Outdoors Unlimited Spring 2024 issue by OWAA

p. 6 | WRITING FOR YOUNG READERS: FIVE TIPS FOR AUTHENTICITY

By Erin Kirkland

p. 8 | BY THE BOOK: A CREATIVE COLLABORATION FOR A COLLECTION By Kris Millgate

p. 12 | HISTORY PROJECT: A LOOK INTO OWAA'S PAST By Phil Bloom

p. 16 | PORTFOLIO By Paul Queneau

p. 20 | 10 STORY LEADS: EL PASO, TEXAS

By Jazmin Velasquez

p. 24 | BODIE MCDOWELL TRIBUTE By Phil Bloom

p. 26 | A RATHER WET DUCK HUNT By C.V. Cherry

p. 27 | THE VALUE OF THE WILD By Kylie Baker

p. 28 | OUTDOOR GEAR SPOTLIGHT: EDITOR PICKS By Suzanne Downing

p. 39 | MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR OWAA MEMBERSHIP By Emma Mares ALSO IN THIS ISSUE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR p. 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE p. 4 BOARD CANDIDATE PROFILES p. 30 MEET A MEMBER p. 40

ON THE COVER PHOTO RETRIEVED FROM THE CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY | Morris Ackerman fishing with Spanky McFarland.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Leverage your network

Whether you joined last week or last decade, it’s great that you’re a member of OWAA. But as I often say, your membership is just the key that opens the door. Now you have to be proactive and purposeful as you walk through that door to really maximize the opportunities that come with membership. It’s up to you to leverage the community that OWAA has created to assemble your own network within it.

How do you do this? To start, you can get on the online member directory and search for other members within a radius of your ZIP code. Review the resulting list and then reach out to those who could be a fit to see if they wouldn’t mind an introductory phone call, or, if close enough, a conversation over coffee sometime. You can do this again when you’re traveling if you’re attending a conference in another part of the country, for example. Why not take a little time to look up other members while you’re there and see if you can connect while you’re in their neck of the woods?

You can also use the advanced search feature for more detailed searches. Looking for a photographer in some specific area of the country? Want to meet other illustrators? Looking to meet other podcasters — or to pitch podcasters to interview you about a new book or article? Curious about blogging and want to reach out to some of our blogger members? You can find them all via the advanced search feature. (You can also find some of these folks via the “OWAA Collective” section of our website: owaa.org/owaa-collective.)

If you’re on Facebook, be sure to join our members only group there (facebook.com/groups/owaamembers), where members often share calls for submissions, scholarship and fellowship announcements, and job postings. And be sure to post about your own work, too. That space is for community engagement and mem-

ber-to-member exchanges, not just a place for staff to post. So use it to ask your questions, seek advice, get guidance on new outlets or pitch angles, and just get to know more fellow members.

Take a little time to log in to the members’ area of the website — perhaps even make it a recurring event in your calendar — and review all the benefits listed there. I’ve already mentioned the membership directory, but you can also check out the mentorship program and apply to be a mentor or mentee. Review the discounts listed by our Supporting Groups (or search them via the member directory) to get on their press release list or ask about “pro” deals or products to review. While you’re in that area, check out the “Get Involved” section to see how you can better get your name out there by writing a story for OU, speaking at an event or becoming a volunteer leader.

To really dive deeper into our community to grow your network, plan to attend OWAA’s events. I certainly hope that you’ve seen that our conference is in El Paso, Texas, Sept. 20-22 while our new Field Fest “mini conference” is in Johnson City, Tennessee, July 7-11.

You’re already a member, so you’ve unlocked the door to our community. Now walk through that door with purpose and grow your OWAA network!

— With more than 20 years of experience in the outdoor and travel industries, Chesak is the 17th executive director of OWAA.

Outdoor Writers Association of America

Our mission: improve the professional skills of our members, set the highest ethical and communications standards, encourage public enjoyment and conservation of natural resources, and mentor the next generation of professional outdoor communicators.

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 2814 Brooks St., Box 442 Missoula, MT 59801

406-728-7434, Fax: 406-728-7445 info@owaa.org, owaa.org STAFF

Executive Director: Chez Chesak

Membership Services Coordinator: Emma Mares

Publications Editor: Suzanne Downing

Copy Editor: Danielle Phillippi

PRESIDENT

Ken Keffer, Indiana OFFICERS

1st Vice President: Amy Kapp, Virginia 2nd Vice President: Erin Merrill, Maine

Secretary: Ruth Hoyt, Texas

Treasurer: Russell Roe, Texas BOARD MEMBERS

Matthew Dickerson, Vermont

Amy Grisak, Montana

Kelsey Roseth, North Dakota

Robert Annis, Indiana

Ashley Peters, Minnesota

Drew YoungeDyke, Michigan

Chris Paparo, New York

Jill Rohrbach, Arkansas

Ashley Stimpson, Maryland COUNSELS

Attorney: William Jay Powell, Missouri

Medical: Grant S. Lipman, M.D., California

Copyright Spring 2024 by Outdoor Writers Association of America Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. The contents of Outdoors Unlimited do not necessarily represent the opinion or endorsement of OWAA, its staff, officers, directors or members. Outdoors Unlimited (ISSN 0030-7181) is published bimonthly by OWAA Inc., 2814 Brooks St., Box 442, Missoula, MT 59801. Nonprofit postage paid at Missoula, MT, and additional mailing offices.

Nature immersion therapy in the Chihuahuan desert

OWAA President Ken Keffer is a naturalist and award-winning environmental educator. He's also the author of nine books, including "Earth Almanac: Nature’s Calendar for YearRound Discovery" and "Knowing the Trees: Discover the Forest from Seed to Snag." Keffer is a frequent contributor to Birds & Blooms magazine and The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science blog. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana, where he and his wife run a Wild Birds Unlimited store.

Ken Keffer

OWAA President kckeffer@gmail.com

Much of the time, it feels like I could be the president of the Indoor Writers Association of America. Since opening a nature hobby shop, I talk to dozens of customers about what nature is happening in their own backyards, but I spend far less time outside.

A few weeks back, I was having an especially snarly day at the store. Nothing was particularly wrong, but all the little things were exacerbated by the dreariness of winter in the Midwest. My staff member humored my whining for a bit, but eventually they offered up a real solution. “You need to eat some fruit and go for a walk outside,” they matter-of-factly stated. (This is oddly similar to advice my wife has been giving me for years: “Eat more veggies and spend more time in nature.”)

The recent OWAA winter board meeting allowed me the chance to spend a few days in the Chihuahuan Desert, which according to the National Park Service is the most biologically diverse desert habitat in the Western Hemisphere. Our basecamp, Las Cruces, New Mexico, gets nearly 350 days of sun annually, and our group took full advantage of the lovely weather. The trip was productive from an organizational perspective, but for me personally, it was especially rewarding and therapeutic.

The business portion of the trip was held at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park. A western meadowlark, the species I most looked forward to seeing return in the spring when I was growing up in Wyoming, served as the singing welcoming committee and was already boldly staking out a territory in mid-February.

The Organ Mountains just east of Las Cruces got hit with snow a few days

before our trip, and a few patches of white lingered on the northern aspect slopes of the range. While Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks staff and volunteers helped us understand the rich geological, human and natural histories that have played out on these lands, I was distracted by a towhee trifecta (spotted, canyon and green-tailed).

One afternoon, OWAA Treasurer Russell Roe and I peddled for approximately 374 miles. At least that’s what it felt like to my body, which hasn’t mounted a bike saddle in far too many years. I do love the thought of training up and returning to tackle the 250-mile Monumental Loop created by local bike guru Matt Mason. Next time, I’ll bring a pillow for my bum. Also, I managed to spot my lifer oryx (introduced to the area in 1969) and the world’s largest pistachio on a day trip to White Sands National Park and Three Rivers Petroglyph Site.

You’ll get your own chance to experience the wonders of the most biologically diverse desert in the western hemisphere this September. El Paso, Texas, is our official host, and pre- and post-conference tours will help you generate stories, photos and other content and also experience a bit of nature immersion theory throughout the northern reaches of the Chihuahuan Desert.

I feel bad for whoever is president of the Indoor Writers Association of America, and I recognize just how lucky I am to be the president of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. If you find yourself in an indoor rut, try eating some fruits and veggies and heading outside. It’s solid advice for your own neighborhood and for a fall trip to the desert.

WRITING FOR

YOUNG READERS

FIVE TIPS FOR AUTHENTICITY

BY ERIN KIRKLAND | PORT ANGELES, WASHINGTON

Perhaps no audience makes me more self-conscious of my writing abilities than the under-18 crowd. Why? Kids demand the truth, ask great questions and know what they like (or don’t). Writing for them requires grown-ups to set aside what we think we know, or how we think we know how to do something, and pay attention to the young minds that open our books or read our magazine articles. If you’re struggling with an assignment or presentation geared toward children, consider my top tips for establishing and keeping your credibility among the next generation.

KNOW YOUR CHOSEN GENRE

Do you already write about animals? Boating? Gardening? Take

a new spin on what you know and craft your expertise into a kid-friendly story. I once wrote for a magazine that asked me for a monthly column centering around food, so I picked the brains of my teacher friends and ended up with stories about making sourdough, starting a container garden with vegetable scraps and, one month, creating the aurora borealis with food coloring and milk (very cool).

PAY ATTENTION TO KIDS' AGES AND STAGES

While kids grow up with a wide range of developmental timelines that don’t always correspond to age numbers, books or articles for children generally fall into these categories.

Picture books/stories: 0-4 years. Board books and shorter stories with engaging images are what captures their attention.

Early readers: age 5-7. These kiddos are just starting to sight-read (recognizing familiar and oft-used words), and their world is opening up in a big way. Combine images with short words and phrases they will know and repeat.

Chapter books/young reader books: ages 6-9. Remember when you read an entire book all by yourself? This is the age when kids catch the reading bug, and it’s our job as adults to nourish this fire for words. Put in lots of action and practical how-to projects and let them loose to show off their newfound skills.

Middle grades: ages 9-12. Sadly, lots of tweens start to think reading is “boring,” so shaking them out of this apathy is critical with advocacy issues, leadership roles and adventurous opportunities. My first guidebook about traveling Alaska with children included at least 50 vignettes written by kids themselves, and it was a huge hit with both adult and youth readers.

Young adult (“YA”): teens and 20-somethings. If there was ever a time to push the independence factor,

this is the age range. Write about doing hard things, accomplishing big goals and becoming a steward of the outdoors. Connecting teens with other teens is also important, so if writing in the realm of advocacy, be sure to include QR codes or other ways to link likeminded readers together.

OBSERVE YOUNGSTERS IN THEIR NATURAL HABITATS

One cannot possibly author a children’s book or article without investing in time around children. Writing about a particular animal? Spend a few hours at the local zoo, conservation center or other natural space frequented by the animal of choice. Look and listen to how kids present their knowledge and explain it to their parents or peers. This is also a great time to catch up on the lingo of older kids as well. No, you won’t be “extra” for truly wanting to connect with your audience. Bet.

