News Release

For Immediate Release: November 30th, 2023 

 Media Contacts:  

1. Meleesa Johnson, mjohnson@wigreenfire.org
   Wisconsin’s Green Fire Executive Director  
2. Carolyn Pralle, cpralle@wigreenfire.org
   Wisconsin’s Green Fire Communications Coordinator 

Rhinelander, WI – A new lawsuit by the Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance (GLWA) is asking a Dane County Circuit Court judge to block implementation of Wisconsin’s new gray wolf management plan. The group’s lawsuit alleges that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the Natural Resources Board violated the state’s open meetings law as the wolf management plan was drafted and failed to consider the Alliance’s views. In the lawsuit, GLWA is represented by Greenfire Law PC of California, no affiliation with the Wisconsin-based environmental nonprofit Wisconsin’s Green Fire which supported the WDNR’s 2023 wolf management plan. 

“I want to make this crystal clear,” states Meleesa Johnson, Executive Director for Wisconsin’s Green Fire. “Wisconsin’s Green Fire is in no way affiliated with Greenfire Law and does not support, endorse, or concur with the lawsuit. Wisconsin’s Green Fire continues its support of the approved 2023 Wolf Management Plan.”  

The term “green fire” has its roots in Aldo Leopold’s influential essay, “Thinking Like a Mountain” from his book “A Sand County Almanac.” In this essay, Leopold describes a wolf hunt early in his career and the pivotal moment that shaped his views on wildlife and land conservation. Leopold’s work inspires all of us to consider our relationships with one another, the land we inhabit, and the natural world we share.  

In 2017, when Wisconsin’s Green Fire was founded, the nonprofit’s founders considered how their proposed mission and vision aligned with Leopold’s conservation ethic and the love of Wisconsin’s wildlife and landscapes described in “A Sand County Almanac.” They gained permission from The Aldo Leopold Foundation to use the term “green fire” in the organization’s name. While other organizations use similar names, Wisconsin’s Green Fire is unique in its focus on science-based management and conservation of nature in Wisconsin. 

Wisconsin’s Green Fire (WGF) is a statewide nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to science-based management of natural resources. 

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