Santa goes electric and wetlands win
- Dec 18
- 2 min read
Every year, we try to write a classy holiday message...
... and every year, we accidentally write something that sounds like a cheerful campfire story told by a slightly tipsy elf. This year, in honour of the season (and in honour of the wild places we work to protect and restore), here’s our official, lovingly corny Christmas poem for this year. No edits. No revisions. No dignified restraint.
Pull up a chair. Imagine snow. Picture Santa doing land stewardship. You’re welcome.
2025 Corny Holiday Poem
When Santa came to Snk’mip, he thought he’d take a day
To find some deer and moose he thought might like to pull his sleigh
He’d filled his sack with presents, for all good girls and boys
But when he stopped at Snk’mip he realized kids don’t need more toys
They need to be out in the snow, to run, be wild and free
In touch with nature’s rhythms…“Mother Earth is more important,” said he
So he let his reindeer go free (goodness knows we need more caribou
We’ve logged their forest homes to near extinction)... it was simply the right thing to do
Then Santa blessed the bears and swans, the ducks and turtles, too
He kissed the toads and hugged the coyotes, gave the cougars some love (as you do)
He hitched his old sleigh to a star and went fully EV instead
This year on Christmas Eve children have visions of restored wetlands in their head
As he flew away Santa said with a chuckle: “let’s all pitch in and make a gift to the VFE
Saving wild places for wild things gives me the greatest glee!”
A few things we learned from Santa’s field visit to Snk’mip
Santa has range. He shows up expecting a classic sleigh-and-reindeer situation and immediately pivots to ecological reality.
Apparently, he feels very comfortable hugging coyotes. We respect the confidence. Kids, we do not recommend you try this at home.
The main message lands, even under a layer of holiday cheese: kids (and adults) need living places. Not just pretty places, but functioning ecosystems. The kind that hold water, shelter wildlife, and give the next generation something real to love.
That’s why your support matters. When you donate to the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology, you help protect and restore habitat so that “visions of restored wetlands” can become something you can actually stand beside, listen to, and learn from.
If you want to give a gift that does not require batteries consider making a holiday donation to the VFE.
Because saving wild places for wild things really does spark the greatest glee!