Our Threatened & Endangered Species: Allegheny Woodrat follows the Pennsylvania Game Commission and partners as they fight to save one of the state’s most elusive mammals. Once common across the Appalachian Mountains, the Allegheny woodrat has declined for decades due to habitat loss, disease, and the disappearance of its ancient ally—the American chestnut tree.
What motivated you to make this film?
Allegheny Woodrats is Episode II in a series on Threatened & Endangered Species. These films aim to educate folks on the challenges surrounding species conservation, and what people can do to get involved and actions they can take at home to help all wildlife. Wildlife conservation and management is complex, involving hard work, creativity, tenacity and human politics. If we tell the story well, we can ensure all of our native species persist into the future—because people will not protect what they don’t understand and they certainly won’t protect what they don’t know.
The efforts surrounding saving the Allegheny woodrat are complex and involve partnerships across state lines, with varying agencies, non-profits, institutions and universities. There are over 15 groups involved in seeing that this species persists into the future. But the challenges the species’ face is multi-faceted: from the effective extinction of the American chestnut, to habitat fragmentation that cascades into genetic isolation, inbreeding and population loss, and finally the increasing raccoon population as a result of habitat fragmentation. To save a species, we must address all of the challenges. The effort, creative thinking and dedication to our wildlife fills me with hope. Despite all the things going wrong with conservation on a bigger scale, these stories are so impactful and clearly state that we can and will affect change if we just act even in small ways.
I am driven to make a difference with the films I produce. Documentary film is a powerful tool that helps change hearts and minds—even for species or issues for which are foreign to many people. This species is a particular challenge because of the stigma in its name: it isn’t ‘just a rat’ and I hope this piece sheds some light on the importance of all wildlife, despite the name we have assigned them.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I started documenting field work with woodrats—actually translocations—in August of 2020. So, shooting took place over five years with the bulk of it taking place in 2024. I began editing full time in late summer 2024, and tried to do re-shoots and all the interviews in early 2025. Altogether the editing process took 18 solid months.
I am one person and do all of the things: from research to writing, shooting and editing, it’s a monumental task of dedication.
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