CHOOSE WORDS CAREFULLY

Balance understanding with teaching by combining familiar terms with new ones through fun images or silly mnemonics. In Alaska, kids are taught to hold up their hand and rattle off the five species of salmon thusly: “Thumb - chum, pointer - sockeye, middle (largest) finger - chinook, ring finger - silver, and pinky - pink.”

Or, try this one: “Never Eat Sour Watermelon,” as a tool to remember how north, east, south, and west appear on a compass.

USE IMAGES THAT ENGAGE, TEACH OR DRAW "WOWS"

When writing for children, make the words and images combine for a double dose of understanding. Also consider featuring images of other kids to establish relevance and confirm that a place can be visited or a project com-

pleted. When writing specifically about a destination, include youngsters in the photography process for a unique perspective.

— Erin Kirkland is a freelance writer specializing in family travel and outdoor recreation opportunities for young people. She is author of two guidebooks, "Alaska On the Go: Exploring the 49th State with Children," and its sequel, "Alaska On the Go: Exploring the Alaska Marine Highway System with Children." She was a weekly columnist for the Anchorage Daily News and a contributing editor for Alaska Magazine, and she currently works with Lonely Planet's guidebook and digital content teams. Erin's home base is a small homestead on Washington's north Olympic Peninsula.

BY THE BOOK

CREATIVE COLLABORATION FOR A COLLECTION

BY KRIS MILLGATE

Final copy for my third book’s press release arrived by email from my editor.

“Now you’ve done it,” she wrote. “You have a trilogy!”

Those two lines from her prompted one phone call from me.

“A trilogy sounds so final,” I said when she answered my call. “It can only be three. What if I have more than three in me?”

“I hope you do,” my editor replied. “Let’s leave the door open and call it a collection instead.”

When I started my journalism career in TV news more than two decades ago, I didn’t know I’d eventually cover the outdoors as a freelancer. I didn’t know I’d produce wildlife films through my production company, Tight Line Media. And I didn’t know I’d have a collection. Now, I know all of those things to be true, and I have three books displaying my learning curve for other communicators like you to learn from.

Here’s the purpose and process for each book in my collection … so far.

MY PLACE AMONG MEN (2019)

Purpose: Reveal the backstory on the most dynamic outdoor issues I’ve covered. Chapters read as already-published news stories, but with my personal perspective added.

Process: $15,000 crowdfunded for publisher

I can mentally clean up a sentence in my head as fast as you verbally spit it out of your mouth. I've never doubted my ability to write — at least not until I entered the book world. I spent

two years trying to connect with an agent or publisher. I was already published, so I played to my strengths. It didn’t work, so I played a new game.

I found a hybrid publisher to manage what’s not in my wheelhouse (design and print) while I wrote and promoted. That publisher needed $15,000 upfront. I crowdfunded that amount through an aggressive social media campaign selling 750 pre-orders in three months. The publisher used the total to finalize my manuscript and print my paperback. I didn’t make money, but I made my first book.

MY PLACE AMONG FISH (2021)

Purpose: Provide the backstory on my experience following salmon migration solo for the film “Ocean to Idaho” and showing up at the finish line with stitches in four places and a camera held together with duct tape.

Process: $9,000 self-published

Documenting salmon migration across the Northwest was my next bucket-list project after writing a book. I assumed I only had one book in me, so there was no mention of another book when I pitched sponsors for film funding.

Toyota and Four Wheel Campers designed a rig I could live and work out of while isolating solo on the road during the pandemic. I posted biweekly updates while traveling for four months. Tuesday showcased what was happening to fish. Thursday showcased what was happening to me. When I started

RIGHT: Kris Millgate in the field. (Photo by Will B. Millgate)

RIGHT PAGE: Kris Millgate on stage. (Photo by Will B. Millgate)

| IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO

falling apart, the updates reached people stuck at home in fascinating ways. By the time I finished field production at the end of 2020, I had 25 hours of footage to shove into a 26-minute documentary. I knew I had a book, too. I didn’t want my saga to take away from the seriousness of disappearing salmon, but I was too beat up to ignore what was stirring public interest. The fish went in the film. I went in the book.

I worked on both at the same time. I’d spend a few hours editing video, then I’d switch modes and write chapters for a few hours. To make every session as productive as possible, I performed each task in a different location. I edited video in my office as a journalist and I authored chapters anywhere but my office as the desperate soul searching for disappearing fish. It’s an overwhelming way to work, but it wasn’t a total mind bend. Both artistic forms focused on the journey: the journey of fish and the journey of me following fish.

I wanted “My Place Among Fish” to publish the same day as the film’s premiere. I had eight months to go from empty pages to full book, which was an incredibly impossible timeline that proved doable with my newly created book team. I dumped my publisher and their upfront fees. I kept my editors, designer and typesetter. I also researched printing companies, choosing OWAA supporter Friesens

to print my second paperback. The local Toyota dealer threw in a few thousand to help cover paper costs so books would be on hand when they hosted the film’s premiere. I covered my book team’s fees knowing I’d recover it in the first month of sales.

MY PLACE AMONG BEASTS (2023)

Purpose: Reveal what it’s like to follow grizzlies for a summer while you’re fighting your own beast within.

Process: $8,000 self-published

Approaching one topic as a major production while leveraging multiple mediums became my new business model. I cranked out “Beasts” as fast as I cranked out “Fish,” but I wasn’t trying to win a race. I was trying to meet another deadline. I wanted Beasts to publish with the premiere of my newest wildlife film, “On Grizzly Ground,” in August 2023. This project also has a soundtrack, so I continue to enterprise assets with a book being one of many. I had the cost of the film and the book covered before their debut.

I’m not a genius. I’m creative and I have an uncanny knack for being able to wordsmith when I’m wallowing in

extreme suffering. I finished my first book on the couch while growing bone around a rod in my leg for four months. I wrote my second book while losing my ear to skin cancer and having it rebuilt over six months. My third book came together as multiple sclerosis moved in and I swallowed chemo treatments between road trips for a year. I can honestly say I’d rather have gone without all of that, but I also recognize that without it, there would be no collection.

— Emmy-nominated outdoor journalist Kris Millgate is a 15-year active member of OWAA. She’s based in Idaho where she runs trail, hunts birds and chases trout. Read and watch her work at tightlinemedia.com.

BELOW: Photo by Will B. Millgate

Photo courtesy of Idaho Public Television

Photo by Kris Millgate

Photo by Rob Cavallaro

HISTORY PROJECT

A LOOK INTO OWAA'S PAST

BY PHIL BLOOM | FORT WAYNE, INDIANA

Do a Google search on quotations about history and you’ll find plenty of people reflecting on the subject.

For instance, British statesman Winston Churchill said, “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”

Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou said, “The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.”

Science fiction novelist Michael Crichton: “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”

And as perhaps only he could, humorist Mark Twain said, “History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Accurately chronicling OWAA’s past has been challenging for anyone who ever tried. Inadequate records from the early years, an occasional reliance on sketchy memories, the likely loss of documents and photographs during office relocations and, perhaps, indifference have all contributed to holes in the OWAA timeline.

Even from the outset, there was scant reporting on OWAA’s formation. The only known account was a four-paragraph item in the May 1927 issue of The Sporting Goods Dealer one month after OWAA was founded at an Izaak Walton League of America convention in Chicago.

No single document has more significance to OWAA than a menu from that event.

If not for Morris Ackerman and George Robey Sr., even that piece of paper may have remained stuffed in a box or even discarded, thus preventing OWAA from knowing without doubt who its founders were.

It was Ackerman, a newspaper journalist from Cleveland, who penned the words that formed OWAA during a dinner at the IWLA’s convention in 1927 in Chicago. He used the back of the dinner menu to write:

“We the undersigned, being agreed that an organization of recognized outdoor writers should be formed in America, for the purpose of bettering our profession, to give more stability and standing to the same, and to eliminate untruths from stories of the outdoors, do hereby form the Outdoor Writers Association of America.”

It was Robey, a longtime outdoor writer for the Columbus (Ohio) Citizen-Journal and OWAA board member in the 1930s, who somehow obtained the document and other materials from Ackerman, who died in 1950.

Robey rediscovered the menu in his files in 1965 and offered it to OWAA, but he died before he could make the exchange. His oldest son, George II, followed through with his father’s intentions and presented the document to OWAA a year later. It is framed and currently resides with Executive Director Chez Chesak.

The words Ackerman scratched out on the banquet menu confirm who was

behind OWAA’s start. Eight people, including Ackerman, signed the menu. Some, like Ackerman, Cal Johnson and Edward G. Taylor, were well-known outdoor writers at the time. Jack Miner operated a migratory bird sanctuary in Canada and was a frequent lecturer on birds and conservation. Buell Patterson had a radio show in Chicago and wrote a syndicated column on dogs.

Two others — Peter Carney and Mrs. Hal Kane Clements — remained mysteries because they never appeared again in OWAA records.

Equally mysterious was the signature El Comancho, whose real name was Walter S. Phillips, a self-educated writer and lecturer who spent his childhood among Native American tribes in Oklahoma. It was Sioux Chief High Horse who gave him the nickname “Comanche,” and Phillips tweaked it for his byline.

Another 30 names are listed below the signees, of which about a dozen presumably became charter members.

OWAA met again in 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, before returning to Chicago in 1929, both times in conjunction with IWLA conventions.

Officers and a board of directors kept things limping along, but the association was “somewhat like a stagnant pond” by 1936, according to longtime member Henry P. Davis in a presentation at the 1958 conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas. When members did convene, he said it “consisted merely of a dinner meeting,

with informal discussion, election of officers and the consumption of considerable liquor. Sometimes we had a ‘speaker of the evening,’ usually some top banana in the conservation field who had an axe to grind.”

A consistent instrument for tracking OWAA affairs didn’t materialize until 1940 when Outdoors Unlimited was launched. It was one sheet of legal-sized paper, mimeographed and mailed to members.

J. Hammond Brown, a newspaper reporter with the Baltimore News and News-American, started OU and oversaw its content for the next 15 years.

“This is your newspaper, and it will be just as interesting as you yourself make it,” Brown wrote in the first issue. “Its primary reason for existence is to bring about a better comradeship among the members of our association.

“Meeting once a year does not make for any great amount of understanding between us. This little journal can do the job if all of us pull together … What we want are simple bits of personal news about yourself. Tell us where you are going, what you are doing — just bits of personal chat.

Brown filled OU with tidbits about members, from their work in books, magazines and newspapers, as well as engagements, weddings, birth announcements, death notices, and who was fishing or hunting and where and with whom.

"This is your newspaper, and it will be just as interesting as you yourself make it," Brown wrote in the first issue. (Outdoors Unlimited, 1940)

Elected OWAA president in 1941, Brown used OU as a platform for pushing members to support assorted conservation issues. He was reelected president repeatedly, filling the post 14 times in a 15-year span. Seventy-some others have served as OWAA president, including six women: the first being Sheila Link in 1981-82.

