In the Arena: Ryan Sparks

October 15, 2024

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Ryan Sparks

Hometown: Eight Mile Grove, Nebraska

Occupation: Editor of Quail Forever Journal

Conservation credentials: A long-time freelancer who focused on conservation issues impacting hunters and anglers across America, Sparks is now the editor of Quail Forever Journal.

Ryan Sparks learned to catch bluegills and chase whitetail bucks in southeastern Nebraska, but his work as a full-time freelance writer and photographer for nearly a decade took him to far-flung locations such as Ecuador in pursuit of outdoor stories. As a hunter and angler who finds ways to get outdoors in every season, Sparks is the perfect fit to head up a publication such as the Quail Forever Journal so he can inform and inspire other hunters and conservationists through words and photography.

Here is his story.

I grew up on my family’s farm in southeast Nebraska near the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. My dad and both grandfathers were passionate quail and pheasant hunters, so my introduction to hunting came naturally.

My first hunting memories are of walking fencerows for quail when I was just old enough to stumble in front of my dad’s pointers and flush coveys of bobwhites. My grandfather on my mom’s side, “Papa,” was also an obsessive duck hunter and fisherman so I grew up going on fishing trips with him for catfish, crappie, and bluegill.

Those initial outdoor experiences formed my love for nature as well as hunting and fishing. I later taught myself about bowhunting, flyfishing, waterfowl, turkeys, trapping, and several other outdoor pursuits.

Tippet and Sparks after a successful wild bobwhite quail hunt.

In college, I took classes that sounded interesting and came out with a double major in history and English. After graduating, I thought I wanted to be a history professor, and applied to study environmental history at Montana State University. I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship and a graduate teaching position at one of the strongest environmental history programs in the country.
Living in Montana opened my eyes to public land, big rivers, and wild country. It also made me realize I didn’t want to pursue a career in academia.

My academic advisor, Michael Reidy, gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. He told me that no matter what I did after graduate school, I should keep writing. And I did.

For the next decade I built a career as a full-time freelance writer and photographer, focusing on hunting, fishing, wild food, and conservation.

Through my work I’ve had the opportunity to go on some incredible adventures. I’ve traveled the world with a notepad, camera, and either a shotgun or a fly rod (and sometimes both) from Alaska to the Amazon.

“Without a cultural value of nature, there won’t be a voice to speak for it. Hunting and fishing are the greatest ways I know for someone to learn about themselves and their place in nature.”

Hunting, fishing, eating wild game, and conservation are all integral parts of my life. They aren’t hobbies or a lifestyle – they are who I am.

I hope to contribute as much if not more than I take in all aspects of my life, and I certainly hope to achieve that when it comes to hunting and fishing. I find doing habitat work on our family farm as fulfilling as a successful hunt. On a larger level, if I can help advance the conservation mission of Quail Forever by informing and inspiring other hunters and conservationists, I find that extremely rewarding as well.

Working as the editor of Quail Forever Journal is a dream job for me. It combines my greatest passions in life with what I am good at and is fulfilling work.

Simply put, conservation is taking care of the things we love. I love to hear a turkey gobble in the spring. I love to see a covey of quail explode from a thicket. I love to watch whitetails rut in November. I love to catch a stringer of crappie and fry them up for my family.

I know my parents and grandparents loved these things before me and I’m doing my best to make sure my future children will have a chance to love them as well. If we want these things to last, we need to be involved in conservation.

Without a cultural value of nature, there won’t be a voice to speak for it. Hunting and fishing are the greatest ways I know for someone to learn about themselves and their place in nature. They are a key component to our humanity. It is why we feel so alive when we hunt and fish. That exuberant feeling of life is what inspires me as a conservationist.

Working in conservation isn’t just about preserving landscapes; it’s about nurturing the cultural and ecological tapestry that defines who we are and what we value. Without a collective effort to protect these treasures, we risk losing the profound essence of what makes us human.

