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

What does the timber industry have to do with hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation? More than most people realize. In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett and Jim Curcuruto sit down with Darren Miller, Vice President of Forestry Programs at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) to explore how private forest lands, responsible timber management, and science-based research are quietly driving conservation outcomes across the country.

Darren brings a career that bridges academia, corporate environmental stewardship, and applied wildlife science. After earning his graduate degree at Mississippi State studying black bears and wild turkeys, he spent more than 20 years as a wildlife scientist and research program lead for Weyerhaeuser Company, managing environmental research across millions of acres of southern timberlands. He joined NCASI in 2018, where he now leads a team of wildlife scientists, forest hydrologists, and carbon and climate specialists serving the forest products sector. The conversation covers the often-overlooked role of large private forest ownerships in supporting biodiversity, from game species like white-tailed deer and wild turkey to pollinators, songbirds, bats, gopher tortoises, and rare aquatic species. Darren explains how the Wildlife Conservation Initiative, a collaborative partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Alliance of Forest Owners, has documented 25 species of conservation concern on actively managed industrial forest lands in a single South Alabama landscape, and how that work is now opening doors to endangered species reintroduction on private lands.

The episode also digs into practical topics: how sustainable forestry certification standards (SFI and FSC) protect wetlands, vernal pools, and unique ecological sites; how forest thinning and regeneration cycles benefit pollinators; how eDNA technology is revolutionizing rare species surveys; and the remarkable recovery of the Louisiana Black Bear — a story that started with Darren's own master's research and came full circle when a bear showed up on his Mississippi property last November. This is an episode about the science, the partnerships, and the private landowners who are making conservation work on working lands.

For more information:

Wildlife Management Institute: https://www.wildlifemanagement.institute

Outdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://www.stewardsofconservation.org

National Council for Air and Stream Improvement: https://www.ncasi.org#wildlifeconservation

#PrivateLands #forestmanagement #sustainableforestry #hunting #fishing #conservation #NCASI #LouisianaBlackBear #pollinators #esa #endangeredspecies #wildlifemanagement #sfi #fsc #HunterFunding #pittmanrobertson #connectingwithconservation #wildlifemanagementinstitute #outdoorstewards

The northern bobwhite was once a fixture of the American countryside — heard on nearly every farm, fence row, and field edge from Texas to New England. Today, populations have collapsed across most of that range, and bringing them back requires more than good intentions. It takes habitat, scale, and a lot of people willing to change how they manage their land. In this episode, Jon Gassett and Jim Curcuruto sit down with John Morgan, President and CEO of the National Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative Foundation, to dig into what's driving the decline, what recovery actually looks like on the ground, and why quail conservation matters far beyond the bird itself.John Morgan brings 20-plus years of on-the-ground experience to the conversation, from managing wildlife areas in Florida to running Kentucky Fish and Wildlife's small game program before joining NBGI. He traces the initiative's 30-year history, from a 1995 meeting of southeastern state wildlife agencies who recognized the problem was too big for any single state to solve, to today's 25-state network spanning federal agencies, state wildlife agencies, universities, and nonprofits. The conversation covers what quail actually need to survive (more edge, less mowing, and a lot more connected habitat), why five to ten percent of the right landscape can make a real difference, and how a CREP-driven restoration effort in central Kentucky once had hunters taking bag limits of wild bobwhite for the first time in two decades.The episode also tackles some of the harder questions: Why can't a small landowner just fix their own ten acres and call it done? What role does the Farm Bill play — and where does it fall short? And perhaps most importantly, how does restoring native grassland habitat connect to clean water, pollinator health, and even human wellness in ways that can build conservation support far beyond the hunting community? Whether you're a quail hunter, a wildlife professional, a farmer, or just someone who wants to understand what healthy working lands should look like, this one is worth your time.For More Information:Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.institute Outdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.orgNational Bobwhite and Grassland Initiative: https://nbgi.org#wildlifeconservation #bobwhite #habitatrestoration #farmbill #quail #connectingwithconservation #hunting #conservationfunding #NativeGrasslands #outdoorstewards #wildlifemanagementinstitute

In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation welcome Sue Tidwell, award-winning author of Cries of the Savanna. Sue came to Africa not as a hunter but as a skeptic — a Western Pennsylvania deer hunting family background gave her an understanding of the North American model, but hunting lions, leopards, and zebras felt entirely different. What she discovered on the ground in Tanzania changed everything. Through her friendship with Lillian, a female government-assigned game scout, and her immersion in the daily realities of remote African communities living alongside dangerous wildlife, Sue came to understand that regulated hunting is not just compatible with conservation — in many areas it is the only thing making conservation economically viable. Her debut book, honored with a Reader's Favorite Gold Medal, the Professional Outdoor Media Association's Pinnacle Award, and The Wildlife Society's Conservation Education Award, tells that story through adventure, humor, and hard-won perspective.The conversation tackles some of the most contentious issues surrounding African hunting head-on including the photo tourism versus hunting debate, the bastardization of the phrase 'regulated hunting' following the Cecil the Lion controversy of 2015, and the devastating consequences that hunting bans have had on lion habitat, anti-poaching capacity, and local communities across Tanzania and beyond. Sue shares a deeply troubling case study involving the International Fund for Animal Welfare's elephant relocation project in Kasanga, which resulted in human deaths, destroyed crops, and shattered livelihoods, while the organization declared it a success and continued fundraising on it. Jon and Sue agree that well-meaning donors need to research conservation organizations carefully, comparing mission spending ratios before writing checks to groups that may be using donations to fund lawsuits against the very wildlife agencies that manage the animals they claim to protect. The episode closes with a practical discussion of how regulated hunting keeps money, meat, and anti-poaching presence in remote African communities — and why removing hunters from the equation exposes those landscapes to the exact threats conservation donors say they oppose.For more information:Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://conservationstewards.orgSue Tidwell — Author of Cries of the Savanna: https://www.suetidwell.comCries of the Savanna is available on Amazon, Spotify, and Carbon TV (free audio by chapter).#wildlifeconservation #AfricanWildlife #RegulatedHunting #CriesOfTheSavanna #SueTidwell #HuntingInAfrica #ConservationAfrica #antipoaching #NorthAmericanConservationModel #huntersforconservation #wildlifemanagement #SustainableUse #PhotoTourism #africasafari #humanwildlifeconflict #outdoorpodcast #conservationstorytelling #huntingcommunity #WildlifeAdvocacy #CecilTheLion #ethicalhunting #conservationfunding #wildlifemanagementinstitute #ConservationStewards #AfricaConservation

