2025 EXCELLENCE IN CRAFT AWARD WINNERS
Sponsored by Friesens, ASA, and Pew
CONSERVATION or NATURE
BLOG
- First Place: Why Are Amphibians the Most Endangered Class of Animals?, Christine Peterson (Cool Green Science)
- Second Place: From Moose to Marmots, Microclimates Could Provide Climate Buffer, Christine Peterson (Cool Green Science)
- Third Place: Wetland Protections Remain Bogged Down in Mystery, Derrick Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: A teeny tiny problem of epic proportions, Matthew Crossman (Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine)
- Second Place: Why Did the Spider Cross the Road?, Karuna Eberl (Atlas Obscura)
- Third Place: Capturing data in a harp trap, Bob Frye (Pennsylvania Game News)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Florida State Parks Scandal, Max Chesnes (Tampa Bay Times)
- Second Place: Grizzly Bear 399, Mother of 18 Cubs, Is Killed by Driver, Christine Peterson (New York Times)
- Third Place: They’re baaaack: Mayfly madness returns to Oneida Lake, Steven Featherstone (Post-Standard)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Ed The Diver, Bill Sherck (Spotify/Apple Podcasts)
- Second Place: Recovering Arizona’s Apache Trout, John Kruse (America Outdoors Radio Network)
- Third Place: Split Oak: Florida Conservation Land Under Seige, Chris Stevens (The Florida Madcaps podcast)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Resilience – The Rise of Apache Trout, Joshua Duplechian (Trout Unlimited)
- Second Place: Ed The Diver, Bill Sherck (Made For The Outdoors/Bally’s Sports North)
- Third Place: The Learning Ranch, Karen Loke (Texas Parks & Wildlife Youtube and PBS Show)
FAMILY PARTICIPATION/YOUTH OUTDOOR EDUCATION
BLOG
- First Place: Brown Bears, Alaska Bear Camp and Being There, Candice Andrews (Good Nature Travel Blog, The Official Blog of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
- Second Place: The Anxious History of the American Summer Camp, Ashley Stimpson (Atlas Obscura)
- Third Place: Big fish, bigger fish story!, Brent Frazee (wired2fish.com)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: The Table That Dad Built, Allen Crater (Michigan Out-of-Doors)
- Second Place: A Walk in the Wild: A father-daughter duo takes on a stretch of the famed Appalachian Trail, Dan Oko (AAA Explorer)
- Third Place: Man Fishing, Bill Ingram (Blue Ridge Country)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Bird Scouts: Local troop gets banding lesson from legend, Roy Heilman (Shoreview Press)
- Second Place: In quest to stay active, 100-year-old WWII veteran Betsy Jeffords takes on salmon fishing, Bill Monroe (The Oregonian/OregonLive)
- Third Place: The quest to save Syracuse’s last Boy Scout troop, Steven Featherstone (Post-Standard)
PHOTOGRAPHY
- First Place: Paddle Superior 1, James Smedley (Algoma country travel guide 2024)
- Second Place: Family Hike, James Smedley (Algoma country travel guide 2024)
- Third Place: Canoeing with Kids, Corey Hunt (Rethink Rural blog)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: The Adventure Detour: A Guide to Full-Time RV Living, Howard Fox (Outdoor Adventure Series)
- Second Place: Outdoor Lifestyle Helps Cancer Battle, Richy Harrod (We Are Outdoorsmen Podcast)
- Third Place: Collecting Critical Field Data for Conservation with Adventure Scientists, Howard Fox (The Outdoor Adventure Series)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: The Learning Ranch, Karen Loke (Texas Parks & Wildlife Youtube and PBS Show)
- Second Place: A Dad’s Dream Day, Grant McOmie (KGW-TV, Portland, Oregon)
- Third Place: A First Deer Camp, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound KARE 11 NBC)
FISHING
BLOG
- First Place: 50 Fish, 50 States: Rise of the Redeye, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
- Second Place: Record carp caught on crankbait, Brent Frazee (wired2fish.com)
- Third Place: 50 Fish, 50 States: Pier Review, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: The Stars in Our Eyes, Joel Martin (California Fly Fisher)
- Second Place: Out of the Ashes, Sage Marshall (Field & Stream)
- Third Place: Charter Boats are My Weakness, David Zoby (Gray’s Sporting Journal)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Fishing saved his life, Paul Smith (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Second Place: In ‘River Songs,’ Steve Duda recounts fly-fishing joys and struggles, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
- Third Place: In quest to stay active, 100-year-old WWII veteran Betsy Jeffords takes on salmon fishing, Bill Monroe (The Oregonian/OregonLive)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: S6, Ep 65: The Evolution of an Athlete: Andy Mill’s Path to Fishing Greatness, Marvin Cash (The Articulate Fly)
- Second Place: Salmon Fishing at Bouy 10 on the Columbia River, John Kruse (Northwestern Outdoors Radio Network)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Hoppers!, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound KARE 11 NBC)
- Second Place: David Holmes River Guide, Pete Hermann-Franzen (KARE11)