Sparks with a trophy wild rainbow from Jurassic Lake.

Photo credits: Ryan Sparks

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by: Noah Davis

posted in: In the Arena

October 9, 2024

In the Arena: Alex Harvey

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Alex Harvey

Hometown: Terry, Mississippi

Occupation: Consulting Forester/Wildlife Biologist

Conservation credentials: Alex Harvey, founder of Legacy Land Management, is a registered professional forester in Mississippi and Alabama with a degree in forestry from Mississippi State University, as well as a land management consultant, hunter, and angler.

Harvey is carrying on the outdoor traditions passed on to him from generations of his family, ranging from herbalism and foraging to rabbit, duck, and deer hunting, and cattle ranching. Alex also helps private landowners, many of them Black, make the most of their properties for wildlife, timber, and ecological resilience.

Here is his story.

Hunting has always been a family and community pastime. It was passed down to me from my dad, his dad, etc. I’m from a very large extended family and community that hunts and has hunted for generations. I have family heirlooms that are evidence that I’m at least a fifth-generation outdoorsman. In my family, it is customary that guns are passed down after someone passes. I was lucky enough to become the successor of most of the family’s shotguns, a rifle, and some special handguns. There’s a story that I tell on the NWF podcast about my grandmother being handed a .32 caliber pistol by my great-grandmother (her new mother-in-law) and told to go chase down a rabbit and shoot it for dinner. 

I had the opportunity to hunt with Randy Newberg of Leupold’s Hunt Talk Radio/Fresh Tracks and Hal Herring of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Podcast & Blast in January 2023. They both came down to Mississippi, and I was able to introduce them to members of the hunting club where my dad hunted in the Mississippi Hill Country and the Delta.

My dad became a member of all African American hunting club there in the early eighties. My brother and I grew up hunting there along with other families. I was able to introduce Randy and Hal to a couple of legends in their own right. That was indeed very special.

Harvey on the job in the Mississippi Delta.

Hunting has always been about connection for me. Hunting with loved ones, dear friends. In many ways, I prefer to hunt the lands where I grew up because it helps me feel connected to friends and family that have passed on. So, the Mississippi Hill Country and the Delta, quail hunting in south Mississippi and Alabama, and Louisiana duck hunting are all places I always want to hunt. I’m also open to make new connections and find new favorite places.

“The issue of conservation intersects with economics, thus those communities that have less are sometimes challenged by things that many might not recognize as a barrier. But my work is centered around how to address those challenges and find ways to simply put conservation into practice.”

I chose a career in conservation because I grew up in the outdoors. At the same time, it has helped me to become a better outdoorsman. As a forester, I write silvicultural prescriptions that determine the composition/structure and quality of forests to meet the various needs that society has. By going to Forestry School, I became educated about the life history of a forest based on local and regional factors. This has helped me to better understand what healthy wildlife habitat and healthy wildlife populations look like.

Forest health is a persistent challenge. Having healthy, vigorous, diverse forests that are home to healthy wildlife populations remains a challenge. As it pertains to the landowner clients that I represent, which are largely minority’s or what the US Department of Agriculture identifies as underserved and socially disadvantaged landowners, issues such as lack of clear title/heirs to property create a very difficult hurdle for enrolling in important landowner assistance programs that can help families establish forests and begin the process of creating long-term wealth investments. The issue of conservation intersects with economics, thus those communities that have less are sometimes challenged by things that many might not recognize as a barrier. But my work is centered around how to address those challenges and find ways to simply put conservation into practice.

The aim of conservation is literally to have a healthy and productive planet for current and future generations to live on and benefit from. From the wood fiber that we need to build our homes, to the pastimes that we enjoy in the outdoors, to the food we eat, and the air we breathe, all of these things are vital for our needs as a society. The extra added reality that communities that practice conservation tend to be more stable economically builds an extra level of importance where it pertains to issues of equity and social justice.

