In 1948, Aldo Leopold called for a land ethic. In 2025, we’re still fighting to prove wildlife deserves one.  When Aldo Leopold wrote A Sand County Almanac in Wisconsin in 1948, he called for something bigger than conservation. He called for a revolution in values
That was 76 years ago. And here we are, still fighting to prove that wildlife deserves not just protection, but dignity. That cruelty isn’t just a policy failure—it’s a moral one.
Now, the Supreme Court has tied the hands of federal judges, removing their ability to stop unconstitutional and dangerous policies with nationwide injunctions. That means:

Wildlife Will Pay the Price

– Species like wolves, who cross state lines, could be exterminated in one place and protected in another. No judge can stop it nationwide.
– Legal battles that could once halt damage immediately will now take years—longer than many endangered species can survive.
– We are entering an era of patchwork justice, where cruelty to wildlife can be legal by default and ethics are optional.

And in the background: 
– Bird populations have dropped by nearly 3 billion since 1970. 
– 85% of freshwater species globally have collapsed. 
– Mammal declines are accelerating across the Midwest. 
We’re not losing species—we’re losing stability, community, identity.

What We’re Doing About It

GLWA is pushing the ethic forward—ethics rooted in science, democracy, and accountability:

– 📝 We just submitted a petition to list gray wolves under Wisconsin’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act—and we won’t stop there. 
– ⚖️ We’re suing both the state and federal governments under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, demanding fairness in wildlife governance and transparency for the public. 
   – Learn more in Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance v. Wisconsin Natural Resources Board via the Court of Appeals docket, or WPR’s coverage. 
– ✅ We’ve forced transparency, empowered students, exposed procedural failures, and built coalitions across urban and rural communities who are sick of political cruelty masquerading as wildlife policy.

Why We Need You

Lawsuits like ours cost $50,000+, but what’s at stake is priceless: the future of wolves, the integrity of our laws, and the survival of species caught in legal limbo.

We’re doing this for Wisconsin. For the wild. For our shared moral compass.

But we can’t do it without you.

Donate. Advocate. Howl. 
Wildlife can’t wait years for justice ⚖️ http://www.wiwolvesandwildlife.org/Donate

—and neither can we.

📢 msmith@wiwolvesandwildlife.org