What is Wild America?



		Dear Donor, Every now and then, there exists a truly rare opportunity for an individual to make our world a better place. This I know for certain... The American Wildlife Project is one of those extraordinary opportunities. This exciting and challenging vision is the most extensive environmental education effort ever undertaken.WOW! That is quite a statement and this is quite an amazing Project! Enclosed is a gift from me to you - The "Wild America" Series Collector's Edition DVD Set. The "Wild America" Film Collection documents the behavior of virtually every representative North American Mammal, Bird, Fish, and Reptile, as well as the Natural Wonders and Scenic Beauty of the North American Wilderness. This DVD Set is my thank you for all that you have realized. I trust that you and your family will enjoy these DVDs and that you will want to help me make this unique and priceless reference available to every person, and especially to every school-age child, in America. Exactly fifty years ago, a ten year-old boy in Arkansas began filming the Wildlife of America. That modest beginning blossomed into an All-American labor of love and the World's Largest Film Library on the subject of North American Natural History. I am that boy, now grown into a man. My life so far has been positively glorious and blessed. Since I have come so close to death from the many dangers in the wilderness and to bankruptcy from the high cost of self-producing these films - but have still survived and prospered - I can only assume that I must have a special mission. When I was young, growing up in the rural South, I loved Animals more than anything. We had horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, and even wild creatures like foxes, owls and beavers, manyliving with us in our home. Surprisingly, it was not a zoo or a farm; they were all pets or being rehabilitated for release. My profound love of Animals in general and of Wildlife in particular developed into a career. Making films about them is what I have spent my life doing from the age of about ten years. During those fifty years, there were many scary situations and dangerous moments. I could have died one hundred times and probably should have died on at least a dozen occasions. Even so, I have never wavered in my focus or dedication. I do believe that I am still around for some higher purpose and, for want of a better explanation, I would say that my mandate is to Share the Love and Joy - the love of life that is all around us and the Joy of discovering all that there is to learn about this amazing world in which we live. Most importantly, after decades of dedicated work, I have been able to amass an astounding amount of documentary film - "Wild America" is the first and only Film Collection to deal exclusively with American Wildlife... it captures and presents all the beauty, grandeur and diversity of our wild lands and wild creatures. It captures many of our most beloved and common creatures, from coast to coast. It also contains documentation of species that are rare, endangered and threatened. In another forty years, my life will probably be over and this journey will have come to an end. Before then, I want to share this Film Collection with everyone. With this in mind, I hope I can meet with you to discuss the ways in which you can help do so. Together we can actualizeThe American Wildlife Project - the greatest such endeavorever conceptualized. Breath, life and soul are called anima in Latin, from which comes our word "Animal". This shows our innate sense of identity and involvement with all other creatures.Animals teach us complex lessons in simple and wonderful ways. We cherish the idea that if we can somehow live in balance and harmony with what Wildlife is left, we will have found the lost piece of an eternal puzzle. This would enable us to rest in peace on our ancestral home, Planet Earth - the only paradise we will ever know for certain. These beautiful days of autumn harvest and this peaceful season of Thanksgiving offer us a perfect time to reflect with gratitude and to plan for the future. What are the significant goals that we have achieved and what is it that we would still like to accomplish? Nature inspires our hearts and we want that wonderment. Nature educates our minds and we need that knowledge. Nature nurtures our souls and we crave that connection. We literally need Nature to survive as the Human Race. But our growing society rarely provides for this connection. We need to reconnect with our roots in the natural world. As a constant reminder of this need, we regularly receivehundreds of requests for learning materials from educators, librarians, researchers and directors of institutions. Vitally important, The American Wildlife Project will fill this need and solve this problem. It will nurture our children and it will help children of all ages to find enhanced meaning in their own lives. I hope that you are familiar with my work, if only from the fifteen years that "Wild America"appeared on PBS - the Public Broadcasting Service. If so, then you will surely know that I have dedicated my entire life to creating films about our precious natural heritage - America's Wildlife and wild places. A film captures the present and preserves it for the future. As a child, I thought this process was magic, and I still do. And, almost magically, "Wild America" is unique - there's simply nothing else like it. It has great value and it always will. It is timeless, ageless, and eternally evergreen; every single scene remains as colorful, fresh and fascinating as the day it was filmed. The "Wild America" Film Collection that we were able to create is truly an unsurpassed, irreplaceable educational resource. It is an absolutely unique research