Photo credits: Alex Harvey

Learn more about TRCP’s work in the Mississippi River Delta below.

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: In the Arena

September 19, 2024

In The Arena: Dr. Bryan Watts

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Bryan Watts

Hometown: Williamsburg, Virginia
Occupation: Professor and director of the Center for Conservation Biology, College of William & Mary
Conservation credentials: Dr. Watts leads multi-year research efforts on many avian species, including a project tracking long-term osprey nesting success in the Chesapeake Bay. He also founded his college’s Center for Conservation Biology and has designed and conducted more than 1,000 research projects related to birds found throughout the Western Hemisphere and particularly in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Dr. Bryan Watts studies a wide range of avian issues, from waterbirds on barrier island beaches and bald eagles in the Chesapeake Bay to the effects of human-caused stressors on bird species in coastal regions. His ongoing research of osprey reproductive success in the Chesapeake recently has gotten a lot of attention. In 2023 and 2024 his data have shown a significant decline in nesting success for ospreys located in saltwater areas, which he attributes to a lack of menhaden – a critically important forage fish – for food. This apparent lack of menhaden (also known as bunker or pogies), which TRCP and partners have sounded the alarm on for years due to similar negative effects on striped bass and other sportfish that rely on them, has been difficult to demonstrate with hard data due to Virginia’s continued unwillingness to fund a study on local menhaden populations in the Bay. Watts is a Mitchell A. Byrd Research Professor of Conservation Biology with a PhD in ecology from the University of Georgia and 40-plus years of research experience. But long before he ever became an ecological scientist, he was just a kid out in the woods, hunting, fishing, and exploring with the Boy Scouts.

Here is his story.

Watts rappelling down from an eagle nest. Credit: Libby Mojica

I was in the woods with my family before I could walk. When I was five, I started to attend Boy Scouts (my father was Scoutmaster). I was introduced to hunting and fishing by other scouts and Scoutmasters. By the time I was 12, I was spending most of my time in the woods hunting, fishing, trapping, digging ginseng, picking berries, and birding. I was fortunate to spend all of my formative years in the woods surrounded by the natural world. Those times would shape my life’s path.

I have had hundreds of great times in the field in multiple countries, but one that stands out is a float trip on the Greenbrier River in West Virginia. I was 14 and spent two days, along with six other boys and Edsel Whaling, a U.S. Marine Veteran and prominent Scout leader, out on the river. We floated about 30 miles, fishing for smallmouth bass. We slept under an overhang along the river. We cooked bass over a fire and used the heads to catch crayfish in the shallows and cooked them also, in a tin can over the fire. That experience has been hard to beat.

“The smell and sounds of the woods and the feel of the air make me feel like I am home.

If I could hunt or fish anywhere, I would be back along the rivers and high streams of West Virginia, fishing for smallmouth bass or brook trout. There is a familiarity there that makes me feel like I belong. The smell and sounds of the woods and the feel of the air make me feel like I am home.

Watts holding an adult osprey as part of his research in the Chesapeake Bay. Credit: Libby Mojica

I have been a professional conservation biologist for 40 years. I have worked on hundreds of conservation projects addressing many species and many problems. One recent project has investigated the causes of poor breeding performance in Chesapeake Bay osprey. My Center has worked with osprey since 1970. Over the past 20 years, we have become increasingly concerned about the role of menhaden availability in osprey nesting success in the main stem of the Bay. Like many conservation problems, we need to seek a balance between the needs of industry and the ecosystem. I am confident that we can find such a balance.

Healthy osprey chicks in a nest in Chesapeake Bay. Credit: Bryan Watts

I am most proud of the fact that as a community of American outdoorsmen and women, we care about what happens to different species. I have never met a true outdoorsman who did not genuinely care about the welfare of a species. Just knowing that we as a community and society are working toward the welfare of other species really enhances the experience of being outdoors.

