December 2016/January 2017 Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

Mine threatens famous Boundary Waters wilderness

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:54:18 +0000

The 2017 OWAA conference will take place in June at the doorstep of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Duluth, Minnesota. The Boundary Waters is one of the most spectacular places in America, a wild landscape of lakes, streams, forests, wetlands and wildlife covering 1.1 million acres along the Canadian border. More than 250,000 visitors from all over the world are drawn each year by its silence and solitude. Wolves, loons, walleyes, towering pines and eagles abound. Water is the essence of this ruggedly beautiful roadless labyrinth.
Below is a piece written by Dave and Amy Freeman, who returned from an entire year in the Boundary Waters. Their goal: to raise awareness of the risks from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining on the edge of this unique ecosystem.
— Editor’s note: This article first ran on MinnPost’s Community Voices on Sept. 30, 2016.
We just finished spending an entire year in this wild treasure to raise awareness of a major threat to the health of the Boundary Waters — a Chilean mining company wants to build a massive sulfide-ore copper mine nearby. The proposed mine site is along the South Kawishiwi River, which is adjacent to, and upstream of, wilderness.
Numerous scientific studies show that a mine in this location would mean the end of this priceless wilderness as we know it. The clearest and most present danger of a sulfide-ore copper mine is water pollution called acid mine drainage, a toxic combination of sulfuric acid, heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury and sulfates, that will leach into surrounding lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater, killing fish and plants. A recent study demonstrated that even under normal mining operations, acid mine drainage would flow into the Boundary Waters and spread throughout its countless waterways.
The true value of this area is hard to quantify, but government studies show that it helps support 17,000 outdoor and recreation jobs and drives more than $850 million in economic activity each year. But even more than that, we see the less tangible, but in many ways more powerful, effects these waters have on people, through the letters, postcards, emails, petition signatures, photos, paintings and songs we have received from tens of thousands of people who are speaking loudly in defense of the world’s greatest canoe country wilderness.
Fortunately, the federal agencies that manage our public lands are hearing from people who live throughout the country. The U.S. Forest Service has the authority to stop this dangerous mining proposal by withholding consent to federal mineral leases in the Superior National Forest. The Forest Service said it has “grave concerns” about sulfide-ore copper mining in close proximity to the wilderness and is considering withholding its consent.
We urge the Forest Service to follow the scientific evidence of harm and end the immediate threat. But the specter of future mining projects hangs over the area. That is why we are urging the federal government, specifically the Bureau of Land Management (which manages federal mineral leases) to withdraw all public lands in the Boundary Waters watershed from the federal mining program.
During our yearlong journey we visited over 450 different bodies of water in our quest to protect this national treasure. When we left after an entire year, there was still several hundred interconnected streams and lakes that we did not have the time or energy to visit. The Boundary Waters are that vast.
During this journey we missed birthdays and funerals, weddings and graduations, precious time with friends and family, endured months of frigid temperatures, rain, sleet, snow, bugs and many discomforts that are typically easily avoided outside the wilderness. We did this because we knew it is critical that we draw attention to the imminent threat of sulfide-ore copper mining o our beloved canoe country wilderness. To some, this could be seen as a sacrifice, but as is often the case with places as special as this one, the Boundary Waters has given us far more than we lost. It’s why people from around the country and the world flock here.
Last week we sat at the water’s edge with a mother watching her children play in a wilderness lake. One of her sons is battling leukemia. She explained that her son’s wilderness experiences have fostered resilience and taught him that pain and discomfort are temporary — lessons she says are helping him fight for his life.
This special area will continue to make impacts like this on the lives of millions of people, if we have the foresight to protect it. For more information on this issue, contact Jeremy Drucker with the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters (jeremy@savetheboundarywaters.org).
— By Dave and Amy Freeman, courtesy of Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters

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Planning your Boundary Waters adventure