In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation sit down with Charles Whitwam, Founder and President of Howl for Wildlife. Charles traces the origin of Howl to a grassroots effort he organized with co-founder John Stallone to stop a California Senate bill that would have eliminated black bear hunting in the state. The rapid success of that campaign, fueled by hunters mobilizing nationally, not just locally, convinced him that the hunting community desperately needed a permanent, tech-driven infrastructure to match the organizational sophistication of anti-hunting groups. Launched four years ago, Howl for Wildlife has since built an action platform that generates personalized, AI-assisted messages to legislators and commissioners, moving well beyond the form letters that legislative staffers have learned to ignore. Charles explains how that same model helped hunters show up in force, over 400 strong, to a recent Colorado wildlife commission meeting, and why he believes face-to-face engagement with non-hunters in everyday settings is ultimately more powerful than any digital campaign.The conversation takes a deep dive into the Catalina Island mule deer controversy and Howl's documentary film Killing Catalina, which has surpassed 200,000 YouTube views in its first 40 days. Charles details how he became skeptical of the Catalina Island Conservancy's plan to eradicate all deer on the island using sharpshooters from helicopters. He deployed thermal drones to survey actual deer densities and uncovered significant inconsistencies between the Conservancy's claimed management programs and what the island's outfitter, fired after 26 years, reported actually happened on the ground. The episode closes with a powerful message about coalition-building: the Catalina fight has united hunters, LA County supervisors, social media influencers, and even a representative of the Catalina Humane Society, all calling for ethical hunting as the management solution over eradication and waste.FOR MORE INFORMATION:Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://conservationstewards.orgHowl for Wildlife: https://www.howlforwildlife.orgHowl for Wildlife on social media: @howl_orgKilling Catalina Documentary: https://www.howlforwildlife.org#wildlifeconservation #HowlForWildlife #KillingCatalina #catalinaisland #muledeer #HunterAdvocacy #ballotboxbiology #sciencebasedmanagement #wildlifemanagement #HuntingRights #NorthAmericanConservationModel #conservationstorytelling #outdoorpodcast #huntingcommunity #WildlifePolicy #huntersforconservation #CaliforniaHunting #PublicTrustDoctrine #WildlifeAdvocacy #antipoaching #outdoorstewards #HuntingAndConservation #wildlifemanagementinstitute #ConservationStewards #HowlPack

In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation sit down with Shane Meisel, President of Christensen Arms — the Utah-based company that pioneered carbon fiber rifle barrels in 1995 and has grown into one of America's premier precision rifle manufacturers with approximately 200 employees. Shane traces his career from early outdoor experiences outside Eugene, Oregon through 11 years at Leupold — where he rose to head of marketing — followed by a stint as president of Field Ethos Journal, before landing at Christensen Arms. The conversation covers what carbon fiber does for a hunting rifle (weight reduction without sacrificing rigidity or accuracy), why a sub-6-pound mountain rifle is a game changer for backcountry hunters, and how Christensen Arms has expanded beyond its bolt-action roots into carbon fiber stocks, MSR platforms, and a new walnut-stocked safari line in 375 H&H.The episode takes a deeper look at the financial backbone of American wildlife conservation — specifically the Pittman-Robertson excise tax, which requires firearms and ammunition manufacturers to contribute 11% of revenue to conservation funding. Shane and the hosts connect that tax directly to the $1 billion annually that flows from the firearms and ammunition industry into state wildlife agencies, alongside another $1 billion from hunting license sales. Jon shares the origin story of the Wildlife Management Institute, founded in 1911 by the firearms industry precisely because manufacturers understood that without healthy wildlife populations, there would be no hunters to sell to. The group also discusses Christensen Arms' conservation partnerships with organizations including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Safari Club International, and Ducks Unlimited.The conversation rounds out with a look at emerging trends in the firearms industry — ammunition and caliber innovation, suppressor growth and potential NFA reform, the modern sporting rifle market, and the troubling rise of ballot-box biology in states like Oregon and Colorado where anti-hunting initiatives bypass the science-based wildlife management system entirely. Shane and the hosts agree that lowering barriers to entry for new hunters and shooters — access to land, tags, ranges, and education — is as important to the future of conservation funding as any policy fight.FOR MORE INFORMATION:_____________________Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.instituteOutdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://conservationstewards.orgChristensen Arms: https://www.christensenarms.com--------------------------------------------------#wildlifeconservation #ChristensenArms #CarbonFiberRifle #pittmanrobertson #conservationfunding #huntingindustry #precisionrifleseries #FirearmsInnovation #boltactionrifle #mountainhunting #huntersforconservation #NorthAmericanConservationModel #wildlifemanagement #outdoorindustry #longrangeshooting #Suppressors #HuntingAndShooting #RMEF #MuleDeerFoundation #ducksunlimited #outdoorpodcast #BallotBoxBiology #wildlifemanagementinstitute #ConservationStewards #ScienceBasedManagement