The largest conservation challenge that we face in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain is habitat loss. Continued expansion of the urban footprint comes at the expense of natural habitats that many of our most vulnerable species depend on. We are fortunate to have large tracts of unspoiled land owned by government agencies, NGOs, and private individuals. We need to work toward expanding the green infrastructure to protect habitat for future generations. The hunting and fishing community has been one of the strongest supporters of this effort.

Watts with a second-year bald eagle. Credit: Bart Paxton

We have a responsibility to pass on the natural environment that we have enjoyed to future generations. Conservation is an all-hands-on-deck activity. If we do not all work together to restore and protect the species we have now, and the habitats they depend on, we will not have them tomorrow.

A female osprey clutching a menhaden. Credit: Bryan Watts

Everyone who enjoys hunting and fishing and being outdoors understands that we cannot take the natural world for granted. Places and species are treasures to be safeguarded across generations. There is a peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that we have done what we can do to pass these places along.

by: Noah Davis

posted in: In the Arena

September 12, 2024

In The Arena: Allegheny Native

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation

Joel Snedden, Caleb Stasko, and Nate Burkhart

Hometown: Cambria County, PA
Occupations: Joel (electrician), Caleb (Free-lance filmmaker and photographer), and Nate (part owner of a small business)
Conservation credentials: The creative collaborative established by Joel, Caleb, and Nate, Allegheny Native, uses fishing films set in Pennsylvania to share the beauty of wild trout and wild places and calls for anglers to treat this resource with the utmost respect.

Three central Pennsylvania friends—Joel, Caleb, and Nate—have been producing some of the finest native brook trout content on YouTube through their collaborative: Allegheny Native. The films share the fish’s and landscape’s beauty and the respect and admiration the group holds for the native char. Through their art, the group urges anglers to be good stewards of wild waters and nurture the next generation of anglers, “That way we will always have the outdoor activities we love.”

Here is their story.

Joel: I was introduced to the outdoors at a very young age by my dad and two older brothers. I can’t thank them enough for it.

Nate: I would have to say that my mom and pap got me started in the outdoors and fishing. Every spring, summer, and fall we would venture to northern Pennsylvania, specifically Ole Bull State Park in Potter County. This is where my passion for fishing and the outdoors began!

Caleb: I was introduced to fishing through my dad at a very young age, and hunting through my uncle. My first memories of fishing are at Ole Bull State Park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, and my first memories of hunting are following my uncle on my grandparents’ farm before I was old enough to hunt myself. Spending so much time at Ole Bull State Park camping, fishing, and exploring is the reason I grew up to love the outdoors and conservation as much as I have.

Joel with a camp breakfast fit for a king in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania.

Joel: Back in May 2022, Caleb, Nate, and I set out on a four-day excursion to northern Pennsylvania in search of solitude, scenery, and of course, native brook trout on the fly. It was such a special trip as Caleb came back from Montana and we were all reunited and fishing together for the first time in over a year. Not only were we blessed with each other’s great company and beautiful country, but we had one of our best days on the water together in a very long time. We filmed the whole trip and a lot of it in 16mm film. You can watch Spring Halation on our YouTube channel.

Nate: If I could travel anywhere to fish and be in the outdoors, it would be northern Pennsylvania. There is nothing quite like fishing the mountains of Potter County. We also have a camp in Forest County, and I love to spend my falls there chasing whitetail deer with the bow.

“…conservation ultimately starts with us, and we need to be the role models for future generations, and then hopefully, they can show the next generation, and so on. That way we will always have the outdoor activities we love.”
Joel Snedden

Joel: If I could go anywhere in the state to escape and be outdoors it would definitely be northern Pennsylvania. My family has a camp in Forest County, and we have made many great memories hunting and fishing the Allegheny National Forest and state game lands that surround our camp. But one county still holds a special place in all of our hearts: Potter County. As the sign says when you enter the county: “God’s Country.” There is just something so peaceful and soothing about being there that every problem in your life just seems to fade away as you climb deep into the mountains and your cell phone service disappears and you’re surrounded by nothing but timber and streams.