Bent on turning OWAA into a conservation advocacy group, Brown capitalized on his dual capacity as president and executive director to loosen qualifications to grow the ranks. By 1950, OWAA had a reported 1,400 members, but such unbridled growth didn’t meet with everyone’s approval.

In a letter to Col. Louis B. Rock, publisher of the Dayton Journal-Herald and OWAA president in 1946, former OWAA president Jack Van Coevering wrote, “Seems to me I have heard the remark that even a plumber with $3 can become a member.”

In 1948, OWAA approved its first constitution and bylaws and became incorporated in Maryland in 1953.

At conferences during the 1940s and 1950s, attendees often voted on resolutions on various topics. Some were only tangentially related to the outdoors or writing. One, for example, called on cigarette manufacturers to label each packet, not with a warning about the health dangers of smoking but with a warning about tossing butts out the windows of vehicles and causing fires.

Becoming a 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit diluted Ham Brown’s ambition to turn OWAA into a powerful lobbying force on conservation issues. By the end of the 1950s, OWAA had revamped its constitution and turned its focus away from resolutions and policy statements and more toward providing skill-building resources for its members.

After Brown died in 1955, Lew Klewer of the Toledo Blade succeeded him as president, and the OWAA board of directors turned to longtime Treasurer E. Budd Marter III to serve as executive director.

Marter, a municipal court judge from New Jersey, wore the ED and treasurer hats until 1963, when Don Cullimore was hired on a part-time basis as OWAA’s first paid executive director.

Cullimore’s hiring was one of several recommendations outlined in the Johnson Report, a study of OWAA governance done by a Chicago marketing firm.

Ed Hanson succeeded Cullimore in 1972, and both men were later linked as chroniclers of OWAA history.

Hired to prepare a book celebrating the 50th anniversary of OWAA in 1977, Cullimore expressed doubts over the challenge he faced in a letter to a few of the group’s most veteran members, including charter member Nash Buckingham.

“Since the early members still remaining are few in numbers, and inasmuch as some recollections conflicted or were nebulous as to specifics in terms of time, place and persons; there was some question in my mind as to whether a documentarily accurate compilation

could be achieved,” Cullimore wrote. “Now, through a sequence of events, I think we can begin to piece this together in chronological form and fill in many gaps.”

The result was a 96-page paperback. A few years later, Hansen and Cullimore collaborated on an updated version.

The saving grace for their efforts included reams of correspondence — typewritten and sometimes handwritten notes and letters between executive directors, presidents, board members and members at large. Board agendas, meeting minutes and an evolving Outdoors Unlimited added background.

From the past to the present, OWAA’s ranks have included prolific writers and broadcast personalities, celebrities, conservation icons, outdoor industry innovators, Pulitzer Prize winners, a cadre of colorful characters and curmudgeons, and a baseball legend, not to mention freeloaders and perhaps a scoundrel or two.

Membership has come from newspapers small and large, from The Daily Clintonian (Indiana) and the Tabor City Tribune (North Carolina) to The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, etc.

From the outset, OWAA members were associated with magazines as writers and editors for “The Big Three” — Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield — not to mention dozens of other periodical publications. TV and radio broadcasters joined the fold, including the likes of Curt Gowdy, Jerry McKinnis, Tony Dean and Grits Gresham.

Leaders of national organizations — the Izaak Walton League of America, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife Management Institute, Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association — gravitated to OWAA, including such icons as “Ding” Darling, Olaus Murie and Sigurd Olson.

After its formative meeting in Chicago, OWAA has met all across the United States, plus trips to Mexico, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a virtual conference in 2020.

Although a permanent headquarters was often a topic of discussion, OWAA bounced around to rental properties where executive directors lived — Baltimore; Columbia, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Phoenix; and State College, Pennsylvania.

Finally, in 1997, OWAA members approved a move to Missoula, Montana, where it built but later sold its interest in an office condominium. With dwindling onsite staff and a string of executive directors working remotely from their homes, OWAA physical presence in Missoula was reduced to a UPS mailing address.

Membership records are incomplete until 1971, when OWAA reported 1,228 individual members. The roster grew in fits and starts until peaking at 1,944 in 1993.

A decade or so later, the membership splintered over a board decision to send a letter to then-NRA president Kayne Robinson for his speech at the 2004 conference at Spokane, Washington, in which he criticized the Sierra Club. The board’s letter recognized Robinson’s free speech

rights but called some of his comments “inappropriate in light of the spirit of cooperation which is the hallmark of our annual conference.”

Some OWAA members saw it as an assault on the NRA and the Second Amendment. Others saw it as attempted censorship and a violation of the First Amendment.

The controversy — not the first but maybe the hottest in OWAA history — boiled for more than a year before hundreds of individual members and outdoor industry supporters, including the NRA, dropped their affiliation.

OWAA survived and remains the largest organization in the world devoted to outdoor journalism.

As OWAA approaches the century mark, interest in its history is accelerating. This article is the first in a series to be published in Outdoors Unlimited over the next couple of years.

Future articles in the series will explore the careers of OWAA’s eight founders; women in OWAA; assorted traditions and awards; conference locations, meals, and keynote speakers; the pendulum swing of organizational focus; missed opportunities; controversies and squabbles that threatened to rip the organization apart; memorable pranks and stunts; the impact — both good and not-so-good — of longtime leader Ham Brown; other influential members and some surprising ones; plus other topics.

The hope, nay, intent, is to provide OWAA members with an understanding of where we’ve been and how we got here.

In addition, Colleen Miniuk is chairing an ad hoc committee exploring ways to celebrate our 100th anniversary in 2027.

“Our committee is already actively developing, discussing and implementing an abundance of ways to celebrate this momentous occasion,” Miniuk said. “In 2026, the year leading up to our birthday, we plan to focus our efforts on celebrating OWAA’s century of leadership and innovation in outdoor communications and conservation.

“In 2027, the year following our big day, we’ll shift to ‘breaking trail for the next 100 years.’”

Next: Who were OWAA’s eight founders, and what did they do?

UNEARTHING OWAA'S RICH HISTORY

While preparing OWAA’s 50th anniversary booklet in 1977, Don Cullimore summarized the challenges in a letter to Ed Hanson, his successor as OWAA executive director.

“The researching of history can be intriguing, frustrating and gratifying,” Cullimore wrote. “Intriguing from the many gems of information that are uncovered in the process; ranging across the spectrum of the dramatic, the whimsical, the idealist; the insight into the background of events, and the personalities and achievements and foibles of the persons involved.

“Frustrating in the search for authentication of facts that become elusive among the hazy and occasionally contradictory recollections of long-gone years.

“Gratifying — in the assistance received, both voluntary and in response to queries, from oldline members; in the quest to fill information gaps and piece together a cohesive account.”

Cullimore and Hansen tacked on more material with an updated booklet 15 years later.

Fast forward to 2015 when OWAA President Mark Freeman recognized the approaching 100th anniversary in 2027 and the need for a refresh.

“But I’m not talking about knocking out a few new chapters on the ensuing decades since the last go-round in 1992,” Freeman wrote in his April/ May 2015 president’s message in OU. “I see us combining various media to tell OWAA’s ongoing story. Video clips, slide shows, radio broadcasts and, yes, even some written accounts of what has transpired in our organization are needed to tell our story because it’s not only our history it’s our present and our future.”

Freeman established an ad hoc committee to pursue this goal.

A couple of years later, Pat Wray gathered significant anecdotes from Lisa Ballard, Tony Dolle, George Harrison, Tim Mead, Glenn Sapir, Mark Sosin, Joel Vance, Tom Wharton, Free-

man, and himself that add background on various topics.

While the stories planned for this history series in OU bank on the work of Cullimore, Hanson and Wray, I’ve benefited greatly from tools they did not have Google, social media platforms Facebook and LinkedIn, and subscriptions to Ancestry.com and Newspapers. com that assisted in researching my own family’s genealogy.

I’ve scoured OWAA archives at the University of Montana Library and Denver Public Library, not to mention 30-some banker boxes retrieved from storage units in Missoula, Montana, that contain correspondence, board agendas and minutes, individual member files, thousands of photographs and film negatives, and back issues of Outdoors Unlimited.

Still, there’s a sense that pieces are missing. This is underscored by the fact that none of those banker boxes had a photograph of J. Hammond Brown, OWAA’s longtime president and executive director. Neither did they include any information on cofounder Mrs. Hal Kane Clements.

Google came to the rescue on the latter issue, turning up an obituary in The New York Times for Clements, which revealed her given first name was Hazel. The list of survivors provided breadcrumbs for tracking down heirs in Ancestry.com, which led to contacting her great-great grandson through LinkedIn.

He called her “an amazing and ambitious woman.” Better yet, he sent a photograph of her. I’m sure Don Cullimore would call that “intriguing” and “gratifying.”

But like all research projects, this one will never be done. If you have anything to contribute, don’t hesitate to contact me at philbloom.owaa@frontier.com.

— Phil Blooms two-time president of OWAA and a life-long resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

ABOVE: Morris Ackerman

ABOVE: Ham Brown

ABOVE: Sylvia Bashline and Joel Vance

In spring 2023, Paul Queneau received an unexpected email from Hilary Dyer, editor-in-chief of Clay Target Nation magazine, inquiring about him taking photos of the U.S. Open Skeet Championship. This came thanks to a recommendation from Randall Kadish, a fellow OWAA member who attends Missoula, Montana’s Off the Record meetup along with Queneau. Queneau then found excellent technical advice in an Outdoors Unlimited article on how to photograph shotgun shooting by Lefty Ray Chapa, which proved supremely helpful. Queneau’s images from the competition have since appeared in several articles and two covers of Clay Target Nation and have led to additional photo assignments of skeet shooting.

ABOVE: Smoke erupts from the muzzle of a shotgun during a skeet competition, creating similar wave formations to Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds known in meteorology.

LEFT: A skeet competitor prepares to reload his shotgun as smoke wafts from the barrels.

A clay pigeon disintegrates in a puff of black smoke above the Missoula Trap and Skeet Club’s dramatic view of the Rattlesnake Wilderness.

Photographing rapid-fire images of skeet shooting occasionally allows a photographer to capture the split second that the blast of pellets erupts from the end of a competitor’s barrel.

The National Skeet Shooting Association’s 2023 Kolar U.S. Open Skeet Championship last June attracted 691 participants at 14 clubs across the United States. Top Missoula finishers Phillip Strelau (above) and Hilton Robinson (left) shattered hundreds of clays and missed only a handful over the course of three days of competition.

10 STORY LEADS EL PASO, TEXAS

BY JAZMIN VELASQUEZ | EL PASO, TEXAS

Get ready to mix business with pleasure at the annual OWAA conference in sunny El Paso, Texas, happening Sept. 20-22! While you’re not busy conferencing, spice up your downtime by diving into some exciting story leads. Explore the vibrant outdoor scene of El Paso and turn your adventures into cash by highlighting the best of what this city has to offer.

