Ryan Sedgeley is the Southern Rockies Representative for the Endangered Species Coalition. Alan Lacy is the Founder & Chief Filmmaker for Reel Earth Films. Both organizations worked on the new film 'Welcome Home', that tells the story of wolves’ return to Colorado and how wildlife and people can live together.

Ryan and Alan spoke about their own connections to nature, the process of creating this film for the public, and the deeper meanings behind the films message for wolves' and humans coexistence moving forward.

**See the trailer and updates on film screenings below**

Welcome Home Film Website

Endangered Species Coalition

Reel Earth Films

@endangeredspeciescoalition

@reelearthfilms

@thewolfconnectionpod

Doug Smith is a former Senior Wildlife Biologist and the former Yellowstone National Park Wolf Program Lead for 28 years. Chris Servheen was the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for 35 years.

Both Doug and Chris went into great detail about the history of grizzly bear and wolf recovery, the changing landscape in predator management since the 1980's, and their concerns about the future of both species in the western United States.

**Please read their paper published in The Yellowstonian below**

Will Two Of The World’s Greatest Wildlife Conservation Success Stories Be Unwritten?

Bear Specialist Group

Yellowstone Wolf Project

@thewolfconnectionpod

Joel Cates has been the Facilities Manager for Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary since 2019 after starting as a volunteer in 2013.

He spoke about growing up around the wilderness in North Western Ontario, his journey in the early days of Yamnuska, and gave updates on recent rescues and projects happening around the sanctuary.

Yamnuska Website

@yamnuskawdsanct

@cates239

Emily Weidner has been a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Biologist at the Bend Field Office in Orgeon since 2017. She is the office lead for eagles, sage-grouse, bats and wolves.

Emily spoke about her role as a USFWS Biologist in Oregon, the types of research happening with wolves in their specific area, told us an incredible wolf encounter story, and about her experiences in the field.

@onebrownleg

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Bend, OR)

@thewolfconnectionpod

Screenwriter, director and producer Ashley Avis came back to Wolf Connection for the second time in 2 weeks! Ashley filmed at Wolf Connection for the new initiative, A Cry for the Wild, which will culminate in a 3-day event & rally for wolves and wildlife in Washington, D.C. this month. She also disclosed information about the next steps in the new film project, American Wolf.

Ashley is the President of The Wild Beauty Foundation, wrote, directed and edited Black Beauty on Disney+ and directed the award winning documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West.

**More details about "A Cry for the Wild" rally in Washington, D.C. below**

Cry for the Wild Website

@ashleyavis

@thewolfconnectionpod

Ashley Avis is a screenwriter, director and producer of 6 feature films and is the President of The Wild Beauty Foundation. She is the writer, director and editor for Black Beauty on Disney+ and directed the award winning documentary Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West.

Ashley spoke about her visit to Wolf Connection, her new film project, American Wolf, and the similarities between her work with wild horses and wolves.

Watch the video podcast on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/coYPvvH-lYk

Ashley Avis Website

@ashleyavis

@thewolfconnectionpod

Cara Love is an Evolutionary Biologist and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. She has been studying wolves in the exclusion zone of Chernobyl for over a decade. Cara’s goal is to help further our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary ramifications anthropogenic stressors have on wildlife populations.

Cara described her research on how wolves are surviving in and around Chernobyl, the ways in which they are collecting data, and how radiation exposure in wolf populations could lead to possible cancer fighting genetics.

Cara Love Website

Wolves of Chernobyl (Website)

The Mutant Wolves of Chernobyl Have Evolved to Survive Cancer

@thewolfconnectionpod

This is the third edition of 'Wolf Tracks'! We discussed the Cody Robert's fallout in Wyoming, along with other stories pertaining to wolves with Carter Niemeyer.

Carter retired from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2006 as the Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the state of Idaho. He was an integral part of the Federal Wolf Reintroduction in both Yellowstone and Idaho. Carter has authored two books, Wolfer and Wolf Land, which can be purchased through multiple book retailers.

Here are the articles and content that were discussed in the podcast:

Forest Service/BLM Can't Ban Coyote Whacking

Hogs for Hope Fundraiser

H.R. 764 Passes the House (Trust the Science Act)

Ninth Circuit Upholds Temp. Protections for Grizzlies in Wolf Trapping Case

Dane County Judge Dismisses Lawsuit to revoke DNR wolf management plan

Idaho's Wolf Killings Decline

@thewolfconnectionpod