p></p><div><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><table border="0" cellspacing="5" style="font-family:-webkit-standard"><tbody><tr><td width="127" align="center"><img src="https://wildearthguardians.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/WG-color-signature-logo-118x150-1.jpg" alt="" class="gmail-CToWUd"></td><td width="1" bgcolor="#949c2a">‌</td><td width="170"><img src="https://wildearthguardians.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/mkoehler-name-25px.png" alt="" class="gmail-CToWUd"><p style="margin:3px 0px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31;color:rgb(55,55,55)">Communications Manager</p><p style="margin:3px 0px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:14px;font-style:italic;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31;color:rgb(55,55,55)">he/him</p><br><p style="margin:3px 0px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31;color:rgb(55,55,55)"><a href="tel:4063960321" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(148,156,42);margin:3px 0px;font-style:italic;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31">(406) 396-0321</a></p><p style="margin:3px 0px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31;color:rgb(55,55,55)"><a href="https://wildearthguardians.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(148,156,42);margin:3px 0px;font-stretch:normal;line-height:1.31">www.wildearthguardians.org</a></p><table border="0" cellspacing="5"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://www.facebook.com/wildearthguardians" target="_blank"><img src="https://wildearthguardians.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/iconfinder_social_media_applications_1-facebook_4102573.png" alt="" width="32" height="32" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a></td><td><a href="http://www.twitter.com/wildearthguard" target="_blank"><img src="https://wildearthguardians.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/iconfinder_social_media_applications_6-twitter_4102580.png" alt="" width="32" height="32" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a></td><td><a href="https://www.instagram.com/wildearthguardians/" target="_blank"><img src="https://wildearthguardians.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/iconfinder_social_media_applications_3-instagram_4102579.png" alt="" width="32" height="32" class="gmail-CToWUd"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>