During field trips, kids do fun activities, enjoy encounters with reptiles and see a live bird presentation. 14 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | APRIL 2 020 Julie Coleman CONTRIBUTING WRITER juliecolemanconsulting@gmail.com 3 p.m. >> HELPING A CULTURE SOAR Another way for us to help the community, people as well as animals, is our Non-Eagle Feather Repository. We are the only entity in the world that’s allowed to give feathers and bird parts to legally recognized tribal members who use them in their regalia and cultural practices. Until we participated in a wildly successful two-year pilot program with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that won a national award, there was no legal mechanism for Native Americans to get these things. We have now sent 4,500 orders to 178 tribes in 49 states. The letters we get from Native Americans are phenomenal and tell us we’re helping people and helping cultures, which is a huge addition to what we already did mission-wise. I’m really proud of this program. 3:30 p.m. >> SURROUNDED BY A CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT On a given day, I’m pretty project-oriented. I love starting a new project, and I’ve got one that’s in the birthing stage: I want to do a documentary. We’re working on getting funding for it. I’ve never done this before, so I’m learning a lot. It’s percolating and gets your juices going. As I finish one project, I then think we could do so-and-so, and people around here go, “Oh no, there she goes again!” 6 p.m. >> A PURPOSE OF PROTECTING AND PRESERVING By the time I get home, I have another list of emails to respond to. I spend my evenings writing or editing, including notes to donors, a regular blog and a monthly newsletter. I’m of the ilk that if we don’t teach people to love wildlife, they’re not going to care when it disappears. We’re all connected. Everything’s connected. You can’t take one thing and remove it without impacting everything along the line. So that’s our message. And I think we do a pretty good job. To learn more, go to libertywildlife.org . “ We are the only entity in the world that’s allowed to give feathers and bird parts to legally recognized tribal members who use them in their regalia and cultural practices.”