Contacts: Michel Liao: 208 995 7613, michel.liao22@gmail.com
Suzanne Asha Stone, IWCN: 208 861 5177, suzanne@wildlifecoexistence.org
May 18, 2022
Timberline High School’s TREE Club (Teens Restoring Earth’s Environment) joined IWCN to place a full-page ad in the Idaho Statesman in support of wolves titled “We Want Wolves in Our Tomorrow.”
Timberline High School has a long and storied relationship with Idaho’s wolves. In 2003, their school had the honor of having a wolf pack named after them. For years, students studied and followed the Timberline wolf pack, joining experts in the field to track wolves and hear them howling at night. But in 2021, they learned that eight pups in the Timberline Pack were killed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services.
“Federal agents came into our pups’ den to kill them on federal lands, even though the pups hadn’t done anything wrong; they didn’t even kill any livestock in the area,” said Michel Liao, TREE Club member and Timberline High School Junior. “These pups never got to live or experience the world in all its beauty and died in their own home. It was not only devastating to the pack but also to Timberline High School’s identity as a whole. That pack was a part of us, but now, it’s gone.”
The killing of their pack and passage of anti-wolf legislation Idaho Senate Bill 1211 turned these students into advocates for wolves. The TREE club students have written letters to elected officials; taught lessons to local elementary schools; met with the Nez Perce students to collaborate on conservation efforts; given speeches at the Idaho Environmental Forum and President Biden’s Council on Environmental Quality; and have been profiled in national and international news outlets. Today, Michel Liao, Annie Birch Wright, Cindy Su, and Sasha Truax will be testifying before the Idaho Fish and Game Commission asking them to put a stop to the unlimited and unregulated killing of wolves in Idaho. The ad is an effort to educate Idaho residents who might not be aware of the plight of wolves in their own state.
“We are inspired by these students’ efforts to protect wolves from this state sponsored extermination campaign. These students are real leaders and are using their voices to speak up for those who are voiceless. We hope the Idaho Fish and Game Commission listens to these students and considers the impact they are having on their future.”
Visit UniteForWolves.org to learn more.
The International Wildlife Coexistence Network provides expert interdisciplinary assistance, training, collaboration, and shared research to enable communities around the globe to coexist with wildlife.
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