WRITE ABOUT RIO BOSQUE PARK

A hidden treasure of El Paso, the Rio Bosque Park spans 372 acres of land with the western boundary of the park running parallel to the Rio Grande, forming the international border between the U.S. and Mexico. After learning about its rich history, write a story about the park’s past, describing the funding obstacles it faced to become a wetland project managed by the City of El Paso.

EXPLORE ROCK CLIMBING AND BOULDERING AT HUECO TANKS STATE PARK & HISTORIC SITE

Fearless adventurers are always up for a challenge and will love to learn more about the 10-plus rock-climbing routes and bouldering sites at Hueco Tanks. Review the classic, most popular and highest-rated climbing routes in the park, a site also well known for having some of the best bouldering in the world.

CLIMB TO THE AZTEC CAVES AT THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS

Hiking to the Aztec Caves offers adventurers a captivating blend of natural beauty and geological wonder. As you embark on the moderate trail, expect to traverse rocky terrain amid panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. The caves provide a unique glimpse into the rugged landscape’s geological history, offering a sense of awe for the forces of nature. Write a hiker’s best tips guide for

climbing the caves including attire, tools and best practices.

MAKE A DAY TRIP TO WHITE SANDS NATIONAL PARK

The glistening gypsum sand dunes at White Sands are considered one of the world’s great natural wonders. Less than an hour away from El Paso, White Sands

is a haven for bicycling, sand sledding, horseback riding, dune driving and more. Create an itinerary for doing a day trip from El Paso to Alamogordo and visiting the park to enjoy the different activities available.

... Continued on page 16

Franklin Mountains

Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site

White Sands National Park

COVER THE EL PASO STAR & SCENIC DRIVE

Known as the best view of the city accessible by car, Scenic Drive wows visitors every time. The winding road skirts around the east side of the Franklin Mountains, offering up some of the most stunning views of the city. Just above Scenic Drive lies the Star on the Mountain, El Paso’s most recognizable symbol and landmark. Research the history of El Paso’s star and write an article about its past and its most recent modernization.

BIRDWATCH AT KEYSTONE HERITAGE & DESERT BOTANICAL PARK

When birdwatching at Keystone Heritage Park, there’s a diverse array of avian species to observe and appreciate. The park offers opportunities to spot native birds such as the verdin, cactus wren, and mourning dove. Keep an eye out for migratory birds like the western tanager and various species of hummingbirds during the appropriate seasons. After some research and a visit to the park, write an article listing the rarest birds to spot at Keystone Heritage and accompany it with a photo essay.

FISH, AND PICNIC AT ASCARATE PARK

As the largest public-use recreational park in El Paso, Ascarate Park is the perfect attraction for outdoor lovers. Within its 400 acres of land, make the most out of the park’s 48-acre lake, lakeside boardwalk, aquatic center, playgrounds and picnic areas. Write about the park’s versatile facilities, detailing the different activities to enjoy year-round.

TREK TO EL PASO'S TIN MINES

Tucked away in the Franklin Mountains is the challenging and popular 6.6-mile Tin Mines Trail. The trail takes visitors to the site of abandoned tin mines, open for visitors to explore. The trek offers views of the sprawling mountains and city. Write an article listing the many trails found within Franklin Mountains State Park.

RENT A UTV AT RED SANDS

Just west of Hueco Tanks, seek a thrilling off-road experience by renting a UTV at Red Sands. Visitors can traverse the sandy landscape, enjoying adrenaline-fueled adventures against the backdrop of expansive desert vistas. Write an article describing the must-visit attraction and give details on how to rent a UTV from Off-Road Adventures.

MOUNTAIN BIKE AT LOST DOG TRAIL

Amid the beauty of this nature preserve, Lost Dog Trail is a 7.7-mile loop in west

El Paso. The moderately challenging trail is most popular for mountain biking, but visitors are welcome to hike, run or walk the trail and the surrounding area. Pair a short article describing the trail with photos of the area, highlighting the serene, beautiful desert landscape. Bring along your furry friends too on a leash, please.

— Jazmin Velasquez is the content writer for Visit El Paso.

Franklin Mountains

Red Sands

BODIE MCDOWELL TRIBUTE

BY PHIL BLOOM | FORT WAYNE, INDIANA

Rich Patterson didn’t have to think twice when Jack Lorenz invited him to go fishing during the 2000 OWAA conference in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Bodie McDowell told me about a dandy fishing pond,” Lorenz said.

So, Patterson, Lorenz and David Hart took off to find the pond. After bouncing down a rugged rural road, they located the fishing hole next to a house that had seen better days. The pond and the house were under the watchful eye of a woman sitting in a rocking chair on the porch.

Lorenz turned to Patterson and said, “You stay in the car and keep your Yankee mouth shut. Let us Southern boys do the talking.”

Patterson heard only part of Lorenz’s conversation with the woman but picked up enough to get the impression she wasn’t keen on letting them permission to fish.

Then he heard her excitedly say to Lorenz, “You know Bodie McDowell! I think the world of him. Sure, you can fish in my pond.”

Bodie McDowell’s reputation permeated every corner of North Carolina … and beyond.

His travels were global — Australia, Canada, Central and South America, England, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Thailand, plus all 50 of the United States. His influence on OWAA was equally vast.

"His legacy will live on through his scholarship."

Born Walter Ray McDowell on Jan. 5, 1929, in Greenwood, South Carolina, the former OWAA president and namesake of OWAA’s college scholarship program died Feb. 2 at the age of 95.

“He was a friend and a gentleman to all,” said Tom Wharton, also a past president of OWAA. “His legacy will live on through his scholarship.”

Glenn Sapir, another former OWAA president, said: “He was a gentleman and a good soul … Not many leave the legacy that he has left.”

Within days of McDowell’s death, OWAA received several donations to the scholarship fund.

Everywhere McDowell went, he was known as Bodie, although he once told a reporter he didn’t recall how or when he got the nickname. His daughter, Lisa Snuggs, said family lore has it that when just learning to talk, he called his bottle “Bodie” or something similar and it stuck.

McDowell’s arrival into the world came less than two years after OWAA was founded and 10 months before Wall Street crashed during the Great Depression.

Before embarking on a notable career as an outdoor journalist, he and his wife, Shirley, lived in Alaska for a short time. The Last Frontier stirred his adventurous spirit when he served in the Army there in the early 1950s. Upon returning home, he joined the sports department of his hometown newspaper in Greenwood but also covered local government and still found time to slip in outdoor stories whenever he could.

He upped his outdoor column production from the occasional piece to weekly entries and in 1962 was hired by the Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle. While covering The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National, he met Smith Barrier, sports editor of the Greensboro (North Carolina) Daily News & Record.

They hit it off, and Barrier soon hired McDowell to be his paper’s first full-time outdoors writer.

“I was a full-time staff member when you found very few newspapers had full-time outdoor writers,” McDowell said in a phone interview last fall. “Usually, it was a guy who stopped whatever he was doing to write an outdoor column for the Sunday paper.

“I’d write two daily columns in the week and a full page on Sundays.”

McDowell’s work garnered considerable recognition. He received the North Carolina Governor’s Award four times, was honored by the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, and was also inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.

He retired from the Greensboro newspaper in 1992, but retirement didn’t last long. Two days later, he joined the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission as its public information officer.

During one commission meeting, a discussion rambled on about the state’s hybrid bass program. McDowell said he and other outdoor writers found it awkward that every time they wrote about the hybrid bass, they had to explain the fish is a cross between a female striped bass and a male white bass. He suggested the commission give the fish a simple, easy-to-remember name.

A few months later, the commission had a solution. They named it the Bodie Bass.

Similarly, his name was attached to OWAA’s college scholarship program because it was deemed the right thing to do.

McDowell, who joined OWAA in 1961, was elected to the board of directors in 1966 and later to president and board chair. During that time and for years afterward, he championed efforts to make OWAA scholarship awards meaningful. He garnered donations from fellow outdoor writers, conservation clubs, small foundations and friends. One friend, Joe M. Bryan of Greensboro, had no official affiliation with OWAA but contributed $2,000 to the cause.

“I was just trying to promote [the program],” McDowell said of his tireless campaigning. “It didn’t have a name. We were sitting in a meeting one day, talking for about an hour. Somebody out of the blue said, ‘We’ve got to give it a name.’”

Someone else suggested naming it after McDowell, the program’s most ardent cheerleader. The board of directors gave its unanimous approval.

“I think this tribute is the greatest I’ve been paid in 25 years of outdoor writing,” McDowell said at the time. “The idea of the trust fund came about because we had no way of funding a program and we were awarding only two scholarships annually.

“I felt we should do more for young people who were interested in outdoors writing and conservation communications.”

Another decade had passed when the Bodie McDowell Scholarship Fund, in a sense, hooked its own Bodie Bass. Noted wildlife artist Duane Raver created an art print of the Bodie Bass and made 500 signed copies available to OWAA members. Its sale generated thousands of dollars for the scholarship fund.

As the fund grew, individual awards to students grew from a few hundred dollars to $1,000, then $2,000 and eventually as much as $5,000 out of annual total awards of $25,000. The fund’s current assets exceed $500,000 with annual scholarship allocations set by the OWAA endowment trustees.

Besides helping college students, the scholarship fund became a mechanism by which OWAA ended decades of renting office space to own its first headquarters in Missoula, Montana.

It was McDowell’s idea to borrow from the scholarship fund and repay it at a below-market interest rate, even though he initially didn’t agree with headquarters leaving State College, Pennsylvania.

The Missoula office was later sold, but McDowell’s outside-the-box thinking, humor, perseverance and friendly manner endeared himself to many within OWAA.

“Bodie was an energizer bunny and ‘ever-ready’ long before that icon hit Madison Avenue,” said Bill Monroe, a former OWAA president. “He was persistently indefatigable and virtually impossible to say ‘no’ to. Fortunately for us and the nation, he was rarely wrong, if ever.”

Bill Powell, OWAA’s long-time legal counsel, said, “I didn’t know Bodie especially well, but we had several substantial conversations over the years. He was both a gentleman and a hard-driven person of rock-solid faith in his own judgements. … I always admired the fact Bodie found a way to achieve immortality among the living via his creation of OWAA’s scholarship fund, appropriately and forever named after him. His family and all OWAA members will be forever proud of and indebted to him.”

McDowell is survived by his wife of 69 years, Shirley, and their five children, affectionately known as the “Merry Macs” — daughters Lynn, Karen, Cheryl and Lisa, and son Mark.

— Phil Bloom is two-time president of OWAA and a life-long resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A RATHER WET DUCK HUNT

BY C.V. CHERRY | DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

Like most duck hunts, this morning was no exception, in that it was cold and early. Dressing for the hunt, I looked like a member of a raiding party seeking terrorists, bundled in Shadowgrass camouflage waders, old-school hoodie and hunting jacket, with a fullface insulated mask. The artillery for this morning’s hunt was a Winchester Super X2 synthetic camo stocked shotgun and the ammunition was 3-inch Number 2 hevi shot. Walking on flat ground was a chore, and I must have resembled a cross between Herman Munster, Peter Boyle’s Young Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s monster lumbering to the flooded cypress swamp.

