Please support Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research by donating here:
Please consider donating to ECR to help support my research on this misunderstood animal. If you feel uncomfortable donating online, then please email me – Jon (easterncoyoteresearch@yahoo.com) and I can provide you with a postal address OR you can send money for free (no fees on either end which is about 4% of a transaction) in PayPal by going to Tools then Send Money and send it from bank acct to bank acct using my email address (easterncoyoteresearch@yahoo.com). Another great way to support my work (and to get something in return) is to go to my store page and purchase my books. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
1) Please visit my Events page to book this talk: Northeastern U.S. National Parks: What is and What Could be – This talk focuses on expanding the National Park (NP) System in the Northeast, beyond just having Acadia National Park as its only large “natural” park, by adding 3 units: Cape Cod NP, Kancamagus NP in NH, and Maine Woods NP and Preserve. You can help create more Eastern National Parks to facilitate wildlife watching and preservation (read here). It is imperative that you email/call the following people on the link to get this to happen. We can make a difference but you need to act to make it happen. There is a sample letter at here to create Eastern National Parks. Simply highlight and then copy and paste it to the legislators on the letter (or contact your Senators and local Reps if not from Massachusetts). It really is very simple to do and there are links provided in the form.
2) In some very good news: State prohibits coyote hunting contests – News – capecodtimes.com – Hyannis, MA — The state Fisheries and Wildlife Board voted Wednesday to approve regulations prohibiting contests that promote the hunting of predators and furbearers. Also see a press release here. This is a great start on predator reform. Next up is to try and shorten seasons, have bag limits per hunter, and get rid of some unsavory methods like baiting and using dogs to hunt them. To do that, folks need to contact MassWildlife and Senator Julian Cyr and try and hold hearings so they implement facets of the Carnivore Conservation Act explained here.
3) Petition to better protect carnivores in our largest national park in Massachusetts. This important petition to ban carnivore hunting at Cape Cod National Seashore needs to be acknowledge by MassWildlife (they have strong influence on hunting in the park) and the National Park Service. It is due time that the park service treats this area like the national park that it is and for more people in the East to have a chance to experience a national park setting without having to travel out west. To make this happen, folks need to contact Cape Cod National Seashore and Senator Julian Cyr to question why they allow carnivore hunting. See the PEER letter from summer 2019 challenging them. Nothing has happened since that letter.
4) Please read: Way, J. G. 2016. Blackballed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife: Research Obstruction Testimonial by an Independent Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Biologist. Eastern Coyote Research Publications 5: 1-15. URL: http://easterncoyoteresearch.com/downloads/ResearchObstructionTestimonialSept2016.pdf. This document is fairly self-explanatory and is now a separate page on my website: http://easterncoyoteresearch.com/ResearchObstructionTestimonial. Please contact the Governor of Massachusetts, Senator Julian Cyr, and MassWildlife to voice your opinion.
5) Help create a Wildlife Watching area in the town of Barnstable. It is important to stess that this is not an anti-hunting request. Rather it is a request for democracy, for non-hunters to have a place to watch wildlife that isn’t in danger of getting shot. For instance, in MA in 2006, 73,000 people hunted and generated $71 Million toward the economy while 1,919,000 people wildlife watched, generating a staggering $755 M to the state (http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/fhw06-ma.pdf). However, there are currently no designed wildlife watching areas in Massachusetts except for smaller private settings. I argue for a fairly large, ecosystem-sized area dedicated to wildlife – like my hometown of Barnstable. I also argue that (above) in creating more Eastern National Parks.
Past testimony in support of a wildlife watching area (Feel free to use this letter with minor changes to send to the people below):
“I am writing to support of the establishment of a Wildlife Watching area in the town of Barnstable, proposed by Dr. Jonathan Way of Eastern Coyote Research and supported by the Humane Society of the United States among other organizations. I believe this idea has great merit, particularly in a place like Barnstable that clearly could benefit in the promotion and subsequent economic revenue such an area could provide. Increasingly states and local jurisdictions are recognizing that there is a large untapped revenue source through the growing number of Americans who partake in wildlife watching each year and are seeking areas to protect and promote such areas for this purpose. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 30% of Massachusetts residents participate in wildlife watching activities (including outdoor hiking, photography, and, wildlife viewing) contributing $755 million to the economy, while fewer than 1% hunt (and far fewer trap).In addition to potentially generating additional revenue for Barnstable, the creation of a wildlife watching area would provided needed protective zones for wildlife. Wildlife need protective zones where they are not pursued by trappers and hunters. Ecologically, such areas serve as sanctuaries where wild animals can den and raise young, which in turn helps to provide additional wildlife watching opportunities. Coyotes are an increasingly popular species to view and study, and Dr. Way’s studies in the Cape Cod area have certainly served to generate more interest in this species locally and statewide. Coyotes are just one species that would provide additional wildlife watching opportunities in a protected area within Barnstable.
I look forward to hearing from you about Barnstable’s consideration of establishing a protected wildlife watching area within the township.”