- Third Place: 50th Anniversary Opener, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound KARE 11 NBC)
GEAR/TECHNICAL
BLOG
- First Place: John Cox’s tips for catching fish without forward-facing sonar, Brent Frazee (wired2fish.com)
- Second Place: How to use jerkbaits to catch giant trout, Brent Frazee (wired2fish.com)
- Third Place: Tough Flip-Flops for Tough Girls: OluKai Ohana Review, Brandy Hastings (Gear Junkie)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Canoe review: The Radisson by BW Marine Products, Jesse McEntee (Paddling Magazine)
- Second Place: Staying Grounded While Hunting, Mike Zlotnicki (Wildlife in North Carolina)
- Third Place: Fishing, Up Close, Phil Bloom (Outdoor Indiana)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Streamers, choose your color, Michael Salomone (Vail Daily newspaper)
- Second Place: Learn to levitate over Seattle’s waters on an eFoil, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
- Third Place: Accessories for winter fly fishing, Michael Salomone (Vail Daily newspaper)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Phil Bourjaily’s Best Duck Loads for 2024, John Kruse (America Outdoors Radio)
- Second Place: Camp Like a Girl – Empowering Women One Campfire At a Time, Heidemarie Brandes (Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify)
HUMOR
BLOG
- First Place: The bigger the lens, the better the photographer… true or not?, Michael Hodgson (HI Travel Tales Subscriber Club)
- Second Place: Not Today, Edgar Castillo (Field Ethos)
- Third Place: Root Doctors, Cecil Cherry (The Southern Voice)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Lucky Hats, Allen Crater (Michigan Out-of-Doors)
- Second Place: The Unachievable Post-Hunt Nap, Christopher Midgette (Strung Magazine)
- Third Place: Nebraska Anyone?, Lisa Ballard (Appalachia)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Lost in the Woods Again, Dan Small (Wisconsin Outdoor News)
- Second Place: Good In-vestment, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Third Place: Boat Ramp Research, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
HUNTING or SHOOTING SPORTS
BLOG
- First Place: On Killing Animals, Nicole Qualtieri (The Westrn)
- Second Place: No Time Wasted, Nicole Qualtieri (The Westrn)
- Third Place: That’s the Breaks: The Novice, Katie Hill (The Westrn)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: The onX Effect: Digital Mapping Apps Have Changed the Way We Hunt. Now What Will They Do With All Our Data?, Christine Peterson (Outdoor Life)
- Second Place: Hawking, Lisa Ballard (Colorado Outdoors)
- Third Place: From Grouse Feathers to the Holy Grail, Robb Moore (The Virginia Sportsman)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: First turkey hunt “one of the best days” for 88-year-old Marine vet, Paul Smith (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Second Place: The Airgun Revolution Hits Wisconsin, Dan Small (Wisconsin Outdoor News)
- Third Place: Functional art: How Dan Wittenberg makes turkey calls that last, Michael Wright (The Spokesman-Review)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Hunting and Fishing Innovations to Empower Disabled Adventurers, Howard Fox (Outdoor Adventure Series)
- Second Place: Highballs & BS Podcast: In the Blind with Amy Hall & Jessie Cole Walters, Shawn Swearingen (Highballs and BS)
- Third Place: Will Brantley’s Take on Turkey Hunters, John Kruse (America Outdoors Radio Network)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: SHT Flush!, Bill Sherck (Outdoor Channel)
- Second Place: Jonathan Laing Deer Opener, Kelly McDonnell (KARE 11 NBC, Mpls, MN)
- Third Place: The Reverend Hunter, Kelly McDonnell (KARE-11 NBC, Mpls, MN)
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
BLOG
- First Place: Extreme Birding: Gull Watching at the Landfill, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
- Second Place: Bird Alert: The Search for Local Rarities, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
- Third Place: Brown Bears, Alaska Bear Camp and Being There, Candice Andrews (Good Nature Travel Blog, The Official Blog of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Ultra Running for Beginners: What It’s Like to Run a 52-Mile Mountain Race, Christine Peterson (Outdoor Life)
- Second Place: Antler Madness, David Zoby (Big Sky Journal)
- Third Place: The Redside Foundation: Addressing the Mental Health Challenges of Being a Guide, Hilary Hutcheson (Fly Fisherman Magazine)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Meet the skeet-shooting, ax-throwing women of CNY’s Women in Nature Event, Steven Featherstone (Post-Standard)
- Second Place: Jackpot, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Third Place: After 80 years of bird watching, local Audubon seeks more inclusive, youthful name, Joseph Dits (South Bend Tribune)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Washington’s Best Hikes for Whale Watching, John Kruse (Northwestern Outdoors Radio)
- Second Place: Grandpa, a Cane Pole, and a Catfish Bigger Than Me [EP 483], Rick Saez (Outdoor Adventure Lifestyle Podcast)
