What does a firearm importer have to do with healthy deer herds, turkey populations, and public shooting ranges? More than most people realize. In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of Outdoor Stewards of Conservation sit down with Neil Sanders, VP of Sales and Marketing at SDS Arms, to pull back the curtain on how the outdoor firearms industry quietly funds one of the most successful conservation models in the world.Neil brings more than two decades of experience in the outdoor industry — from his early days with Peterson's Publishing titles like Guns & Ammo and North American Whitetail, to long tenures at Thompson Center and Mossy Oak, to his current role growing SDS Arms and its portfolio of brands including Spandau Arms, MAC (Military Armament Corp.), Inglis, and Tokarev. Based in Texas, Neil is an avid bird and big game hunter who has built his career around connecting consumers with products they actually want — and making sure those products carry their share of the conservation load. Under his leadership, SDS Arms has grown more than 70% in four years, importing over 200,000 firearms annually, each one generating Pittman-Robertson excise tax revenue that flows directly to state wildlife agencies for habitat, access, and public shooting infrastructure.The conversation covers how the Pittman-Robertson excise tax works for importers, why firearm companies rarely get public credit for the conservation dollars they generate, how SDS Arms supports organizations like NWTF, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, and Quail Forever at both the national and chapter level, and what the outdoor industry needs to do differently to tell its conservation story. Jon and Jim also make the case that wildlife agencies need to do a better job recognizing their industry partners publicly, and Neil shares the story of how a novel pump-action shotgun nicknamed the "Butt Pump" went viral with 50 million social media views seemingly overnight.FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE FIND US AT:Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.orgSDS Arms: https://sdsarms.com#wildlifemanagementinstitute #outdoorstewards #pittmanrobertson #huntingisconservation #wildlifeconservation #conservationfunding #conservation #SDSArms #firearmsconservation #wildlifefunding #nwtf #ducksunlimited #hunting #wildlifeconservation

On this episode of Connecting with Conservation, co-hosts Jon Gassett and Jim Curcuruto sit down with Jimmy Bullock, Senior Vice President of Forest Sustainability at Resource Management Service (RMS). A self-described "recovering deer biologist," Jimmy earned his stripes in the private forestry sector with Anderson-Tully Company, Union Camp Corporation, and International Paper before joining RMS — a Timber Investment Management Organization (TIMO) that today manages roughly 2.2 million acres across eight southern states and Brazil on behalf of institutional investors. Jimmy also serves on the board of the Wildlife Management Institute and is active with Boone and Crockett Club and the National Conservation Leadership Institute.The conversation explores how working forests are quietly becoming one of the most important conservation tools in the American South. Jimmy walks through RMS's role in reintroducing the federally endangered reticulated flatwoods salamander to private land in Santa Rosa County, Florida, the largest conservation easement ever closed in South Carolina (nearly 50,000 acres in the Pee Dee River Basin), and the shift from short-rotation pulpwood management to longer sawtimber rotations that create the open-canopy, herbaceous-ground-cover conditions many declining species need. He also explains how longleaf pine restoration, long considered economically unviable, has been made workable through an innovative easement structure that accounts for opportunity cost and perpetual management.A major thread of the episode is the NAFO Wildlife Conservation Initiative and its Working Forests for Wildlife program, a collaborative model with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that covers 44 million acres of NAFO-member land nationwide. Jimmy details how programmatic agreements and species-specific annexes have turned regulatory liability into conservation opportunity for the northern long-eared bat, Red Hills Salamander, gopher tortoise, and alligator snapping turtle. His closing message — that trust between private landowners, state agencies, and federal partners is the foundation of modern conservation — is a theme any listener working in this space will recognize.For More Information, Visit us at:Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.orgResource Management Service: https://www.resourcemgt.com#wildlifemanagementinstitute #forestry #conservationfunding #wildlifeconservation #workingforests #sustainableforestry #longleafpine #privatelandconservation #endangeredspecies #gophertortoise #nafo #outdoorstewards

What does it actually cost to keep wildlife on the landscape and who's paying for it? In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett and Jim Curcuruto sit down with Luke Thorkildsen, Chief Operating Officer of Weatherby, one of America's most iconic and longest-standing firearms manufacturers. Weatherby is an 81-year-old, still family-owned company that made the move from California to Sheridan, Wyoming in 2018–2019, a transition that, as Luke describes it, "almost broke" them but ultimately more than doubled their revenue and workforce. Luke walks through how Pittman-Robertson Act excise taxes work from the manufacturer's side: built into the first sale price, paid quarterly, and totaling millions of dollars annually from Weatherby alone. It's a tax the industry effectively imposed on itself and the conservation infrastructure it funds reaches far beyond most people realize.Beyond the factory floor, Luke serves as chairman of the board at the Mule Deer Foundation and brings a candid perspective on where mule deer stand right now: one of the few big game species in the U.S. that is genuinely declining. Habitat loss, weather patterns, and landscape fragmentation are all in play, and the conversation goes beyond slogans to look honestly at the challenges ahead. The episode also covers the history of the Weatherby Award, a prestigious lifetime achievement recognition in hunting that predates most people's awareness of the brand itself. It also discusses the company's full product line from the .224 Weatherby to the .460 Weatherby Mag, and the new ultralight Backcountry Capra rifle coming in at just four pounds. For anyone who's ever wondered where conservation money actually comes from, or who's behind the numbers cited in policy discussions, this episode provides a clear, grounded answer from someone who writes the check.For more information, visit us at:Wildlife Management Institute: https://www.wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation: https://www.stewardsofconservation.orgWeatherby Inc: https://www.weatherby.com#connectingwithconservation #Weatherby #WeatherbyFirearms #pittmanrobertson #wildlifeconservation #muledeerfoundation #muledeer #publiclands #huntersforconservation #hunting #wildlifemanagement #wmi #wildlifemanagementinstitute #outdoorstewards #excisetax #conservationfunding #backcountryhunting #FirearmsIndustry #SelfReliantHunter #WyomingHunting #biggamehunting #CapeBufalo #MarkV #BackcountryCapra #65RPM #300WeatherbyMag