2026 EXCELLENCE IN CRAFT AWARD WINNERS
Sponsored by Friesens and Pew
CONSERVATION or NATURE
(Sponsored by Pew Charitable Trusts)
BLOG
- First Place: Protecting Puffins in Maine is an Emotional Commitment, Derrick Z. Jackson (The Maine Monitor)
- Second Place: A Search for the Cassia Crossbill, Idaho’s Endemic Bird, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
- Third Place: On Eastern Egg Rock, puffins get the last laugh, Derrick Z. Jackson (The Maine Monitor)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Bellrose, Chris Madson (Ducks Unlimited)
- Second Place: Forest Keepers of Borneo, Matthew Miller (Nature Conservancy Magazine)
- Third Place: Nature’s Best Friend, Eva Frederick (Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: The Enchantments staffing shortage, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
- Second Place: Flying Kittens, Emily Stone (Ashland Daily Press)
- Third Place: A Washington riverkeeper’s son maneuvers out of his father’s shadow, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: The Fight for Our Future: Land Tawney on Grassroots Advocacy and Public Lands, Marvin Cash (The Articulate Fly)
- Second Place: Connecting Audiences to Ocean Conservation: Andrew Lewin’s Science Communication Mission, Howard Fox (Outdoor Adventure Series)
- Third Place: When Sheep Fly, Morgan O’Hanlon (Better Outside)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Dr. Wood Duck, Pete Hermann-Franzen (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
- Second Place: Report a Turtle, Kelly Jo McDonnell (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
- Third Place: Hay Creek Legacy, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
FAMILY PARTICIPATION/YOUTH OUTDOOR EDUCATION
BLOG
- First Place: Second Grade Tracking Stories, Emily Stone (Natural Connections)
- Second Place: Little girl, big fish, Brent Frazee (Wired2Fish.com)
- Third Place: Rite of Passage, Shawn Swearingen (Tom Beckbe Field Journal)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: True Grit, Corey Hunt (South Carolina Wildlife Magazine)
- Second Place: Desert Catharsis, Jodi Stemler (Upland Almanac)
- Third Place: Coming of Age in Punta Allen, Hilary Hutcheson (The Fly Fish Journal)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Second Grade Tracking Stories, Emily Stone (Ashland Daily Press)
- Second Place: Lake Wenatchee YMCA Camp bids farewell with one final summer, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
- Third Place: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
PHOTOGRAPHY
- First Place: Mother-Daughter Walleye, James Smedley (Algoma Country Travel Guide)
- Second Place: Bow Riders, James Smedley (Algoma Country Website)
- Third Place: Let Me Do It, Grandpa, Lefty Ray Chapa (Backdrop banner in the lobby at Rocky Creek Retrievers Waterfowl Lodge)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Janis Putelis, Trevor Hubbs (Mule Deer Foundation Podcast)
- Second Place: Creating Inclusive Spaces: Disability Advocacy, Outdoor Access, and Inclusion in Your Community, Howard Fox (Outdoor Adventure Series)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Eggs to Fry in ’25, Grant McOmie (KGW-TV Portland, Oregon)
- Second Place: Hannah the Hunter, Scott Fransen (Outdoor Channel)
- Third Place: Mr. Jan’s Solar Boat Club, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
FISHING
BLOG
- First Place: The slow sinking of the F/V Jack Cotant, Jeff Lund (From the 49th)
- Second Place: Three O’Clock, Kris Millgate (Tom Beckbe Field Journal)
- Third Place: Veteran pros sound off: Are anglers forgetting how to fish?, Brent Frazee (Wired2Fish.com)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Coming of Age in Punta Allen, Hilary Hutcheson (The Fly Fish Journal)
- Second Place: Confluence, Noah Davis (Covey Rise)
- Third Place: River Divided, Kris Millgate (TROUT)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Old School Fishin’, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Second Place: Origin of Bimbo and the Skunk, Dan Small (Wisconsin Outdoor News)
- Third Place: Try Something New, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Nomadic Waters and the Allure of Amazonian Peacock Bass, Marvin Cash (The Articulate Fly)
- Second Place: A Lake Superior Surprise, Dan Small (Outdoors Radio Network)
- Third Place: Tales of a Fly Fishing Legend: Remembering Dave Whitlock, Marvin Cash (The Articulate Fly)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Escape to the Keys, Ron Schara (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
- Second Place: Gorge-ous Salmon, Grant McOmie (KGW-TV Portland, Oregon)
- Third Place: Reel Therapy, Richy Harrod (YouTube and NCW Life Channel)
GEAR/TECHNICAL
BLOG
- First Place: Fishing with antique tackle, Brent Frazee (Wired2Fish.com)
- Second Place: Effective Ways to Signal Help During Wilderness Emergencies, Tom Watson (Action Hub)
- Third Place: How to Get in Shape for Ski Season, Part 1, Lisa Ballard (LisaBallardOutdoors.com)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Canal Safari, Michael Salamone (Fly Fisherman)
- Second Place: Survival Sense for Hunters, Tom Watson (Whitetails Unlimited)
- Third Place: Grouse Through the Ages, Edgar Castillo (Western Hunter)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Capture It, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Second Place: Fur never goes out of style in the outdoor world, Lew Freedman (Seymour (Indiana) Tribune)
- Third Place: ABCs of cycling change with the times, Marty Basch (Conway Daily Sun)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: A Lightweight Mobile Hunting System, Dan Small (Outdoors Radio Network)
- Second Place: Chainsaw Love, Dan Small (Outdoors Radio Network)
- Third Place: Pat Dorsey’s Tips on Colorado Tailwaters, Part 1, Steve Haigh (Destination Angler Podcast)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: 30 years of storytelling and photojournalism, Kelly Jo McDonnell (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
- Second Place: Suicks!, Bill Sherck (FanDuel Networks North and Wisconsin)
- Third Place: Brautgam Expedition Works, Pete Hermann-Franzen (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
HUMOR
The 2026 contest received a pledge from the Cochran family for the Humor categories in honor of the late Bruce Cochran, a long time OWAA member and multi-year EIC award winner.
