How to REALLY Connect with Your Elected Officials + A Sample Letter to Senator Tammy Baldwin

When speaking with a staffer at the Wisconsin State Capitol last March, I asked how I could assure that my elected official would truly hear and consider my thoughts on wildlife conservation issues. He answered as if he was letting me in on a little secret...

Melissa Smith: Tammy Baldwin should protect wolves not seek to delist them

Congress should not enact laws to circumvent the courts, ignore science or take away our right to challenge decisions.

Press Release: New Bill Would Block Wisconsin State Wildlife Management and Encourage Poaching

Yesterday, Wisconsin State Representatives circulated a bill which would make it illegal for law enforcement to enforce state or federal law relating to management of wolves in Wisconsin.

Sample Letter to Senator Tammy Baldwin

Right now, hunting, trapping and livestock groups are actively organizing to have Great Lakes wolves stripped of their endangered status without judicial review as soon as next month. This bill is co-sponsored by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) making the legislation โ€œbi-partisanโ€. Please contact her TODAY to express your opposition. Here's how....

Meeting Behind Enemy Lines

Wolf tastes like chicken. Elkhorn Lodge Clam Lake, Wisconsin WI League of Conservation Voters

On Wednesday evening, I spoke out about the need for science to play a larger role in policy decision- making regarding the grey wolf and other endangered species protections in Wisconsin to a room full of t-shirts that read "kill all the wolves" and "a good wolf is a dead wolf". Here's what I learned...

Guest Blog: A Citizen Lobbying Effort to Defend the Endangered Species Act in DC

June 30, 2017 was an eye-opening day into constituent democracy for me. Gary John Feest and I went to Washington D.C. in a Citizen Lobbying effort to defend the Endangered Species Act.