library of natural reality film that deserves to be recognized, disseminated and preserved as the "National Treasure" it is. A Natural History Film Collection like this will never happen again - for a wide variety of reasons, but mainly due to the time and the money that it would require. This could never have been completed without the help of Diane, my wife of thirty years. Now that our children, Hannah and Luke, are off at college and out in the world, wecan focus our full attention on the broad dissemination and the proper preservation of this extensive record of North American Natural History. The American Wildlife Project will begin with the physical distribution of hundreds of thousands of DVD Sets to make this content available to everyone everywhere who has a need or an interest to learn from it or be benefited by it. It will be widely distributed so that it can be accessed, appreciated, and enjoyed by every single person in America. Quite simply, no one has ever done anything like this before! The American Wildlife Project will then provide for the electronic Internet world of the future. Free and unlimited usage by Access Code will allow the use of streaming Video elements Online, another form of delivery that will be increasingly popular in the future. This Project will also produce Teacher's Guides and Lesson Plans and student study aids, a Distance Learning Telecourse, a Glossary anda Digital Photo Gallery. The complete re-editing of the Programs into clips and sequences will make it all searchable by topic and segment. All of these ancillary materials will make this entire "Wild America" Film Collection even more user-friendly, accessible and valuable. Recipients will include grade schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums, nature centers, environmental groups, game departments, national parks, wildlife refuges, hospitals, pediatric, geriatric, oncology and hospice centers, military bases, correctional institutions, support clinics, and many other public and private educational and environmental groups and facilities. Repeated access and exposure to the educational and environmental teachings in these Programs will naturally bring about understanding, appreciation and an eventual desire for conservation of this invaluable heritage and of our environment. Modesty aside, I am uniquely qualified to undertake this prodigious Project. Over half a century, I have amassed thisunique Collection and it now has immense scientific, educational and historical value. There is simply nothing else like it in existence. It is now time to share it with all Americans. Children are the most precious things in life, and of all life's meanings, they are the most convincing. The endurance and greatness of a civilization are limited entirely by the investment it makes in the intellectual and spiritual development of its children. Children of all ages will benefit from this Project. Education is not merely a period in life, but a way of life; and the aim of an education is not simply to obtain a livelihood, but to obtain life itself. Our civilized world needs to strike a peaceful balance with the natural world. The very survival of human beings depends on this understanding and involvement.This once-in-a-lifetime enterprise is a chance to advance mankind forward in this noble cause. You are in the powerful position of being able to change lives and change our society. Your involvement in The American Wildlife Project will make the world a better, more humane place. The results and benefits promise to be nothing less than incredible. The American Wildlife Project will also create an Endowment towork with a worthy and appropriate Institution at which the entire Film Library - millions of feet - will be organized, archived and preserved. Specifics on thesearchival repository institutions and this Phase, and about the "Wild America" Film Collection, are enclosed in a separate document. And, for your convenience in sharing this information with others, all of these documents are also available Online at either: www.TheAmericanWildlifeProject.org www.TheAWP.org You are special and important. It is with optimism and confidence that I approach you with a request. Will you pleasebecome involved and will you support the distribution of the "Wild America" DVD Sets, Video access and other ancillary elements to every school, library, and media center and to virtually every single educational and environmental entity across America? As a first step toward this ultimate objective, will you please meet with me to discuss the ways in which you can help to create The American WildlifeProject? This is an adventurous undertaking that will leave a lasting legacy for all future generations. I have been working my whole life toward this moment in time; I just never knew it for all those years. With you on the team, we really can concretize this concept and make something legendary happen! Hopefully, we can begin a dialogue, at which time you can provideyour advice and yoursuggestions regarding the launching of this majorendeavor - The American Wildlife Project. Thank you, Marty Stouffer E-mail address: MartyStouffer@WildAmerica.com Studio - (970) 925-3033 Cell phone - (970) 309-7444 This letter and information packet will introduce to you: Who I am - Marty Stouffer, naturalist and filmmaker What I have to offer to you - "Wild America" film and video Collection When this will be done - an initial four year Project, then supported in perpetuity Where - Recipients all over America will benefit Why it matters - World's largest, best, absolutely unique and priceless Film Library of American Wildlife and Nature How you can help - The American Wildlife Project Will you meet with me to discuss your potential involvement in and support of this Project?