Caleb: There are so many places across the country and the world I want to see and fish. But lately, after having moved from Pennsylvania to Montana and having fished in Montana and Wyoming, I find myself missing the Northeast and wanting to explore more of those states. If I had to pick one place I had to fish for the rest of my life, I’d pick northern Pennsylvania. If I had to pick one place to take a trip, it would be a northeast state I haven’t seen yet, like Maine.

Joel with a wild, Pennsylvania brown trout.

Joel: Conservation has helped enhance our outdoor lives in so many different ways. I think most importantly it has brought us closer to the game and fish we pursue and also nature as a whole. I would say the biggest conservation issue where we live is pollution. Whether it’s coming from Acid Mine Drainage or from litter. Our streams here have many side effects from AMD, but our banks are also littered with trash.

It is important for us to be involved in conservation because nature needs our help. Humans are the number one cause as to why we have all these problems in the first place, so the least we could do is try and help Mother Nature back on her feet any way we can. It can be as simple as picking up trash as you’re fishing up the stream or writing to your local fish or game wardens to see where you can donate your time to help.

Joel helping the next generation fall in love with fishing.

Conservation should matter to the next generation because without it, and the efforts of so many good people, the things we love such as fishing and hunting will slowly fade into a memory. However, conservation ultimately starts with us, and we need to be the role models for future generations, and then hopefully, they can show the next generation, and so on. That way we will always have the outdoor activities we love.

Photos Courtesy of Allegheny Native.

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: In the Arena

September 3, 2024

In The Arena: Joel Pedersen

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation

Joel Pedersen

Hometown: A Nebraskan at heart.
Occupation: President and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Conservation credentials: Joel Pedersen is a life-long hunter, angler and conservationist. His professional background includes biological administration, hunting access program management, conservation planning, and federal and state legislative strategy. He has served in leadership positions at the Mule Deer Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and holds degrees in biology and wildlife and fisheries science. He is also a fellow of the National Conservation Leadership Institute.

Inspired from a young age and through a life of hunting, fishing, and conservation leadership, Joel is driven by a personal responsibility to protect America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access to ensure quality places to hunt and fish for future generations.

Here is his story.

I grew up in rural Nebraska.  Both sets of my grandparents were farmers, and I spent a lot of time as a youngster playing in the pastures and streams that wove through their farms.  My earliest memories of spending time outdoors were forged there. 

As I grew, my father took me fishing for bass and panfish on the Missouri River and in the small reservoirs and farm ponds of northeast Nebraska.  Soon, I began eagerly looking forward to our annual trips to see extended family in Minnesota, because with it came the opportunity to fish for walleye.  Before I was able to carry a shotgun, I was introduced to Nebraska’s pheasants (and the occasional bobwhite or hun) – these were the only real hunting opportunities we had in the 1970’s and 80’s – and that is where I got my start as a hunter.  I bagged my first pheasant at age 10 and I was hooked.    Since then, my fondest memories have involved the outdoors in some way – from taking my kids hunting or fishing for the first time to exploring new areas and the uniqueness of America’s public lands, each holds a special place for me. Even today, autumn Saturdays in the field, listening to Cornhusker football between hunts, still bring me back to those special, formative days.

“I’m honored that I get to bring my lifelong passions to an organization named after Theodore Roosevelt, the person that brought conservation to the forefront as an American value in the early 20^th century.”
Joel Pedersen, TRCP president and CEO

I became active in Boy Scouts as I got older, and, fortunately, my troop went camping every month, year-round.  Once, while on a trip to Philmont in New Mexico, we had a black bear raid our camp during breakfast.  This was a big deal for a kid from Nebraska! I had never seen a wild animal bigger than a coyote and I immediately had to know more about this incredible species. At that moment, I made it my life’s goal to do just that, ultimately leading me to graduate school research on the black bears in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains. This experience ignited a fire for conservation in me and it was a defining moment that kickstarted my pursuit of an incredible profession. 