In eastern North Carolina, wood ducks are known as Carolina ducks or summer ducks. They are known for their beautiful plumage and their “whee whee” call as they fly though the swamps. They are a favorite of hunters to take to the taxidermist and are also wonderful table fare. A favorite place to hunt woodies is in flooded timber.

A wood-duck hunt is usually over very quickly after the first light of day. This particular comedy of errors took place at a favorite duck hole in a cypress swamp. Being cognizant not to step in stump holes or trip on a myriad of underwater obstacles takes real talent, especially if you’re as graceful as a bull in a china shop. Wading in before legal shooting in the early morning, the only light available was the bright lamp strapped to my head. Finding a good spot and using the cypress trees as cover, the only thing left to do was wait for the crack of dawn. Soon enough, the dark gave way to gray, and before long, the woodies took flight, zipping in and around the trees. Some were splashing and sliding onto the surface of the water while others looked for their perfect landing zone. Now in range, the Winchester boomed, and before long, two ducks were on the water.

Sloshing through the ankle-deep mud and knee-deep water, I am like Walter Mitty, in my mind’s eye, a fearless, wise and experienced waterfowler. In no time,

all 6’5” of gear-laden me clumsily trips over submerged cypress knees in slow motion, like a felled timber splashing into the water. Holding my trusty gun high in my left hand while going down on both knees and right hand into the brackish creek water, my head gets submerged, water flows into my waders, and now the hunt turns into a Chevy Chase skit from the original SNL. The gun is miraculously out of the water and dry. Standing back up, ego bruised, wet and cold, the wading begins again to retrieve the morning’s bounty.

— C.V. Cherry is a retired law enforcement officer and had a rural upbringing in eastern North Carolina. He enjoys the sporting life of a hunter and enjoys cooking the rewards of his harvests.

THE VALUE OF THE WILD

BY KYLIE BAKER | SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

The contrast between urban and wild environments is never so striking than when considering interactions between people and wildlife. My three-month visit to the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica provided many enriching opportunities to establish new connections with nature, my favorite perk of studying abroad. The Osa Peninsula houses 2.5% of the planet’s biodiversity despite only covering less than a thousandth of a percent of its total surface area, making it one of the most biologically intense places on earth.

During my stay at the nonprofit organization Osa Conservation, I interacted with a diversity of truly charismatic creatures. One morning, as I hiked the maze of trails near campus, I saw numerous spider monkeys climbing the trees above my head, quite close in my opinion! There were moments of mutual observation, each of us equally curious and locked into a staring competition. But with work to do back at the station, I broke eye contact first and continued my walk. Suddenly, a stick hit my left shoulder and I let out a yelp. When the monkeys feel threatened, they often rain down small sticks or berries to ward off people; however, I didn’t expect to be the recipient of such an attack. I walked on in awe at such a profound interaction with nature (and its impeccable aim)! I entered its home and it reciprocated with a warning, as it should. Welcome to the jungle!

After such an exchange, I couldn’t help but reflect on my previous wildlife connections. They all seemed so benign. Before arriving in Costa Rica, my only interaction with a monkey had been making fleeting eye contact at my local zoo. On the Osa Peninsula, they’re free and self-employed, and if we made a connection, it was because I made an effort to visit their home and they chose to entertain my presence.

My time in Costa Rica was transformative. My encounters with spider monkeys reminded me of a fairly abstract concept I’d learned months previously in the classroom: environmental

generational amnesia. The idea is that with each ensuing generation, people will perceive the environment they’re born in as the norm, no matter how much it has departed from historical or natural conditions. If people never have the opportunity to experience this wild form of nature, they may be unknowingly content with the altered, human-impacted equivalent.

I have now had the opportunity to experience a jungle and its wild inhabitants. I wasn’t top dog like in a city. Animals didn’t shy away from my presence — they challenged me. My three months in the jungle humbled me with different lessons from different teachers, through adventures I couldn’t have achieved back in the comforts of Seattle. The Costa Rican jungle taught me the value of the wild, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

— Kylie Baker is an OWAA student member with an interest in outdoor communication.

BELOW: A spider monkey in Costa Rica. (Photo by Kylie Baker)

Outdoor gear spotlight EDITOR PICKS

BY SUZANNE DOWNING | ALBERTON, MONTANA

As an outdoor communicator, you probably spend a lot of time outdoors enjoying activities like hiking, fishing, hunting, camping and boating. You may also be inundated with gear ads and gear-focused content when you’re online. We all know having high-end outdoor gear or helpful outdoor gadgets on assignments is a luxury, not a necessity. But sometimes, you may fall in love with a piece of outdoor equipment or a simple gadget that makes your outdoor adventures a little easier or helps make you more comfortable when you’re in the field reporting. And you may want to cover that gear for publications and share your experience in the field with others.

The outdoor gear featured in this section is gear I’ve field-tested and have come to love. I’ve also added PR contacts. The contacts listed are people I’ve had positive experiences working with, and these gear representatives are looking to connect with more outdoor writers. So, if you’re interested in field-testing any of the items in this article, or you have an assignment or gear roundup coming up that might be a good fit, send these reps a note. Reach out and start building relationships.

KUIU ULTRA MERINO 145 LS CREW

Made with ultra-fine merino wool fibers spun around a nylon core, this fabric feels so cozy on — like a second skin. It’s lightweight, stretchy, breathes well and moves with your body. The long sleeves give you added coverage, making it ideal for spring days when you need an extra layer without feeling bulky. I love this crew for crisp morning mountain hikes, and it works well as a standalone shirt.

(MSRP: $79 men’s and women’s) KUIU is a proud corporate sponsor of OWAA.

PR Contact: Micah Sirek micahs@kuiu.com

MYSTERY RANCH SCREE 22 BACKPACK

The fabric used for this backpack, called “X Grid (500D nylon 6.6), 70D nylon ripstop, N.100 Robic,” is a strong and durable material made of nylon. It’s beneficial outdoors as it’s tough enough to withstand rough terrain and harsh weather conditions, making it ideal for hiking trips where you’ll be setting your pack down on rocks and brushing up against branches and mountainsides. (MSRP: $199)

PR Contact: Logan Waddell logan@jamcollective.com

HELINOX CHAIR ONE

This lightweight chair folds down to 14 inches long, 4.5 inches wide and 4.5 inches thick, and it weighs just over two pounds while rated to hold up to 320 pounds. The frame is made of aluminum alloy and goes together similar to a tent frame. The seat fabric is mainly recycled polyester with breathable mesh to keep you cool — and it’s actually comfortable to sit in. (MSRP: $109)

PR Contact: Ingrid Niehaus ingridniehauspr@gmail.com

TWILLA ADJUSTABLE BODY PILLOW

This pillow is great for van life, your RV or a tent — especially if you want some added comfort at night. You can add or take away “pods” that are like mini pillows to customize the firmness. The cooling gel foam is also nice as it keeps you from getting too hot. (MSRP: $159)

PR Contact: Tiffany Coletti tiffany@everythingbranding2.com

ADIDAS SPORT ACTV SP0083 SUNGLASSES

These sporty sunglasses have a full-rim shade and a durable plastic frame, and they stay in place and provide nice blockage from UV rays. Sunglasses shown are the “Green Mirror” model. (MSRP: $69)

PR Contact: Ivy Boomershine ivy@echoscomm.com

NITE IZE INOVA T4R LONG THROW RECHARGEABLE TACTICAL FLASHLIGHT (PRO GRADE)

This rechargeable tactical flashlight is a professional-grade tool known for its long-range illumination and durability. It’s perfect if you’re an outdoor journalist exploring remote locations. This flashlight will give you reliable lighting in challenging environments, ensuring you can capture every detail of your adventures even in low-light conditions. It gives you a 1,000-meter spot beam with 1220 lumens, meaning it’s a light so bright that you can see things clearly up to 1,000 meters away. It’s shockproof, crushproof and water resistant made with an aerospace-grade aluminum body from solid tubular stock with military-spec, Type III hard-coat anodized finish. It can last 100plus hours on low and around two hours on blast (the highest setting).

PR Contact: Alex Goldmann alexg@cgprpublicrelations.com

SOLO STOVE PI PRIME PIZZA OVEN AND NEAPOLITAN DOUGH BALLS

I’m a huge fan of Solo Stove products, and this gas-powered portable pizza oven lives up to the quality I expect from this brand. It’s great for camping trips or for simply making pizza at home outside. And if you want to treat yourself with some premium pizza dough, Solo Stove offers preservative-free Neapolitan Dough balls made with fresh yeast and Caputo 00 Pizzeria Flour, then flash-frozen to lock in freshness. The dough is at its best after thawing for a few days in the fridge in an airtight container. (MSRP: $349 pizza oven, $109 24 dough balls)

PR Contact: Linsay Vallen lindsay@purpleorangepr.com

TOADFISH STOWAWAY LED LANTERN

This shatterproof lantern is also waterproof — and it floats. I experienced Toadfish’s suction technology a few years ago on South Padre Island while covering fishing. Their can holders suction to boat surfaces and prevent spills, and this same tech is used for this lantern. It’s a handheld flashlight, a hanging tent light, a utility light and a safety light. It’s also rechargable with bright, dim, SOS, red and green light modes. (MSRP: $55)

PR Contact: Andrew Piasecki andrew@obviouslee.com

PINEBURY PORTLAND LS PERFORMANCE MERINO WOOL TEE

Wear this for spring runs, hikes or camping trips as a standalone shirt. It’s also a nice midweight base layer. The Nuyarn merino wool is soft with an additional 10% nylon. I’ve noticed it blocks wind really well. Also, Pinebury’s shirts are made in New England, here in the U.S. I recomend sizing down for women’s sizing. (MSRP: $108)

PR Contact: Phebe Rosenthal phebe@echoscomm.com

IBEX WOMEN'S NOMAD JOGGERS

This are my favorite pair of joggers I’ve tested in the field. They block wind, they’re flattering on, they’re warm and they’re an all-year pant and make a great winter base layer. The 95% merino wool and 5% elastane stretch makes them so comfortable. (MSRP: $170)

PR Contact: Melissa Cusanello melissa@purpleorangepr.com

— Suzanne Downing is a freelance writer and the publications editor for Outdoors Unlimited.

BOARD CANDIDATE PROFILES

Eight OWAA members are running for three seats on OWAA’s board of directors. The candidates, listed alphabetically below, answered four questions approved by OWAA’s board nominating committee. Their responses have not been edited and are presented here as they were submitted. Cast your vote! All active, senior active and life members are encouraged to vote by May 31, 2024. Members will receive an email with a link to the online ballot. Winners will be announced in Outdoors Unlimited and on the OWAA website. New board members will start their three-year term at the summer board meeting.