BLOG
- First Place: My Iditarod welcome to Nome, Michael Hodgson (HI Travel Tales Subscriber Club)
- Second Place: The ones that didn’t get away, Brent Frazee (Wired2Fish.com)
- Third Place: Boys, Those Aren’t Doves, Edgar Castillo (Field Ethos)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: The Biggest Question, Kyle Wright (North American Whitetail)
- Second Place: Kids in a Boat, Jim Mize (Great Days Outdoors)
- Third Place: Grouse Bum Seeks Wingman, Chris Ingram (American Field)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Limited Options, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Second Place: Tour de France? ‘Tour de Pharmacy’ is more like it, Marty Basch (Conway Daily Sun)
- Third Place: Explorers discover Type Four Fun in Pacific Northwest, Ammi Midstokke (Spokesman Review)
HUNTING or SHOOTING SPORTS
BLOG
- First Place: Seeking Shelter, Kyle Wright (Tom Beckbe Field Journal)
- Second Place: Bar at the Top of the World, Trevor Hubbs (Tom Beckbe Field Journal)
- Third Place: Lost Wives and Sporting Clays: A Wingshooter’s Tale, Edgar Castillo (Palomino County)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Hunting the Storied Goose Fields of Easton, Maryland, Russell Worth Parker (Garden and Gun Magazine)
- Second Place: A Journal of Arctic Days: In Search of Caribou & Dolly Varden in the Brooks Range, Noah Davis (Modern Huntsman)
- Third Place: The wizard of Winchester, Chris Madson (Ducks Unlimited)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Along the 46th parallel: Washington constitution leads to dismissal of hunting case along WA-OR border, Michael Wright (Spokane Spokesman-Review)
- Second Place: Locating wounded deer: Using leashed tracking dogs, Jacob VanHouten (Weekly Choice)
- Third Place: Blind Faith, James Smedley (The Outdoors Guide)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: Hog Wild, Morgan O’Hanlon (Better Outside)
- Second Place: Fair Chase Wild Boar Hunting, Dan Small (Outdoors Radio Network)
- Third Place: On Hallowed Ground, Dan Small (Outdoors Radio Network)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Montana Huns, Scott Fransen (Outdoor Channel)
- Second Place: Hannah The Hunter, Scott Fransen (Outdoor Channel)
- Third Place: Brady’s First Bird, Bill Sherck (“The Flush” Outdoor Channel)
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
BLOG
- First Place: Searching for Black-backed Woodpeckers After the Burn, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
- Second Place: Getting Down to the Bones in Patagonia, Candice Gaukel Andrews (World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
- Third Place: See Sea Turtles Nest Under the Stars on Florida’s Melbourne Beach, Brandy Jo Hastings (Beach.com)
MAGAZINE
- First Place: Fangs for the Memories, Eva Frederick (Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine)
- Second Place: Tracking the Stars, Taylor Hartman (BBC Sky at Night Magazine)
- Third Place: Life and Death in Bears Ears, Ernie Atencio (National Parks)
NEWSPAPER
- First Place: Puffball Pizzeria, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
- Second Place: Not Your Usual Onboarding: Your guide to wakeboarding and wakesurfing in Seattle, Gregory Scruggs (The Seattle Times)
- Third Place: You can visit a geologic wonder close to home, Nancy Sorrells (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)
RADIO/PODCAST
- First Place: The Devils You Know — and the One You Don’t, Morgan O’Hanlon (Better Outside)
- Second Place: Take a Hike, Morgan O’Hanlon (Better Outside)
- Third Place: True Nature: Resilience and Healing in the High Sierra, Howard Fox (Outdoor Adventure Series)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- First Place: Arrow Lake 2 Parts, Bill Sherck (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
- Second Place: Switzerland & Lichtenstein, Steve Corso (Outside TV, FanDuel Sports, YouTube)
- Third Place: Cannon Valley Bike Trail, Pete Hermann-Franzen (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
BOOKS
(Sponsored by Friesens Publishing)
- First Place: Nature Guide to Acadia National Park, Ann & Rob Simpson (FalconGuides Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc.)