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:45:30 +0000

A thousand sun-kissed lakes. Hundreds of miles of rivers and streams. One million acres of boreal forest. Moose, wolves, ospreys and loons. Superb fishing. And arguably the best flatwater paddling in the United States.
With all this going for it, it is easy to see why so many OWAA conference attendees have already asked me about Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and why it is the most popular wilderness in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Each year, some 200,000 visitors sample this canoeing Mecca’s maze of waters, angle for fish, paddle until tired and sleep beneath the soughing boughs of pines.
Located about two hours north of the 2017 conference site in Duluth, Minnesota, the Boundary Waters is on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, a vast sweeping exposure of Precambrian stone that runs from eastern Manitoba to the shore of the Atlantic. With the frigid waters of Lake Superior just to the south generating a chilly microclimate, the forest and plants are more typical of those found farther north with vast stretches of black spruce, balsam fir and jack pine. But owing to its position on the edge of several ecotypes, the southern part of the wilderness area also displays trees of the northern hardwood forest such as birch, aspens, maples, and Norway and white pines.
There are hundreds of possible routes to canoe with 74 access points scattered around the periphery of the area. Where the water runs out, paddlers use paths known as portages to carry their gear overland. Locally measured in rods (16.5 feet – about the length of a canoe), a long portage is one that approaches a mile in length, but the majority rarely exceed 40 rods.
Where to go
With so many entry points to choose from, visitors might well be confused as to where to begin. Where you’ll start depends largely upon exactly what you’ll want to do or see when you get there.
Do you want to travel daily and see lots of wilderness? Is your desire to spend a lot of time fishing? Is solitude your most important criterion?
Take some time to consider your wishes. I strongly advise that all in your party have similar expectations as well. And if traveling far and hard is in the cards, remember that you can only travel as far and hard as the weakest member of your party can manage.
The entry points on the east end of the Boundary Waters lead paddlers into areas of dramatic topographic relief, where ridges rise hundreds of feet on each side of this region’s long, narrow lakes. It is also at this far eastern terminus that many begin their journey along the famous Border Route, which ends nearly 150 miles to the west at Crane Lake, and follows the U.S.- Canadian boundary.
On the Border Route, many lakes like Saganaga, Basswood, Crooked and La Croix, are huge (Crooked Lake alone is 26 miles long). This is the route of scenic waterfalls and stunning vistas. It is also a challenging paddle, since these large lakes can be whipped to a frenzy by the prevailing west winds. Portages, however, are infrequent, which is why the fur traders loved this route.
For those who want to wander and enjoy the tranquillity of small to medium-size lakes, the central part of the wilderness area — bounded on the east by the Gunflint Trail and on the west by the town of Ely, Minnesota — offers untold opportunities for exploration, albeit with more portaging. About midway between these two landmarks is the Sawbill Trail, a gravel highway that pokes north to the Boundary Waters’ southern edge. Dozens of entry points provide paddlers with many choices of both loop routes and linear trips to hundreds of lakes. Those who are seeking solitude can find remote areas off the well-traveled routes in this region.
The western end of the Boundary Waters offers exceptional routes as well. West of Ely and north of the Echo Trail are routes to the large border lakes of Crooked Lake or Lac La Croix. South of the Echo Trail is a portion of the wilderness area separated from the remainder by a good gravel road. A lovely route here begins and ends at Crab Lake, and takes one through Cummings, Buck, Schlamm and other small lakes.
Base camping can offer an alternative to loop trips, and will give you more time for fishing. By venturing in a full day’s journey, then setting up a base camp, one is free to explore unencumbered by heavy packs to nearby areas on subsequent day trips.
As a general rule, the nearer you stay to a road, entry point or major route, the more people you’ll likely see. Also, several large wildfires have recently denuded some areas of the Boundary Waters. Consult with an outfitter, or give me a shout, if you want to avoid these places.
Know before you go
The Boundary Waters is administered by the U.S. Forest Service and is part of the Superior National Forest. In order to keep some semblance of solitude, visitor quotas for each entry point have been established, and in order to enter, you must have a travel permit for overnight trips. Although you can stop and pick one up at any Forest Service office and most outfitters, I strongly recommend reserving one as soon as you know the date of your trip. Permits for popular entry points can vanish quickly.
Permits become available in late January. The number of permits available per entry point varies dramatically depending upon the ability of the area beyond to absorb visitors. There is a $6.00 online fee to reserve one, and each adult is charged $16.00 per trip. Full information and online ordering can be had at www.recreation.gov.
You must enter on the date and at the location specified on your permit, but once in the wilderness you are free to roam and remain as long as you wish. Campers must stay at one of the 2,000 designated campsites, which are available first come, first served. On busier routes, choose one by midafternoon. Maximum party size is nine, but you’ll see more wildlife and have less impact on the campsites’ fragile soils if you keep your party smaller.
If you plan on fishing, don’t forget a Minnesota angling license.
Day Trips
If you’d like to see the Boundary Waters, but have limited time or no desire to camp, many lakes are easily accessed on a day trip. While day-trippers will still need a permit, they are free and unlimited. Self-issuing kiosks are at each entry point. You can rent canoes by the day at many places.
Good Gear
The Boundary Waters is served by exceptional outfitters who will supply you with as little or as much gear – including meals – as you need. Major hubs for outfitting are Ely, Gunflint Trail and Sawbill Trail. Outfitters in these areas are already preparing for OWAA members. For more information on pre- and post-conference Boundary Waters trips visit https://owaa.org/2017conference-preview/.
Tips for a Better Trip