JESSICA BALTZERSEN

RESIDENCE: San Diego, California

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 4

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected?

For the past five years, I’ve run my own sustainability-focused copywriting businesses where I’ve helped various outdoor/eco-friendly brands, organizations, and non-profits with their strategy and marketing. I’ve also been a freelance journalist for 10+ years writing about wildlife conservation, sustainable tourism, and climate change. Currently, I’m contributing to publications like National Geographic, and penning my own outdoor newsletter. I’m also on the Ohio River Way tourism committee and environmental committee, helping to promote and protect a landscape I cherish and grew up near. If elected, I want to grow OWAA in terms of new members and expand resources and opportunities for current members so we can continue to work in a changing digital landscape.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members?

In an increasingly AI-driven world, it can be scary, concerning, and disheartening to feel as writers and creatives, that we’re being replaced by machines. But it’s also something that we can’t change or run away from. Instead, in this shifting landscape, we as communicators need to understand how we can use AI and technology to our advantage while also learning how to differentiate ourselves from it — because ultimately we are the ones with the skillset to offer. Additionally, as outdoor writers, we know that our climate is changing. We see the ripples of it every day in our work — whether in outdoor recreation, sports, tourism, or conservation. While it’s devastating, it also means that our work matters now more than ever — and that excites me. I want to continue to build upon the resources we have for OWAA members so we have the funding, mentorship, and network to continue making an impact by sharing stories that matter.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

I think when it comes to bringing in new members there’s a massive opportunity to enhance social media recruitment. A lot of people within the outdoor space are on social media, from individual writers and photographers to rangers in the National Park Service, outdoor education groups, and field organizations. We need to find members where they’re at: and that’s going to be on places like Instagram, X/

Twitter, and Facebook. I also think it’s a great chance for existing members to be able to contribute their expertise and experiences through content that can show off the value of OWAA.

Ultimately though, when it comes to attracting new members and keeping existing members we need to have resources that are useful and relevant to help people get the most out of their membership. I think we’re doing a good job now, but there are always ways to grow these offerings.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

Last year was the first OWAA conference I attended and I found it incredibly beneficial. Chez, OWAA leadership, and countless other partnering organizations and volunteers really put a lot of time and attention into making it a worthwhile experience for members and I think they’re doing a great job. Plus, I walked away with dozens of story ideas and connections.

As a first-time attendee, it meant a lot to me that so many past and present OWAA board members went out of their way to make me feel welcome. I want to continue using the annual conference as an opportunity for new members to understand the resources available to them and to make them feel more a part of the OWAA community, while also leaning on the expertise of some of the members who have been attending for years (even decades!). I’d also like to make sure we keep bringing in diverse editors and speakers who can contribute to outdoor discourse.

SARA BORODAEF

RESIDENCE: Montgomery, Vermont

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 3

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? I am currently completing a two-year term on the board of a community non-profit focused on economic development. I have been employed full time in an editorial role and currently work part-time as a freelancer, balancing writing with my full-time role as an event producer and content strategist. If elected to the board, I would hope to be able to encourage OWAA to continue welcoming part time writers to the fold and to use my experience from my fulltime role as an event producer to support OWAAs annual conference and new programs such as Field Fest as tools to grow and support membership.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members?

The outdoor industry was fortunate to experience a boon of new, increasingly diverse participants as a result of the pandemic, though primarily in low-barrier to entry activities. I believe the priorities of OWAA should be to identify additional ways to target and engage diverse membership. This diversity could represent disparate viewpoints, backgrounds, or target non-traditional or low-barrier to entry outdoor activities.

OWAA has created some fantastic programs and benefits for members. A

priority of the board should continue to be evaluating and evolving membership benefits to meet the needs of a, hopefully, increasingly diverse membership pool.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

I was introduced to OWAA when invited to participate in a press trip. Prior to that point I was unaware of OWAA and the benefits it offered. I think there are opportunities to increase awareness of the association among new writers, new outdoor participants, and those who, like myself, are not full time writers.

Ways to engage new membership could include leveraging existing members to invite potential new members, developing a long term brand growth strategy for the organization, and continuing to grow the annual conference with targeted invitations to non-members.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

I have only been able to attend one conference (Jay Peak, VT), but the experience was incredibly valuable. The opportunity to connect with other writers, share insight, and network was a wonderful experience. I would like to offer my expertise as an event producer to support the planning of this fantastic program.

MILES DEMOTT

RESIDENCE: Brevard, North Carolina

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 4

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? In addition to serving and leading non-profit boards in the past, I am perhaps uniquely qualified to serve OWAA because I work in management in outdoor media, so watching trends and creating opportunities is my job. If elected, I would hope to continue growing the footprint and the influence of the organization steadily in a rapidly changing industry.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members? In the face of technological efficiencies, OWAA can best serve our members by cultivating relationships and opportunities with outdoor media and brands, anticipating new directions the industry may take and helping members connect with outlets in ways that put them in the right place in that moment. It may be a digital world, but it’s still a people business.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

FEATURE

Reaching new members across the larger pool of writers and photographers might include partnering with similar organizations whose membership is focused on other areas of interest, to introduce OWAA’s work to folks who might be interested in expanding their professional horizons into the outdoor space. It might also include partnering with schools and conservation organizations to get younger people more actively involved at an earlier age, or working within the college job fair circuit to shine a light on an unconventional career path. To retain current members, one idea would be to survey the members each year to generate a list of relevant and actionable ideas, and then bring one of the ideas into practice each year. This probably happens in some form or fashion already, but let’s formalize the process and see what happens.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

In the grand scheme of things, it’s a great conference. It might be interesting to try some “speed networking” between some of the sessions to connect members with other members in an organized and intentional way. The time between sessions might also make interesting opportunities for “skills drills” or something of the like, brief breakouts on editing, pitching, business management, podcasting, and other quick areas of inquiry. New members or attendees might also be identified prior to the conference and connected with an established member to guide them through the process and make introductions. These ideas would make the conference more efficient and enjoyable and would likely increase retention.

HOWARD FOX

RESIDENCE: Las Vegas, Nevada

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 4

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? I have been a member of the OWAA since 2021. I have attended three annual conferences and chaired the Excellence in Craft contest for two seasons. At the conference in Gulf Shores, I collaborated on a panel about podcasting and co-delivered a break-out with Rick Saez about podcasting. I have met numerous members from attending virtual meetings and the annual conferences. I have been actively podcasting since 2019 and have interviewed over 50 OWAA members to learn about their mission and work.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members? Diversity from many voices is crucial for the long-term success of the OWAA. Our events and programming should mirror the concerns that our long-time and new members within their niche areas. We should be looking for ways to bring members together to network, discuss ideas, share about their specialty area. Members should also be supporting each other by looking for opportunities to speak, present, and collaborate.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor

topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

We can reach new members by exploring the challenges and opportunities with our niche categories and subjects and look for ways to invite them to present to the OWAA on virtual and in-person events.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

Travel to one area of the country can be expensive and burdensome. Regional events like Field Fest are an opportunity to participate and network locally. I would like to see more of these events across the country.

JOHN MCCOY

RESIDENCE: Huntington, West Virginia YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 38

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? I’ve been an OWAA member since 1986. In that time, I’ve attended 28 conferences and have served two separate terms as OWAA secretary. I’m well-versed in Board practices and protocols.

I would like to help guide OWAA during its transition from a predominantly hook-and-bullet organization to one that embraces all outdoor pursuits, consumptive and non-consumptive alike. During my 41-year career as a newspaper outdoor

writer and editor, I covered just about everything: deer and small-game hunting, all types of fishing, camping, hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, nature and conservation. As numbers of hunters and anglers continue to wane, outdoor writers’ focus must necessarily shift toward other pursuits.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members? Individual members’ professional development should always be the organization’s principal goal. Networking is nice (and necessary), but all the networking in the world will be for naught if we members don’t bring strong skill sets to the table. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, lede writing, query-letter writing and story development are skills we all can continue to hone, no matter how long we’ve been in the business.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

Personally, I would like to see OWAA interact with journalism schools, writers’ workshops, etc., to help make students and fledgling writers aware that outdoor writing is even “a thing,” and that there are markets open to writers who enjoy outdoor activities. Perhaps, to accomplish this, veteran OWAA members could offer to visit nearby schools and workshops in order to make faculties and students aware of the possibilities.

For existing members, OWAA should constantly strive to put writers, editors and photojournalists in touch with potential markets. Attending OWAA’s annual conferences certainly were catalysts for my professional development. Without the knowledge gained and contacts made there, I probably never would have ended up as a full-time newspaper outdoor writer who was privileged to contribute to Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and other national publications.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

Keep it affordable. Gone are the days when employers paid writers to attend conferences. For the most part, today’s outdoor writers fly on their own dime. Also, keep things market-focused. Help writers connect with editors. Help those writers to be better at their craft. And help them make better decisions with the money they make from outdoor writing. Finally, I would suggest that, when possible, conferences should be held in memorable places. Of the 28 conferences I’ve attended, the ones in Kalispell, Mont.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Roanoke, Va.; and Marco Island, Fla. stand out, mainly due to the awesome surroundings.

ALEX STRICKLAND

RESIDENCE: Missoula, Montana

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 6

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? I’ve been very lucky to work for both (all?) sides of the outdoor media aisle over the last almost-20 years. From not-profitable (small-town Montana newspapers) to nonprofit (Adventure Cycling Association), public relations and advertising agency (SOAR Communications) to my current position as the content marketing leader at an app company (onX Maps), plus a fair bit of freelancing along the way, I’ve had a chance to see

this business from a lot of angles and at a lot of different scales. Does that mean I understand it? Why no, no it does not. But a well-rounded perspective would allow me to add value to OWAA’s board on behalf of a range of the organization’s constituencies and, hopefully, provide some insight and action on how we could bring those constituents together to provide an even more valuable “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” ecosystem for OWAA members.

What could that look like? Well, for starters it could include continuing expansion toward non-consumptive parts of the outdoor world, which is badly underserved when it comes to professional development and continuing education and could benefit from greater connection to and understanding of the consumptive space especially when it comes to covering environmental issues. That already-in-progress expansion also opens a lot of opportunity for OWAA to connect otherwise disparate corners of the outdoor world in ways that could and should position both the members and OWAA itself as a source of thought leadership—or at least as offering the right components (opponents, even) for compelling debate. Consider a well-understood topic on the hook and bullet side such as Pittman-Robertson and the related intermittent floating of a “backpacker tax”-type initiative for the non-consumptive folks. OWAA could be a center of gravity for those discussions by connecting outlets to experts, media to outlets, heck, even hosting discussions itself. Low-hanging fruit perhaps, but an example of the kind of opportunities that a continuously broadening membership could provide.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members?

