Part II – Grey Wolf Advocacy and Grey Wolf Project Reflection
Now that you have learned so much about the grey wolf situation and conservation in general, you have become inspired to do some personal advocacy on behalf of the course of action you recommended.
Grey Wolf Advocacy Assignment – 4 points
Now that you have organized your thinking by writing the Gray Wolf Project recommendation report, write an opinion article or a letter to a relevant representative persuading the reader of your stance. See details down below.
Grey Wolf Project Reflection – 1 point
Reflect on how adequately prepared you were to complete this assignment. Start by identifying for which parts you felt well prepared. Distinguish areas in which you were strong before entering the course and areas in which this course gave opportunities for strengthening. Finally, identify the areas of knowledge or skill deficiencies that arose in the process of doing this project. How did you overcome the deficiencies as the project progressed? If you had it to do over again, what would you change?
ADVOCACY LETTER OR OP-ED 4 POINTS
Your goal for either of the below options is to persuade someone to agree with you. Remember, if you are not an authority, it helps to quote an authority. Appeal with logic to show how deeply you have thought about the issue. Top it off with studies showing how needed the intervention is as well as how effective your course of action will be (if available). Cite specific examples wherever possible as this illustrates your point better than explanation.
OPTION 1) LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIAL
Based on your research for the grey wolf delisting recommendation report, write a letter to a public official stating your support or opposition to a policy. Note, you can choose to write to any person important to decision making processes about gray wolves, not only in Washington State, but elsewhere in the country.
Your letter should be no more than one page if written on standard 8.5” by 11” paper and no more than 3 paragraphs if e-mailed. If emailed, please cc me at bournsb@seattleu.edu. As this is a letter, of course you may write it from your perspective (“I feel,” etc.) Letters will be graded on your ability to outline the issues in a clear and concise manner, clearly stating the action to be taken, use of evidence or logic to support your argument, and the clarity and persuasiveness of your writing. Upload a separate document with a short paragraph explaining who the representative is and how you went about determining to whom to write. As with any other written work, you should appropriately give credit for any information you use that was not generated by yourself. You may actually cite your sources as you did in the recommendation report, or you may use phrases such as “according to the National Academy of Sciences….” or, ideally, establish the scientific credibility of your source by saying “in a peer-reviewed scientific study conducted by investigators at the University of Wisconsin, Holbrook et al show…”
Checklist – did you…
Provide strong support in the form of logic and studies with reputable sources?
Upload both your letter and a separate document describing chosen recipient and why?
Cc me in email (or upload document providing evidence of submission, for instance a photograph of the addressed envelope)?
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