Pack as if backpacking. Choose lightweight tents, sleeping bags and stoves. Rent a lightweight canoe.
Kayaks are nuisance to carry on portages, and require elaborate packing and unpacking each time. If going alone, rent a solo canoe and canoe packs.
Good raingear is a blessing.
Wear sturdy boots on portages. Rafting sandals and neoprene paddler boots offer no support on these rugged portages. Ankle injuries will ruin your trip.
“Hopscotch” your gear across longer portages — carry a load part way, set it down, and rest as you return for the next load.
Pick campsites with potential for a good breeze to minimize annoyance by insects.
Dusk is peak mosquito time. Eat dinner earlier. Slip into the tent or go for a paddle when the bugs get bad. An hour later, they’ll diminish. Build a fire and enjoy the night sky.
Expect daytime temperatures in the high 70s, dipping to low 50s at night.
Yes, you can drink directly from the lakes. That said, there is always the risk (although very low) of giardia. Never take water from a moving source, or near shore, to minimize that risk. Filter water if you’re uneasy.

Suggested Reading and Information

“The New Boundary Waters and Quetico Fishing Guide” and “Canoe Country Camping” by Michael Furtman
Superior National Forest BWCAW information: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/superior/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5202169
Permit info and Reservations: http://www.recreation.gov/wildernessAreaDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72600
MN Fishing License information: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/fishing/index.html?type=fishing.

— Michael Furtman, 2017 conference local chair, Mmfurtman@michaelfurtman.com

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Pre- and post-conference trips await

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:41:00 +0000

Explore the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Fish for walleyes in the “Walleye Capital of the World.” Or view Canada’s wilderness from the air.
This year’s pre- and post-conference trips offer incredible adventures to inspire stories, videos and photographs. Here is a sampling of some of the opportunities for those attending OWAA’s annual conference in Duluth, Minnesota. For more trips and information, visit https://owaa.org/2017conference/pre-post-conference-trips/. OWAA members with confirmed outlets or on assignment will receive preference for all pre- and post-conference trips.
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Outfitted Trip
Trip Dates: June 20-23 or June 27-30 (flexible)
Cost: Complementary guided trip. USFS permit fees apply.
Known as the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Ely, Minnesota, is an outdoor recreation paradise that beckons outdoor enthusiasts, artists and photographers. Ely outfitters will help you plan and guide you on a trip that meets your needs and interests.
Explore Lake Vermilion
Trip Dates: June 27-29
Cost: Complementary cabin and fishing/touring boat. Additional people, gratuities and Minnesota fishing licenses not included.
White Eagle Resort, Minnesota, is a boutique family destination with lakeside cabins and fishing and touring boats. Lake Vermilion is known for its natural beauty and wildlife. It is located near the Superior National Forest and is the southernmost lake in Minnesota with the exposed rock of the ancient Canadian Shield. Fish for walleyes, bass, muskies and panfish.
Walleye Madness on Lake of the Woods
Trip Dates: June 20-22
Cost: Complimentary lodging, fishing and meals. Transportation to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, tips, licenses and alcohol not included.
Welcome to the “Walleye Capital of the World.” With more than 65,000 miles of shoreline, 14,552 islands and 1 million acres of water, Lake of the Woods is a world class fishing, hunting and outdoor destination. Fish for walleyes on a charter boat from the south shore of Rainy River Resort on Lake of the Woods. Fishing is typically jig or drifting with spinners and live bait.
Experiencing the Northwest Angle
Trip Dates: June 20-22
Cost: Complimentary lodging, fishing and meals. Transportation to Lake of the Woods, Minnesota, tips, licenses and alcohol on your own. Must have passport, passport card or enhanced driver’s license. (You’ll cross through Canada for this trip).
Explore the northernmost point of the lower 48 states. Fish the 14,552 islands and discover the beauty and culture of this incredible wilderness area.
Canadian Fly In Angling
Trip Dates: June 27–30
Costs: Complimentary except tips
Wilderness North will fly you low and slow over the world’s largest contiguous boreal forest in one of its turbo Otter or Beaver aircraft. You’ll leave out of Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada. You’ll leave the Lake Superior shoreline and within 90 minutes, arrive at your lodge. It is certainly all about the fish here, but there’s a lot more. Learn about our thousands of years of indigenous culture on the land, paddle a canoe and savor exceptional cuisine courtesy of hosts Alan and Krista Cheeseman. This four-day adventure begins and ends in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Lake Superior’s largest city and a scenic 3.5-hour drive northeast of Duluth.

