National Wildlife Federation Outdoors

Aaron and Bill sit down with renowned outdoor media personality, Lisa Ballard. Lisa is a professional skier, hunter, angler, outdoor writer, Emmy-winning TV producer, and two-time Ruger North American sporting clays champion who has traveled the world skiing, hunting, fishing, and covering the outdoors. We cover her career, the unique opportunities and challenges she has faced as a woman, how her...

Host Aaron Kindle and co-host, Bill Cooksey, spend an hour with Garry Mason, Founder of The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame, professional fishing and wing shooting guide, and collegiate bass coach at Bethel University. We start with his beginnings in the outdoor industry, talk about hunters and angler leaders, the H.O.F. and how awesome it is young people today have the opportunity to get col...

Host Aaron Kindle and our new co-host, Bill Cooksey, sit down with Greg Fitz, communications manager for the Wild Steelhead Coalition. The trio discusses steelhead conservation and the new campaign recently launched by the Wild Steelhead Coalition dubbed “Now or Never”. Steelhead are in severe decline and 2021 saw record low returns. The Pacific Northwest also experienced record heatwaves in the s...

Bill Cooksey from Tennessee and of NWF’s Vanishing Paradise team is joining Aaron Kindle co-host of the NWF Outdoors podcast. Bill brings a wealth of knowledge from the waterfowl side as a four-time TN duck calling champion, avid turkey hunter, accomplished angler, consummate conservationist, and all-around great guy. The addition of Bill to the podcast will help pull more ideas, topics, and guest...

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, invasi...

In this episode Aaron sits down with Samantha Pedder, VP of Marketing for Terra Technology Group, and Steve Bergmann, Administrator for the Administrative Services Division of Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. We discuss the modernization of issuing hunting and fishing licenses and outdoor user permits, the efficiencies gained by going paperless, and how agencies are collecting data to optimize u...

For this episode we sit down with the President and CEO of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Howard Vincent. We talk pheasant and quail season outlooks and the issues the birds are facing, then we move on to several conservation topics including the upcoming Farm bill and the Conservation Reserve Program – what it does, it’s benefits and why it’s so important for conservation.  We also cover th...

Aaron sits down with Bill Cooksey, of NWF’s Vanishing Paradise team, to talk waterfowl season. Bill is a dedicated conservationist, waterfowl expert, and a duck calling champion. We cover waterfowl hunting 101 – decoys, habitat, calling, conservation, the forecast for this season, and of course, conservation. Bill also treats us to some calling and advice on what calls to use along with some discu...

After a nice summer break, we head to New Hampshire for our 7th episode of Vanishing Seasons to hear from Eric Orff, a 30 plus year resident of New Hampshire and retired New Hampshire Fish and Game biologist. Eric shares his passion for wildlife and details the unnatural occurrences he has witnessed as a biologist and sportsman, including the incoming and outgoing tide of moose in New Hampshire an...

For this episode we sit down with Todd Waldron. Todd is a forester, conservationist, podcaster, and the Northeast Forest Conservation Director for Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society. He is a great guy with lots of passion for conservation. We cover some forestry, why grouse and woodcock are “species of conservation need”, overall trends in conservation, climate change impacts on g...

Aaron sits down with Abby Tinsley, the Associate Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs for the National Wildlife Federation. They discuss the process of “reconciliation” how it works, what it will do, and what it means for hunting, angling, and conservation. They cover the bipartisan infrastructure package, why we need it, how it will help hunters and anglers, and how the infrastructure...

Aaron heads to Georgia for a chat with Mike Worley, Executive Director of the Georgia Wildlife Federation (GWF). They explore GWF’s groundbreaking work to bring the recruitment, retention, and reactivation of hunters into an innovative, adaptive, and effective space that better adapts to changing demographics and the needs of younger and more diverse potential hunters. Topics include GWF and partn...