- Second Place: Natural Connections 3: A Web Endlessly Woven, Emily Stone (Green Darner Media)
- Third Place: Healing Waters: Veterans Stories of Recovery in Their Own Words, Beau Beasley (No Nonsense Guidebooks)
GRAPHIC/ILLUSTRATION
- First Place: Components of a Cooking Campfire, Tom Watson (“Self-Reliance in the Outdoors” column/Midwest Outdoors)
- Second Place: Painted Hands National Monument, Rio Ibanez, Chile, Alberto Rey (Marion Art Gallery, Fredonia, New York)
- Third Place: Iwana char, Salvelinus leucomaenis, Fu River, Japan, Alberto Rey (Marion Art Gallery, Fredonia, New York)
COLUMN
- First Place: The Wild Around, Ben Moyer (Pennsylvania Game News)
- Second Place: Crossings, Ben Moyer (Pennsylvania Game News)
- Third Place: The Line Between/Win for Public Landowners/Desert Quail, Rob Breeding (Flathead Beacon)
PHOTO ESSAY
- First Place: Fabulously flamboyant flamingos of Northern Argentina, Michael Hodgson (HI Travel Tales)
- Second Place: On Eastern Egg Rock, puffins get the last laugh, Derrick Z. Jackson (The Maine Monitor)
- Third Place: Getting Down to the Bones in Patagonia, Candice Gaukel Andrews (“Good Nature,” The Official Blog of the World Wildlife Fund and Natural Habitat Adventures)
PHOTOGRAPHY
ACTION
- First Place: Haddock Haul II, Derrick Z. Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Second Place: Perch Pounce, Derrick Z. Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Third Place: Pulling in a Pike, Craig Bihrle (Minnesota Outdoor News)
FAUNA
- First Place: Eyes of the Pantanal, Michael Hodgson (Michael Hodgson Photography)
- Second Place: Drooping Haddock, Derrick Z. Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists)
- Third Place: Cutthroat, Joshua Duplechian (Trout Unlimited Blog)
FLORA
- First Place: Winter Soul-stice, Colleen Miniuk (Dear Bubbles blog)
- Second Place: “Koru a Kēhau”, Emily Louina Cook (Emilylouina.com, Etsy, Pop-Up Shops, Action Fair Juried Art Show)
- Third Place: “Ab ovo usque ad mala”, Emily Louina Cook (emilylouina.com, Etsy, & pop-up shops)
PEOPLE
- First Place: A Good Day on an Alaska Stream, Christopher Paparo (The Fisherman)
- Second Place: Pronghorn Hunters Sunrise Silhouette, Lisa Ballard (Montana Wildlife Federation 2025 Impact Report)
- Third Place: Wings Over the Prairie, Eric Kallen (The Virginia Sportsman Magazine)
SCENIC
- First Place: Lily’s Stars, Dawn Wilson (NOCO Style: Northern Colorado’s Lifestyle Magazine)
- Second Place: Tick Tock, Colleen Miniuk (CMS Photography marketing for Grand Canyon rafting workshop)
- Third Place: Blanket of Beauty, Nancy Sorrells (Self-published calendar)
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
- First Place: Quito, Steve Corso (FanDuel Sports, Outside TV, www.outdooreats.com)
- Second Place: Balance, Jeff Helsdon (Tillsonburg Post)
- Third Place: Sculpted Superior, James Smedley (Algoma Country Travel Guide)
OPEN
- First Place: My Wildlife Wonders: Inspiring Young Learners to Engage with Nature, Heather Physioc (HP Conservation)
- Second Place: How Chasing the Northern Lights in Norway Led Me to Indigenous Reindeer Herders, Brandy Jo Hastings (Matador)
- Third Place: While You’re Busy Celebrating Public Lands, Look Who You’re Standing Next To, Katie Hill (MeatEater)
PRESIDENT’S CHOICE AWARDS
BLOG
- Searching for Black-backed Woodpeckers After the Burn, Matthew Miller (Cool Green Science)
MAGAZINE
- Bellrose, Chris Madson (Ducks Unlimited)
NEWSPAPER
- Limited Options, Roy Heilman (Mankato Free Press)
PHOTOGRAPHY
- Haddock Haul II, Derrick Z. Jackson (Union of Concerned Scientists)
RADIO/PODCAST
- The Devils You Know—and the Ones You Don’t, Morgan O’Hanlon (Better Outside)
TV/VIDEO/WEBCAST
- 30 years of storytelling and photojournalism, Kelly Jo McDonnell (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)
OVERALL
- 30 years of storytelling and photojournalism, Kelly Jo McDonnell (Minnesota Bound, KARE-TV)