Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation

Conservation that connects

Looking beyond the expected to ensure a thriving natural world

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
McGraw enables research by some of the nation’s leading scientists. Our research into coyotes in the Chicago metropolitan area is world renowned, and we are leading the way in research using aquaponics to raise larger, hardier game fish for release into the wild.

Wildlife research

McGraw’s scientists have studied urban coyotes for more than 20 years in hopes of addressing shortcomings in urban coyote ecology information and management. Working with our partners, coyotes are live-captured, collared, and released at their capture site, and are monitored to help us better understand how they interact with other wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.

Aquaponics & Fisheries

McGraw researchers have long studied aquaponics as a way to ensure a higher survival rate for stocked fish. This groundbreaking research holds enormous potential for private and public fish hatcheries worldwide, and will benefit recreational anglers for generations to come. In addition, McGraw has developed a program to bring aquaponics into the classroom.

Wildlife

McGraw’s scientists have studied urban coyotes for more than 20 years in hopes of addressing shortcomings in urban coyote ecology information and management. Working with our partners, coyotes are live-captured, collared, and released at their capture site, and are monitored to help us better understand how they interact with other wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Learn More

Fisheries

McGraw researchers have long studied aquaponics as a way to ensure a higher survival rate for stocked fish. This groundbreaking research holds enormous potential for private and public fish hatcheries worldwide, and will benefit recreational anglers for generations to come. In addition, McGraw has developed a program to bring aquaponics into the classroom. Learn More

Aquaponics

McGraw researchers have long studied aquaponics as a way to ensure a higher survival rate for stocked fish. This groundbreaking research holds enormous potential for private and public fish hatcheries worldwide, and will benefit recreational anglers for generations to come. In addition, McGraw has developed a program to bring aquaponics into the classroom. Learn More

DRIVING CHANGE
Everything in nature is connected. Even the smallest changes in an ecosystem can have profound effects a continent away. Effective conservation works the same way, through targeted actions driven by broad perspective. That’s McGraw. We connect research and recreation, technology and tradition, classrooms and capitals. Our independence gives us the freedom to ask the hard questions, uncover the facts and build coalitions to promote the most efficient actions to sustain habitats, and humanity, for generations to come.

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How coyotes adapt to living among us

Max McGraw had an insatiable curiosity about the natural world, and through the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation he tried to encourage that same curiosity and …

LEARN MORE

The waterfowl success story you’ve probably never heard about

After more than two years of research, McGraw’s team reached a stunning conclusion: The North American Wetlands Conservation Act had accomplished more in prairie Canada than had previously been reported. This realization sparked a campaign to better tell the story of the prairie wetlands, culminating in the IMAX movie “Wings Over Water.”

Building the model natural resources agency for Illinois

In 2016, McGraw delivered a comprehensive blueprint to make the Illinois Department of Natural Resources the best agency of its kind in the United States. Early successes included the implementation of online-only hunter safety programs, making Illinois a leader in embracing technology for a new generation. The report’s main recommendation remains: To transition the IDNR from its current structure to a professionally led, constituent-responsive commission dedicated to sustaining and promoting the state’s natural resources.

DEVELOPING LEADERS

Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow

Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow is a professional development program designed for student and professional leaders within the natural resource sciences. It focuses on hunting awareness and conservation education among academic programs and government agencies. The program consists of four-day workshops that blend interactive classroom discussion with field experiences.

Our goal is to identify future and current leaders of the natural resource profession who do not hunt and provide them with an understanding of the diverse values and important roles of hunting and its impact on conservation.