Aaron sits down with Cliff Cadet of UrbanArcheryNYC. They cover getting into hunting as an adult while living in the middle of New York City. Cliff shares his personal history, the journey that brought him to hunting, and the passion he now has for archery and hunting. Cliff also shares what it’s like to use trains and busses to get to his hunting spots and how he has immersed in the hunting cultu...

Aaron sits down with Thor Tingey co-founder and owner of Alpacka Rafts. Thor has traveled extensively in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in Alaska using his company’s specialized rafts that he developed to do traverses across Alaska. We cover the uniqueness of the refuge and why it should be protected, how he got into these big traverses, his experiences in Alaska including his recent trip...

After a break to refresh, Aaron sits down with Andrew McKean, one of the most respected outdoors journalists and the current hunting and conservation editor of Outdoor Life magazine. We talk the history of Outdoor Life and sporting journalism, the latest sporting issues and how they can either connect or divide our community, and the “conservation obligation”. We also discuss the public lands owne...

This week we are excited to feature a podcast from our partner, Artemis, and will head afield this week to talk with NWF Outdoor's newest member, storyteller and adventurer Mandela van Eeden. This episode was recorded on the edge of the forest near a meadow in Montana. Mandela's upbringing was split between South Africa, where her family harvested from the sea, and Montana - where they gratefully...

It's been a long time coming but we finally had the opportunity to connect with Dr. Mamie Parker, an avid angler and former Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mamie is highly regarded as a pioneer in the field for women of color and has won numerous prestigious awards for her work in conservation including the highest award given to gov...

In the sixth episode of Vanishing Seasons we head to Florida to visit with Travis Thompson, a fifth generation Floridian and hunting and fishing guide. Travis takes us on a multigeneration journey through a life in Florida hunting and fishing hundreds of days a year. He speaks of changes in waterfowl seasons and the difference in what ducks he hunts now compared to a decade ago. He explains how he...

In this special episode Aaron sits down with three Westerners with extensive experience working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the nominee to lead the agency, Tracy Stone-Manning. We discuss the ins and outs of the BLM's mandates and mission, and how it affects hunters and anglers. We also cover Tracy's leadership style and some of our collective experiences working with her and witn...

We sit down with Ted Koch, Executive Director of the North American Grouse Partnership to discuss the recent proposal on 5/26 to the list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. We cover how we got here, what we can do to bring the bird back from the brink, and some of the tools that can help get the job done.   Show notes: 1:10 - Intro to Ted Koch 2:25 - Ted and Aaron’s lates...

We sit down with Collin to talk about the recently released, "Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful" plan, formerly known as 30x30.  We cover the plan's aim, its genesis, what we hope it does, how it can benefit hunters and anglers, and how average folks can get engaged.    Find the Conserving and Restoring America the Beautiful Plan here: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/report-co...

For the 5th episode of Vanishing Seasons, we sit down with Stevie Kapanui Parsons, a native Hawaiian, wild harvester, and dedicated hunter and angler who now resides in Oregon. We explore changing ocean conditions, odd fish appearing in Oregon's oceans, indigenous hunting and gathering traditions, and a changing way of life.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron and Mark Titus enjoy a wide ranging chat about, salmon, conservation, Bristol Bay, and the twists and turns of life that lead you where you're supposed to go if you're willing to follow. We cover how Mark became a filmmaker and podcaster, the plight of salmon, and the latest with Bristol Bay along with the intent and aspirations of Mark's company, Eva's wild.    Mark's company and links to h...

Aaron chats with Tovar Cerulli, speaker, conservationist, and author of the book, "Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian's Hunt for Sustenance". We cover a life in the outdoors, the transition from vegetarian to vegan to hunter, his work in conservation, and making connections between people who care about wildlife.  https://tovarcerulli.com/ Show notes: 2:33 – Tovar’s early season kayak adventures 4:48...

In the fourth installment of Vanishing Seasons we visit with Nick Green, a Michigan native and avid outdoorsman. Nick speaks of changes in waterfowl migrations, lessons from an old timer, and water too warm for trout. Nick sees the need to help hunters and anglers see climate change on their terms in order to address the issues.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices