The National Wildlife Federation has worked with hunters and anglers since 1936 to tackle the biggest natural resource challenges. The NWF Outdoors Podcast explores the most important conservation issues and the people who do the hard work to safeguard our fish, wildlife, lands, and waters. Hosted by Aaron Kindle, director of sporting advocacy at NWF.
Episodes
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Continuing with our newfound love of "from the field" podcasts, we take this one to Florida. Podcast co-host Bill Cooksey attended ICAST (a big fishing industry tradeshow) in July and had the opportunity to sit down with Geoff Mullins from the Everglades Foundation and Captain Chris Wittman from Captains for Clean water to talk about the myriad habitat problems in the Everglades and South Florida and what hunters and anglers can do to help. The region is full of iconic hunting and fishing locations such as Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay, and waterfowl hunters come from around the country to hunt mottled ducks, black-bellied whistling ducks and fulvous ducks. When most people think about Everglades issues, they think pythons and algae closing down beaches, but there’s a whole lot more at stake.
Episode links:
https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/
https://captainsforcleanwater.org/
https://www.vanishingparadise.org/restoration-solutions/projects?state=florida
Show Notes:
1:05-Intro to ICAST.
3:22-What have we been doing lately?
5:15-Geoff explains what Everglades restoration means.
6:47-Chris explains restoration from his point of view as a sportsman.
8:50-What is Captains for Clean Water?
11:35-Geoff, where do sportsmen fit in this puzzle?
13:50-Bill offers his take on the issues.
15:55-Chris talks duck hunting and the impact of declining habitat and restoration.
18:05-Geoff, what is the most critical component at this moment?
21:35-How is the state involved financially with restoration?
23:35-Chris discusses the changes he’s witnessed to some bucket list Florida destinations.
29:35-What do the next ten years look like?
31:35-Who are the stakeholders?
38:05-Why is this a national issue?
39:55-What should Florida sportsmen be doing?
42:55-What have we missed?
47:15-Words of wisdom from Geoff, Chris and Bill
Thursday May 26, 2022
Catching Fish Changes Lives with Steve Bowman
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
If you love bass fishing, this is the episode for you. Our guest today is Steve Bowman, and when it comes to bass fishing, conservation and tournament angling, he’s definitely the guy you want to hear from. From being a member of The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame to his work as manager of Bassmaster.com tournament coverage and BASS Manager of Angler Relations, he’s in the mix. His career and work are interesting, but it’s when he tells the story of making his first rod from an old car antenna to which he attached drink can pop-tops for guides and a Zebco reel he spent the summer mowing yards to buy when this show goes to the next level. The antenna rod comes back to mind when Steve tells how an African American kid in Little Rock changed his life and how he views the outdoors.
Show links:
https://www.bassfishinghof.com/inductee/steve-bowman
https://www.wired2fish.com/w2f-slide/steve-bowman
https://www.waterfowlerhof.com/
Show notes:
4:31 – Bill, Aaron and Steve share what they’ve been up too outside recently. Cue the turkey hunting, bass fishing and shed hunting!
9:20 - Steve shares a little background on his childhood, a heartfelt story or two and his earliest memories of fishing with a stick and a string and the adventure of converting an antenna into a fishing rod so he could fish at the pond near his house. “So here’s a kid that’s right on the verge of going into a gang or going fishing… and he’s taking the opportunity to go fishing.”
22:37 – Steve continues his discussion on the importance of providing fishing opportunities for every angler. He goes on to discuss high school and college bass fishing programs and the importance of investing in opportunity.
27:56 – Steve talks about how he grew up saying he wanted to hunt and fish for a living. He chats about how he got into journalism and taught himself to write after saying to his boss, “I’ll do anything you want me to do, just ever ask me to write.”
30:57 - Steve shares an inspiring duck hunting story that changed the direction of his life.
33:35 – Steve talks about the time they wanted to channel the White River.
37:00 - Discussing wildlife management and past deer situations in Arkansas.
39:13 – Short break for a message from our partner podcast, Artemis Sportswomen. For more great content, be sure to follow NWF Outdoors on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!!
40:05 – Bill brings it back to storytelling and salesmen. Steve talks about his late friend, Ray Scott, and his profound impact on hunting and fishing in the U.S. as well as international bass fishing.
44:05 - The evolution of “catch and release” in our country.
47:16 - Aaron brings it back to the connection between conservation and opportunity.
51:36 – Bill brings up the topic of fishing with pro anglers and a few things that weekend anglers can pick up from observing these professionals in action.
55:55 – Lots of professional bass fishing professionals were athletes prior… Also a mention of Tom Brady, duck hunting and duck habitat.
59:03 – Bill brings it back to Vanishing Paradise and Steve’s involvement in a conservation issues that sportsmen and sportswomen need to know about.
1:02:12 – Steve discusses a few conservation issues in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
1:05:15 – Closing statements.