As my career progressed, I was fortunate to learn from many great mentors and experience many exciting places. During my tenure at the National Wild Turkey Federation, I became a passionate turkey hunter. I’ll never forget, after many failed attempts, finally calling in and harvesting a turkey on my own – to top it off, it was a Sumter National Forest, South Carolina turkey.  Although many places claim to have the most challenging turkey hunting, I will put a South Carolina public lands bird up against any for that title!  

“I want to ensure that future generations can have the same opportunities and experiences that I have had.  It’s important to me that more of the public understand the impact that conservation has on them and how hunters and anglers have always been at its heart. ”
Joel Pedersen, TRCP president and CEO

Nowadays, when I think about places to hunt and fish, I reflect upon my roots. I appreciate the nostalgia and the memories that my time outdoors has provided. I’m a Nebraskan at heart and I still have a passion for pheasant hunting in the open fields of the Midwest - unfortunately, there is only one hunting spot from my youth that has not been tilled under in the last 40 years – and I hold many great memories of family fishing trips in Minnesota and Canada close. As I look ahead, I’m intrigued by the challenge, environment, and natural beauty of a high mountain sheep or goat hunt. I have never done it, but it is an adventure that I’d like to experience.  

However, for me, it is not the species or the location alone that is important anymore.  It is the chance to spend time alone in the field, recharging and reflecting on why I am so passionate about conservation. It is time in the field with good people, creating memories, and hopefully inspiring others to be part of our conservation movement that drives me.  

I don’t know a life without conservation.  It is at the center of my career, and at the center of my down time.  I can’t imagine what time in the field, forests, or waters would be like without it. Could we have the same experiences without the national forests that were originally set aside by Theodore Roosevelt? Without the restoration of game species that were pioneered and funded by hunters? Without public lands that were purchased by duck stamps, wildlife stamps, and Pittman–Robertson Act / Dingell-Johnson Act funds? I want to ensure that future generations can have the same opportunities and experiences that I have had.  It’s important to me that more of the public understand the impact that conservation has on them and how hunters and anglers have always been at its heart. 

“We must persevere by investing and collectively striving to ensure quality places to hunt and fish for our future generations…Conservation impacts everyone.”
Joel Pedersen, TRCP president and CEO

Look at the arc of history in our landscapes and the wildlife that live in them.  So many game species were once on the brink of extinction, and the efforts of hunters, anglers, and conservationists brought them back– in some cases to record numbers!  But the challenges to wildlife, fish, and habitat are more numerous than ever before.  It is up to us to lead in this moment so we can protect what those before us provided.  We must continue to educate, and more importantly, thoughtfully engage so that hunting, fishing, and conservation will continue to have a bright future. 

We can’t take our natural landscapes and wildlife species for granted – I am often concerned that too many people (including hunters and anglers) don’t understand how the dedication of previous generations has gotten us here. We must persevere by investing and collectively striving to ensure quality places to hunt and fish for our future generations.  Beyond that, we need to raise awareness with the greater public about how conservation affects them – whether they enjoy the land and water directly, or they just appreciate clean air and clean water.  Conservation impacts everyone.  

Beyond the fact that I have made this my career, and it has allowed me to raise a family and make innumerable like-minded friends, conservation has always been my passion.  It’s cliche, but when you show up every day to a job you are passionate about, it never seems like work.  While that’s been the case for me, being involved in conservation goes far beyond that. Giving back to the wildlife and the landscapes that have provided so many great memories are of paramount importance to me. I’m honored (and it’s pretty cool!) that I get to bring my lifelong passions to an organization named after Theodore Roosevelt, the person that brought conservation to the forefront as an American value in the early 20^th century. It is extremely humbling, and I look forward to working alongside the talented team at TRCP to further our collective vision.   