For Indigenous Mother, Boreal Forest Conservation Is a Family Value

Misipawistik Cree Nation councilor Heidi Cook learned from her father and grandfather the importance of protecting lands in the boreal forest of Canada that have sustained her people for millennia. Now she's passing on that legacy to her son, Walter, whose Cree name translates to "Little Howling Wolf." Cook’s responsibilities as an elected official for the Misipawistik Cree Nation include protected areas management and land use planning, especially in regards to forest management and forestry operations in her community.

The boreal region of Canada stretches across more than a billion acres, and is one of the largest intact forest ecosystems on Earth. Pew’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign encourages a balance between development and conservation and works with the people who live there to achieve that goal. People of the Boreal is a multimedia project that tells the stories of those who have the most to gain or lose from decisions about how the region is managed.

Learn more about Heidi Cook, and view the entire People of the Boreal series.