- Third Place: Into the Wild: Exploring the Outdoors With UnCruise Adventures, Howard Fox (The Outdoor Adventure Series)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: BWCA Nurses, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound KARE 11 NBC)
- Second Place: Trout and Ramps, Pete Hermann-Franzen (KARE11)
- Third Place: A Taste of Fall, Grant McOmie (KGW-TV, Portland, Oregon)
PHOTOGRAPHY
- First Place: Dune Buggies in the Samalayuca Dunes, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR: “My top 24 photographs of 2024”)
- Second Place: Paddle Superior 3, James Smedley (Algoma country travel guide 2024)
- Third Place: Murre-aculous, Derrick Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists Blog)
BOOKS
(Sponsored by Friesens Publishing)
GENERAL AUDIENCE
- First Place: So Said the River: Life, Loss, and Pie on the Colorado, Colleen Miniuk (Analemma Press)
- Second Place: A Cast Away in Montana, Tim Schulz (Lyons Press)
- Third Place: Birding for Boomers—And Everyone Else Brave Enough to Embrace the World’s Most Rewarding and Frustrating Activity, Sneed Collard (Mountaineers Books)
GRAPHIC/ILLUSTRATION
- First Place: Klamath Watershed, Obi Kaufmann (California Fly Fisher)
- Second Place: The Perception of the Reflection of Life at Death, Raymond Lanfear (Scholastic Art Awards on display in the Detroit Institute of Arts)
- Third Place: Working Alone; It Never Happened; Yet Worth Every Step, Raymond Lanfear (Scholastic Art Awards on display in the Detriot Institute of Arts)
COLUMN
- First Place: (1) A New Measure for Weather: “Outdoor Days”; (2) Animal Academics: Interspecies Teachers; (3) Brown Bears, Alaska Bear Camp and Being There, Candice Andrews (Good Nature Travel Blog, The Official Blog of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
- Second Place: (1) Aging, Happiness and Access to Nature; (2) The Revelations of Animal Songs; (3) Wild Conservation Ideas: Currency Images and a Moon Vault, Candice Andrews (Good Nature Travel Blog, The Official Blog of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
- Third Place: Wetland Mysteries & Puffin Miracles: Conservation Commentary, Derrick Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists, The Maine Monitor)
PHOTO ESSAY
- First Place: Off the Beaten Path, Eric Kallen (Grays Sporting Journal)
- Second Place: Seal Island sees record number of breeding puffins, Derrick Jackson (The Maine Monitor)
- Third Place: Indiana’s National Natural Landmarks, Brent Drinkut (Outdoor Indiana)
PHOTOGRAPHY
ACTION
- First Place: Winged Jewel, Nancy Sorrells (2024 Client Calendar)
- Second Place: A Perfect Retrieve, Eric Kallen (The Richmond Scout Guide Volume 12)
- Third Place: Opportunistic Heron, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR.com)
FAUNA
- First Place: Critically Endangered Bali Starling Pair, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR: “My top 24 photographs of 2024”)
- Second Place: Puffinuzzle, Derrick Jackson (The Maine Monitor)
- Third Place: Red Eyed Frog, Nancy Sorrells (Calendar published in Staunton, Va. and distributed to clients)
FLORA
- First Place: Scorpionweed, Colleen Miniuk (Arizona Highways)
- Second Place: Mighty Roots of the Klapok Tree, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR: “My top 24 photographs of 2024”)
- Third Place: Hidden Banyan in a Bali Forest, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR: “My top 24 photographs of 2024”)
PEOPLE
- First Place: Golden Hour Fishing, Chris Paparo (Ward Melville High School Saltwater Expo & Fundraiser)
- Second Place: One Last Cast, Chris Paparo (Ward Melville High School Saltwater Expo & Fundraiser)
- Third Place: Islay and Mario, James Smedley (Destination Ontario)
SCENIC
- First Place: Badwater Salt Flats, Death Valley National Park, Colleen Miniuk (Smith Southwestern’s 2024 National Parks calendar)
- Second Place: Lake O’Hara, Alec Sills-Trausch (explorewithalec.com)
- Third Place: Echoes of the Inca at Pinkuylluna Ruins, Heather Physioc (KCTRVLR: “My top 24 photographs of 2024”)
OPEN
- First Place: The Onondagas’ first mission: Heal the land, Steven Featherstone (Post-Standard)
- Second Place: Newsletter for Florida Keys Wildilfe Society, friends group for the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges – Fall 2024, Karuna Eberl (Voice for Nature – Fall 2024)
- Third Place: Newsletter for Florida Keys Wildilfe Society, friends group for the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, Karuna Eberl (Voice for Nature – Spring 2024)
PRESIDENT’S CHOICE AWARDS
BLOG
- On Killing Animals, Nicole Qualtieri (The Westrn)
MAGAZINE
- The Stars in Our Eyes, Joel Martin (California Fly Fisher)
- Ultra Running for Beginners: What’s It Like to Run a 52-Mile Mountain Race, Christine Peterson (Outdoor Life)
NEWSPAPER
- First Turkey Hunt “One of the Best Days” for 88-Year-Old Marine Vet, Paul Smith (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
PHOTOGRAPHY
- Winged Jewel, Nancy Sorrells (2024 Client Calendar)
RADIO/PODCAST
- “Ed the Diver” – Minnesota Bound Podcast, Bill Sherck (Made For The Outdoors/Bally’s Sports North)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- Resilience: The Rise of the Apache Trout, Joshua Duplechian (Trout Unlimited)