On February 1st Conservation Northwest and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hosted a virtual screening and panel Q&A for Wild Ways: Why Keeping Washington’s Habitat Connected Matters. Hosts and panel members included experts from both organizations and Washington State Department of Transportation, as well as Darrin Gunkel and I as the filmmakers. Lots of insightful questions and information was shared, watch the event in full to see for yourself.
It was such a pleasure to be a guest on the podcast In Tune To Nature, hosted by Carrie Freeman, along with Frances Figart. In Tune to Nature is an eco & animal protection weekly radio show broadcast from Atlanta on Radio Free Georgia Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on wrfg.org and 89.3FM. Carrie led a discussion with Frances and I about using creative ways to support wildlife safe road passages. You can listen to our episode here.
Some positive feedback from The Crossing event in Asheville, NC, this autumn, as shared in the Safe Passages I-40 newsletter. Both Cascade Crossroads and Critter Crossings in the Cascades were publicly screened.
“My favorite aspect of the film was how encouraging it was! The collaboration between multiple stakeholders in finding safe paths for the animals to cross felt so good. Our country has been so divided on many issues, particularly in recent years. Learning about the success of this project and how the governmental and state agencies continued to reach out to the film director for more of his work after the original film was proof that they, too, were inspired!”
— Robin D.
It gives me great pleasure to share with you a new film, created with Darrin Gunkel, called Wild Ways: Why Keeping Washington’s Habitat Connected Matters. Produced by Scott Downes and Elizabeth Torrey of Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and Andrea Wolf-Buck of Conservation Northwest, our mission was to create an introduction to the concept of wildlife connectivity to a general audience. What does that mean? What is wildlife connectivity? See for yourself…
What an amazing night it was in Asheville! The Crossing was a hit, and a sold out event showing my films along with other local films, music and culture. I was proud to represent the home team in testifying about the success of wildlife crossings and the positive impact they have on the ecology on the highways where they are implemented.
And here’s some good news: thanks to the efforts of the Safe Passages Fund Coalition, the North Carolina legislature has allocated $2 million toward construction of wildlife crossings in the Great Smoky Mountains! Read more here.
Very grateful for the hospitality from Frances Figart, Jeff Hunter, Ben Prater, and Elly Wells.
Photos courtesy Debbie Russell and Elly Wells, Inc
