NDWF Communicators Award
(From left) Wayne Beyer, ND Wildlife Federation President, Jan Swenson, BCA, and Mike McEnroe, ND Wildlife Federation
On January 20th, Badlands Conservation Alliance executive director Jan Swenson and North Dakota Wildlife Federation past-president Mike McEnroe were recognized as 2018 Conservation Communicators of the Year at the NDWF Awards Banquet. NDWF defines this award as to an “outstanding conservation effort that accomplished the most in creating a public awareness of the importance of natural resource conservation.”
The two organizations co-produced Keeping All the Pieces, a 15-minute outreach film illustrating both the beauty of our Badlands and threats the Bakken brings to landscape, wildlife and traditional uses. Mike and Jan took Keeping All the Pieces “on the road,” doing 30 presentations (so far) across the state to prompt the public Q&A and conversation they sought and that invariably followed.
Jan and Mike recognize other key players that made the Keeping All the Pieces Campaign possible: Al Sapa (wisdom and elbow grease), David Swenson (videography) at Makoche Recording, and on-screen informants for sharing their love of the Badlands. They also acknowledge the organizations that provided financial support: BCA, NDWF, ND Chapter of the Wildlife Society, ND Natural Resources Trust, World Wildlife Fund, and the Bismarck-Mandan Lewis and Clark Wildlife Club, including contributions from individual members.
Keeping All the Pieces was released for public distribution at our February 1st press conference and may be viewed on BCA’s Facebook page, on YouTube and best of all on our webpage at BadlandsConservationAlliance.org. Be sure you scroll down after viewing the film to take in the “How to Get Involved” aspect of the campaign.