“Just realize that a greater entity created all this, rather than a core of engineers…” -Steve Bowman
Friday Apr 01, 2022
Friday Apr 01, 2022
After a month of tech issues and time conflicts, Aaron and Bill finally get together with Jim Ronquest of RNTV. Jimbo outlines his 21/22 duck season experiences from both home and on the road filming the show before moving to the timely topic of turkeys. After decades of population growth, many regions are experiencing declines, and we learn how Turkeys for Tomorrow is trying to find out why. It’s a lot to unpack, and then Jimbo drops a bomb on us!
Links:
https://turkeysfortomorrow.org/
https://www.drakewaterfowl.com/
https://www.nwf.org/-/media/PDFs/Outdoors/NWF_GameSpeciesAnalysis_Report_Final
Show notes:
4:18 – Aaron, Bill and Jim discuss what they’ve been doing outside lately.
8:00 – Talking the beginning of turkey season!
10:30 -- Jim talks about his upbringing and early years as a sportsman. “It was raining pitch forks and tater babies…”
17:14 -- Jim rounds up duck season.
21:27 – Shout out to Jim’s show, “RN T.V.” on the Sportsman Channel. Other than Ducks Unlimited, it is the longest running dedicated waterfowl show on outdoor T.V.
23:13 – Bill reflects on the first year he went turkey hunting with Jim almost twenty years ago.
25:40 – Jim discusses Turkeys for Tomorrow: Promoting America's hunting traditions, conservation, and education through the timeless collaboration of hunters and wildlife professionals to ensure we all have TURKEYS FOR TOMORROW.
38:15 -- What are the known turkey conservation issues? #HabitatLoss
41:57 – Aaron shares some critical stats regarding the loss of turkey habitat in a few states.
44:14 – Jim talks about how much he enjoys the transition from duck season to turkey season.
44:58 – Quick break for a message from our partner podcast, Artemis Sportswomen!
46:42 -- Jim talks about a research project he would like to have done regarding the use of chicken litter and fertilizer on pastures potentially causing disease.
50:07 – Jim reflects on hunters’ response to Turkeys For Tomorrow.
53:52 – “If you’re able, we need more than to just buy a license. That’s the bare minimum for conservation… “ If you don’t have money, perhaps you have time to volunteer.
54:50 – Jim highlights the unique model for wildlife management in North America.
55:30 – How long has Jim been on RN T.V.?
56:55 – JIM SHARES SOME BIG NEWS!!
1:00:17 – Jim talks about hunting with some of the Bass Elite guys during duck season. “I fish so I can go duck hunting…”
1:02:50 – Keep an eye out for Jim’s upcoming Climate Chronicle short film by making sure you’re following NWF Outdoors on social media!
Friday Nov 12, 2021
Problematic Paylakes with Aaron Wheatley and Greg Schwipps
Friday Nov 12, 2021
Friday Nov 12, 2021
In our latest episode, we sit down with two Midwestern fisherman and catfish advocates. They have grown increasingly concerned with "paylakes" in their region. We discuss what paylakes are, how they operate, and how they are decimating the public resource of catfish by largely unregulated and unethical means. We detail the situation, what it's meant for average anglers, fishing tournaments, invasive species spread, management, and for the rivers of the Midwest that grow very large catfish. Last we touch on how you can learn more, and get involved in helping to better manage the resource and getting a fair shake for regional anglers.
Links:
Lots of info about paylakes: www.exposingpaylakes.com
Indiana Catfish Conservation Association
https://www.facebook.com/IndianaCatfishConservationAssociation
Home site of the catfish tournament Aaron Wheatley started:
https://www.monstersontheohio.com/
National Wildlife Federation's work on invasive carp in the Midwest
https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Environmental-Threats/Invasive-Species/Asian-Carp
Show notes:
1:00 - intro to episode
2:08 - intro to guests
4:45 - Greg's recent small mouth fishing trips
6:10 - what is a paylake
9:05 - the situation in Kentucky
13:15 - monetizing a natural resource through paylakes
15:30 - methods of take and "netting"
19:45 - what did it look like for average anglers leading up to this situation
22:05 - the Monsters on the Ohio catfish tournament - how this paylakes situation has degraded the tournament experience and local tourism
26:45 - catfish are being exploited all over the Midwest
32:45 - one thousand people in the crowd at the Monsters on the Ohio tournament
34:57 - a message from the Artemis sportswomen podcast
35:30 - the scope of the problem
40:12 - problems with transporting live fish
43:00 - how the current paylakes situation exacerbates invasive species issues
46:45 - we know large catfish are feeding on invasive carp
48:15 - what do we need to do about this
51:00 - pushing for no transportation of live fish in KY
55:00 - the need to change limits, take methods, and size thresholds
1:00:20 - the need for cooperative interstate regulations
1:03:20 - checking out the "exposing paylakes" website
1:08:15 - fighting this fight for the next generations
1:08:30 - listening to the side of those who operate paylakes