Connection, plain and simple. Not so simple to do, of course. To sources, to job opportunities, to one another, OWAA’s role as a hub is where the greatest value continues to lie. This is most in evidence via its annual conference, where the opportunity to connect within and especially outside of programming is consistently the thing cited as where the magic really happens. Operationalizing that magic year-round is a huge challenge and opportunity, but plenty of great models exist

that could help the organization continue to improve here. The content marketing world, for example, has a vibrant Slackbased community called Superpath that offers a compelling blueprint for the type of always-on, asynchronous connection that OWAA could provide to members in a well-managed year-round community.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

“Edge” is the operative word here as not only do outdoor topics have space to expand, but the “edges” of careers in media continue to evolve. Incredible editorial-style work comes out of brands and agencies as often as low-quality SEO copy comes out of legacy media orgs. While an in-house creative staffer (such as myself) might not deserve a media credential from OWAA, folks like me have a lot to offer as a connection for media, an education resource, and a rolodex to expand OWAA and its members’ reach. Thinking beyond traditional masthead or bylined media to include brand, NGO, and other storytellers could provide an instant expansion opportunity. IF, that is, OWAA can clarify the value for both the new “edge” folks as well as show the existing core membership that their value is deepening, not diluting. I think connection is key component of this particular have cake/eat cake strategy, though of course more formal professional education and development opportunities can and should remain a core value proposition for members, many of whom (raises hand!) don’t have much opportunity for that elsewhere.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

I’ve only attended one conference (Little Rock ’19) though I’ve been lucky to live vicariously through staff and friends who have attended many more. There are always opportunities to improve and broaden the educational opportunities,

perhaps even building to a point of enough choice to offer more “pathing” for the event. But ultimately I think the opportunity for OWAA is not to ask how to improve conference, but how to expand the “secret sauce” of conference to the other 51 weeks of the year. I’ve been very lucky to interact with OWAA members on a monthly basis here in Missoula as part of an “Off the Record” event hosted by a former board president. Sometimes featuring presentations, sometimes primarily grad students from the university, sometimes just a bunch of old guys and gals shooting the breeze, this regular coming together captures some of that magic and leaves me and others feeling more connected, inspired, and quite frequently in possession of some new idea or story angle.

DAVID ZOBY

RESIDENCE: Missoula, Montana

YEARS OF OWAA MEMBERSHIP: 9

1.What are your qualifications to serve on the OWAA board of directors and what do you hope to achieve if elected? I have been a member of the OWAA for nine years. In that time, I’ve written several pieces for Outdoors Unlimited, attended three conferences (Billings, Casper, and Gulf Shores), and benefited from networking and befriending other outdoor communicators. I helped Visit Casper write the original proposal to bring the OWAA to Wyoming in 2022. I embraced the role of “local chair” for that conference and helped bring in a few of the speakers. I raised money to cover the

cost of speaker fees. I visited the fly shops and helped arranged pre-conference outings—I even guided a wading trip for two OWAA members. This year, I volunteered to judge one of the categories for the Excellence in Craft competition. Participating in OWAA work has become a major priority in my life.

I have been writing outdoor content for twenty years. My stories and photographs have appeared in publications such as The Drake, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Wyoming Wildlife and others. Most of my work centers around DIY fishing and hunting stories. While my passion is writing about the outdoors, a teaching position at the two-year college in Wyoming is what pays the bills. Like many of us, I doubt freelance writing will ever cover my expenses, but I do it because I love it. Writing brings me out into the world in a way that a hobby just can’t. In my position at the college I have served as Department Chair, and Director of the annual literary conference. I have maintained budgets and arranged for travel for outside speakers and guests. I’ve developed themes for our annual Humanities Festival. These types of soft skills translate to being a productive board member for the OWAA.

I would love the opportunity to contribute my ideas for future conferences and programs offered by the OWAA. I believe that independent, investigative journalism is still the best way to tackle conservation and access issues that are so important to our field. Journalism is in a particularly vulnerable position right now, and I’d like our conference to address that each year in some meaningful way. I’d like to be in a position to influence where some of our next conferences might take place. I’d like to be able to put in my two cents when it comes to the direction of this important organization.

2. As our industry continues to change, what do you see as the priorities of OWAA to best serve our members?

OWAA must embrace the rapidly changing landscape of digital communication while maintaining a connection to well-written, tradition journalism and story-telling. Afterall, it was a handful of independent writers who began this organization in 1927.It is not lost on me that we live in an era where full-time, wellpaid outdoor journalists are disappearing

as newspapers shrink their workforce. But at the same time outdoor recreation is booming. Is this because there is so much free, sponsored content online?

Like many other members, I hail from an era of clunky word-processing computers and long-form essay writing. Many of the newer platforms and technologies are more suited for shorter blasts of information. Often, we traditionalists feel left out by the new trends in writing and communication. The OWAA does a good job threading the needle between traditional styles of communication while also acknowledging the rapid change. You see this at the conferences and in the opportunities that emerge from the OWAA.

We all love gear, and new equipment, but we need to maintain independence from market forces and outright sponsorship. There is a blurry line between using gear and making some money off endorsements, while also retaining our legitimacy as communicators. Also, I have noticed that brands want our voices. Some brands rely on narrative writing and thoughtful prose to reinforce their image. The brands are acting more like publications, further complicating our jobs. I, myself, have been caught up in some of the same ethical dilemmas other outdoor writers have described. This seems to be the most obvious challenge in our field right now. Shouldn’t we talk about this?

As a board member I would serve as a link between traditional communication styles and new, digital opportunities.

3. Reaching new members and retaining existing ones are critically important to the future of OWAA. What are ways we can reach new people, even along the edge of traditional outdoor topics? And what can we do to make sure OWAA is valuable to existing members?

The OWAA has a large umbrella. I see di-

verse offerings in our interests, from traditional hunting to newer topics such as birding and overland trekking. I applaud the efforts of finding new ways to include populations that have been heretofore been left out of the conversation—this makes us stronger as an organization. I feel that the OWAA leadership has responded well to these challenges. You see this in the opportunities that occur throughout the year and in the conference workshops. Scholarships aimed at college students is another example of this. The vibe of the recent conferences demonstrates this effort. Some of these are real opportunities to work on craft, style, and other valuable tools.

I am a long-form writer and an average photographer. I often feel like writers such as myself are being left behind by the newer, nimbler, technology-based communicators. I have to remind myself that that OWAA represents lots of different kinds of people, with a wide range of interests.

Annual contests-with broad categories and a diverse body of judges can be a driving force to help others feel included. Each year I look forward to submitting my work to the EIC. Since I joined, the categories have expanded, giving even more people a chance to compete. It may seem like a small thing, but the EIC contest is one of the reasons I joined the OWAA nine years ago. Are there additional categories that can be added? Are there some that might be combined? These are questions I would bring to the organization.

4. OWAA’s annual conference is the highlight of the year as a chance for many of us to spend time together in person, along with meeting industry experts. What can we do to improve upon it?

The conferences continue to get more informative, more impactful. Gulf Shores was my favorite in that the variety of

speakers and the workshops inspired me to get back to work as a writer. Kicking off the conference with Cory Lee’s inspirational message on accessibility was incredible. It set the tone for what was to come. The pre-trip outings and opportunities provide casual moments between members and create a sense of comradery that endures. In Gulf Shores, I was able to overcome seasickness and go deep-sea fishing with other writers and photographers. Nobody caught any lunkers, but a group of us took our catch to a local restaurant for lunch. Guess what? We didn’t spend any time talking about deadlines, creepy editors, and Oxford commas. Instead, we got to know each other and why we love the outdoors. Moments like these are why I belong to this organization. I want to urge the leadership to keep it up.

I love the editors’ panel and would like to see more from that side of the equation. Why do some editors prefer some work and themes, but not others? Essentially, what drives their decisions on what they buy from us? I would encourage the OWAA to continue to provide conferences with real impact.

From the morning jog, to workshops on increasing SEO, these classes and activities provide the chance for some of us to engage and see each other. Would it be possible to have more physical activities such as group hiking and kayaking? And lastly, many of us don’t drink, but like to hang out nonetheless. Events sponsored by distilleries and breweries should also include nonalcoholic beverages so those of us who don’t drink can attend these events and have something somewhat convincing to hold in our hands.

Mission

ANNUAL REPORT

The Outdoor Writers Association of America: Improves the professional skills of our members, Sets the highest ethical and communications standards, Encourages public enjoyment and conservation of natural resources, and Mentors the next generation of professional outdoor communicators.

Board of Directors

Officers

Ken Keffer, President

Amy Kapp, First Vice President

Erin Merrill, Second Vice President

Ruth Hoyt, Secretary (through 2025)

Russell Roe, Treasurer (through 2026)

Directors

Terms expiring in 2024

Terms expiring in 2025

Matthew Dickerson Robert Annis

Amy Grisak Ashley Peters Kelsey Roseth Drew YoungeDyke

Terms expiring in 2026

Chris Paparo

Jill Rohrbach

Ashley Stimpson

Counsels

William Jay Powell, Legal Counsel

Grant S. Lipman, M.D., Medical Counsel

Dan Nelson, Supporting Group Liaison

Endowment Trustees

Endowment funds are accepted, managed and disbursed by the Endowment Trust. OWAA has five trustees: the OWAA treasurer and four people selected by the OWAA board.

Russell Roe (Chair) Terry Brady (2024)

Dennis Scharadin (2025) Lisa Ballard (2026)

Phil Bloom (2027)

Board Meetings

Regular monthly calls held via Zoom and two in-person meetings held midyear in New River Gorge, West Virginia, and adjacent to conference in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Staff

Chez Chesak, Executive Director

Suzanne Downing, Communications Manager and Outdoors Unlimited Editor

Emma Mares, Membership Services Manager

Amber Silvey, Event Producer

Accomplishments

The board, volunteers and staff worked in unison to achieve the following milestones in 2023.

Events

Conference

The organization convened in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We welcomed 230 attendees, including:

• 134 individual media members

• 60 people representing brands, agencies and organizations

• 25 not-yet members (most of whom were media)

• 21 spouses/partners

• 10 staff and volunteers

The most popular events were, in order:

• Welcome Dinner, sponsored by Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, the Alabama Tourism Department and Alabama Gulf Seafood

• Welcome Breakfast & Announcements, sponsored by the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources and the Alabama Tourism Department

• Lunch & Announcements, sponsored by Innovate Alabama

38 brands, organizations and agencies sponsored the event and/ or exhibited, including these major sponsors:

• Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils

• Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association

• Alabama Tourism

• Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism

• Innovate Alabama

• Lower Colorado River Authority

• National Shooting Sports Foundation

• Poarch Band of Creek Indians

• Toyota

• Visit El Paso

• Vista Outdoor

Also, the virtual auction raised more than $5,100 for the organization.

Press Trips

In partnership with America Outdoors and in coordination with local tourism boards, staff executed another press trip for OWAA members that included:

• Funding for OWAA operations

• Four current OWAA members

• A three-day itinerary through central Arizona

• A “media marketplace” networking event with America Outdoors’ membership of tour operators and outfitters

Press Trips (continued)

Working with various Supporting Groups, OWAA helped promote press trips to our members and secure media for these press-trip hosts (among others):

• Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association to host an OWAA Birding the Black Belt Media Trip

• Chickasaw Nation: Okie Noodling Tournament and Festival

• ROW Adventures and their Sea Kayak Adventures

• Tourism Ireland

• Visit Nebraska

• Zephyr United Travel Collection

Virtual Membership Meeting

To make them as accessible to as many members as possible, OWAA continued to embrace virtual membership meetings :

• Held in June, the 2023 meeting included committee reports, a financial overview and other pertinent information for all engaged members

• 30 members attended Staff continued to maintain and upgrade event materials, such as continual updates to the conference RFP document, the sponsorship presentation “deck” and membership flyers.

Contest & Awards

• Chose nine winners of the Bodie McDowell Scholarship and awarded $21,600 total

• Excellence in Craft Contest

• 722 total entries

• 161 total entrants

• 96 media outlets

• 132 total awards

• 71 award winners

• 79 EIC contest judges (who we thank profusely for their help!)

• $18,480 in total prizes

• Awarded $700 and other prizes to six high school upper-class and college students via the Norm Strung Youth Writing Awards and OWAA Student Photo Contest

• Presented honorary awards to six outstanding volunteers and members:

• Committee Volunteer of the Year: Andy Whitcomb

• Outstanding Board Members: Matt Miller and Ken Keffer

• Jade of Chiefs: Mark Taylor

• Joan Wulff Enduring Excellence Award (formerly Excellence in Craft): Michael Furtman

• Ham Brown Award: Lisa Ballard

Content

• Maintained our website, particularly the Members Area to include: s and members:

• Enhanced with member benefits and resources

• Posted online editions of the membership magazine and webinars

• Updated “Get Involved” section

• Outdoors Unlimited (OU) magazine

• Produced four issues (both print and digital versions) of a 40-page magazine full of articles on professional development, conservation issues, specific techniques and inspiration

• Maintained an annual editorial calendar

• OWAA produced two webinars for members:

• Changing our Origin Stories to Change the Narrative: Climate Change, Colonization and Different Approaches to Influential Narratives

• Pathways for Developing a Strong, Inclusive Outdoor Industry

• Sent approximately 50 eNews email newsletters to members, including:

• Critical organizational announcements (conference registrations, board candidates, dates of membership meetings, etc.)

• Calls for submissions

• New benefits and opportunities

• Job postings

• Increased followers of our public Facebook page to 5,800 (up from 5,600)

• Increased followers of our Instagram page (@owaa_official) to 1,060 (up from 894 last year)

Finances

The Development Committee continued its work on:

• Planning for major gifts

• Thanking donors

• Strategic and long-term planning

It also:

• Recognized these members of the Golden Quill Society who provided a gift to OWAA in their estate:

• Phil Bloom

• Pat Wray

• Lisa Ballard

• Glenn Sapir

• Matt Miller

• Tom Wharton

• Continued the promotions of and education about the Golden Quill Society

• Sent fall appeal to all Life Members to further support the organization

• Received $10,073 in donations to the operating and restricted endowment funds

The Supporter Relations Committee continued their work on developing more corporate support from the outdoor industry.

Membership

• Supported 639 members and 118 Supporting Groups

• Staff attended, planned and/or spoke at these conferences, shows and events, including:

• Outdoor Retailer Snow Show

• SHOT Show

• International Media Marketplace N.Y.C.

• New Mexico Hospitality Association

• Moving Mountains

• The Big Gear Show

• Outdoor Retailer Summer Show

• Public Relations Society of America (Travel & Tourism section)

• Texas Travel Alliance

• Site inspections for 2025’s conference

• America Outdoors

• Continued diversity initiatives, including:

• Monthly DEAI Committee meetings

• Reached out to specific BIPOC outdoor media to invite them to join

• Continued outreach to BIPOC-focused organizations, groups and educational institutions

• Increased the number of active members on our Members Only Facebook page to 504 (up from 455) and kept the page relevant, active and engaging via regular posting of:

• Calls for submissions

• Job opportunities

• Story ideas and concepts

• New member introductions and connections

• Continued to maintain the Facebook group for directors and officers of state/regional outdoor writers’ groups

• Continued our partnership with the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable with several of their outdoor associations now OWAA Supporting Groups

• Continued our partnership with a public relations firm to expand marketing efforts/increase OWAA industry exposure

Operations

• Continued to work with our membership services coordinator as a full-time employee

• Staff worked with, managed and cultivated new skills for two interns

• Continue to refine and tweak membership database system to best serve the membership

In Memoriam

In 2023, we said goodbye to these OWAA members:

Lennie Rue Bill Hilts, Sr. Marcus Schneck Raymond Hrynyk (AKA Spider Rybaak) Mark Sosin Ed Noonan Marty Malin Tim Mead Shawn Perich

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP

BY EMMA MARES | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Navigating member benefits can feel daunting, especially when our lives are increasingly inundated with content. Taking 10 minutes out of your day to review OWAA resources, reread an enews or check out a conversation on our Members Only Facebook page can transform your experience as a member. Engagement is key.

Among the various guides, events and webinars, the greatest resource of all is OWAA's community.

tional material we provide, check out our recorded video library. We offer archived webinars to our members for free on the members area of the website (owaa.org/ owaa-webinars). Pro tip: Check out our archived virtual conference series available on Vimeo here (vimeo.com/ondemand/ owaa). These video recordings include previous editors’ panels, how to secure artists-in-residencies and more. Conference videos are available for as low as $10 to our members.

LOG INTO THE MEMBERS' ONLY AREA OF OUR WEBSITE

Below, I’ll share some of my top tips to help you make the most of your membership. This is not an exhaustive list, although we do offer one as a PDF under our member benefits page (owaa.org/ member-benefits). Whether you’re a new or seasoned member, these opportunities are ways to tap into OWAA’s community and leverage your benefits. I encourage all members to take advantage of at least three of the resources below in 2024.

STAY PROACTIVE BEFORE OWAA IN-PERSON EVENTS

OWAA events are fantastic opportunities for you to meet other outdoor media, attend press trips, join craft improvement sessions and network. However, if you cannot attend one of our in-person events or simply want to explore some addi-

OWAA’s website is home to most of your benefits, so be sure you log in regularly to access these resources. Did you know we offer a Freelance Resource Kit? There, you can find a compiled list of publications with links to their submission portals. Pro tip: Utilize the member directory and Members Only Facebook page to see if another OWAA member has a connection to a publication you’d like to work with.

You can also access previous issues of Outdoors Unlimited on our website. As the issues are formatted as PDFs, you can search issues by keyword. Take a weekend to peruse online issues and absorb craft improvement articles. There is a deep well of information in these issues.

The membership directory is a powerful tool, but it is only as strong as you, our members, make it. Pro tip: Regularly update your member profile. The member directory relies on whatever skills/

interests/keywords you use. You can easily update information while logged into our website.

ENGAGE IN COMMUNITY

Among the various guides, events and webinars, the greatest resource of all is OWAA’s community. Host or join an Off the Record gathering with OWAA members in your area (you can use the directory to reach out to any OWAA neighbors). Curious about writing rates or where to find discounted gear? Want to share your work or just stay in the loop on all things OWAA? Join the Members Only Facebook page (facebook.com/ groups/owaamembers). Looking to build leadership experience and make a positive impact with OWAA? Apply to join our board or committees! *To run, you must be an Active member for at least three consecutive years.

THE TAKEAWAY

Some of the best advice I can offer is to be active in your membership. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, pitch ideas and reach out to fellow members to connect. Also, don’t forget that our staff is here to collaborate with you and figure out ways to best leverage your membership. Curious about where to start? Feel free to contact me at emares@owaa.org for a chat to see how you can make OWAA benefits work best for you!

— Emma Mares is the OWAA membership services manager with a background in environmental studies.

OUTDOOR WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

2814 Brooks St., Box 442

Missoula, MT 59801

406-728-7434, Fax: 406-728-7445 info@owaa.org, owaa.org

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Contributors grant rights for OWAA to publish once in Outdoors Unlimited, both the print and online versions, including archives, and on the OWAA website.

OUTDOORS UNLIMITED

Spring 2024 Vol. 85, No. 2

Meet a member

NAME: Robin Motzer

RESIDENCE: Tulsa, Oklahoma

OWAA MEMBER SINCE: 2023

Robin Motzer is a freelance writer/artist and a poet with a purpose. She publishes advocacy, art, essays and poetry on her Substack, “Wildlands,” a serenade to sovereignty that features conservation, restoration and the importance of reciprocity to reduce harm, solve problems and thrive with diversity to peacefully coexist in the U.S. and around the world.

WHAT ARE YOUR AREAS OF OUTDOOR COMMUNICATION?

Conservation and restoration, including regenerative agriculture/land care and the well-being of mind-body-spirit to reduce harm and expand health and connection of the biota and all the resources it provides.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE FIELD?

I’m a lifelong nature lover and writer/ artist with a fondness for freedom. My great-grandfather was a farmer and good friends with a U.S. president, and an ancestor fought in the American Revolution.

WHAT ENTICED YOU TO JOIN OWAA?

Love of the outdoors and writing, with the intention of meeting and networking with others who do as well, to grow my work and partner with others. I grew up near an Isaak Walton lodge and respect their mission.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE OUTDOOR

ACTIVITY?

Exploring canyons and water activities like kayaking, snorkeling and swimming for the love of connecting with nature. I grew up in the Ohio River Valley and visited family in the Sonoran Desert. The desert became home after living on the West Coast, where ocean kayaking in caves and waves, snorkeling and swimming with wild dolphins and other sea life were regular activities. Long-distance walking and pickleball are also fun.

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

As a freelance writer and artist, I created an advocacy project called “Restoring Soils and Souls.” I’m currently writing marketing and educational material and networking for the project, and I’m creating essays and poetry in “Wildlands” at robinmotzer.substack. com. I am working with bestselling authors and wildlife conservationists from around

the world and creating art for shows, and I recently started working on a book about conservation-restoration-health.my art for shows, and I recently started working on a book about conservation-restoration-health.

On a personal note, my partner and I are restoring and conserving soils and souls, making amends to the Indigenous, wildlife, farm animals, forests, farms, prairies, mountains, and waters. My partner is a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

I also have a background in the design/ architectural field. The home is a Mid-Century ranch-style home that is being transformed into a natural, organic design on former dairy farmland, est. 1902, in Tulsa, OK. We are planting hundreds of flora for wildlife and for us, using regenerative principles. Eventually, we will have food, herb, pollinator gardens, along with fruit, flowering and nut trees.

I create essays and art while being a nature nomad.

WHAT HAVE YOU GAIINED FROM BEING A MEMBER OF OWAA?

As a new member, I attended the 2023 conference and made new connections with knowledgeable, helpful and talented people. I look forward to meeting and working with OWAA members to grow the reach and mission of our work.