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From prospectors to cattlemen: Roots of the Sagebrush Rebellion

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:32:17 +0000

BY CHRIS MADSON
— Second in a two-part series
The romantic image of pioneer miners as gray-bearded prospector leading burros into some lonesome mountain valley is no more accurate than our conception of the fur trade. Mineral deposits on the West’s public domain were often discovered by individual prospectors, but the extraction of minerals took equipment and men, commodities the independent operator could seldom afford. Control of the gold, silver and copper quickly passed into the hands of well-financed companies.
The conflict over federal land is far older than the recent movement for states to take control of acreage within their borders, it is older than the occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and older than the face-off at Cliven Bundy’s ranch. It is a story that goes back to when Lewis and Clark opened the West and stretches through the eras of fur trading, mining and massive cattle companies.
Underground mines required huge quantities of timber to guard against cave-ins. In 1897, the General Land Office reported that the steady loss of forest to mining operations “fully demonstrated the want of wisdom in placing the public timber thus free of cost at the disposal of the public. It is also unjust in granting exceptional privileges to the residents of the States, Territories.”
The problem was that the trees weren’t going to the average citizen. “Large corporations and companies have secured permits at different times to cut many millions of feet,” the 1897 report observed. And sometimes, the big operators didn’t bother with permits.
In 1853, Edward Matteson, a California miner, updated an ancient technique to expedite the extraction of placer gold — he built dams uphill from his diggings, then brought the water through a ditch and then a hose and nozzle, generating a high-pressure stream that washed tons of gravel into his sluices. It was called hydraulic mining, and it was quickly adopted anywhere mine companies had a source of uphill water. Tons of silt from these operations choked rivers and streams, exacerbating floods and, after particularly heavy runoff, depositing thick layers of mud in the floodplains and crop fields below. Often, the silt carried heavy metals and acids that killed fish and other aquatic life for miles. Once again, the public’s interest suffered while the profit from the public’s land found its way into the coffers of big companies.
Out on the prairie, the situation wasn’t much better.
Starting even a small ranch took capital. The cattleman needed a good remuda of horseflesh, the tack to saddle them and the money or equipment to keep them shod. He needed to prove up a claim on a piece of land for headquarters. And he needed some cows. The price of a Texas longhorn at the northern railheads varied between $3 and $8 a head, and that investment wouldn’t begin paying dividends until this spring’s calves had grown into 2- to 4-year-old steers. A cattleman, as opposed to a cowboy, was a man of property who might have to wait years to see a return on his investment.
In the years after the Civil War, the appetite for beef in America and Europe far outstripped the supply, and the producers made quick fortunes. It didn’t take long for investors on both sides of the Atlantic to take advantage of the situation.
The first British cattle corporation to operate in the United States formed in 1879, raising capital of $350,000 with which it bought up ranches in South Dakota and Wyoming. Over the next 20 years, 36 more British corporations invested $34 million in the Western cattle business. At the same time British capitalists were making their presence felt, well-heeled Americans from the East and Midwest were buying into the business. What had been a family-run, hand-to-mouth calling became an industry, and as was the case with most other industries of the time, the big money took complete control.
In the years of the open range on public land, the big conglomerates played the system to gain control of key tracts of land. In 1884, The New York Times reported on the General Land Office’s investigation of illegal claims on the public domain. According to the newspaper, inspectors from the Land Office had found millions of acres of illegally fenced land and claims.
In 1880, the governor of Wyoming estimated that the ranching operations in the state ran 540,000 head of cattle and about 375,000 head of sheep. Over the next three years, the number of cattle in the state rose to about 800,000, where it plateaued, and the number of sheep continued to climb, reaching more than 6 million by 1909.
The condition of pastureland across the West was essentially the same — 30 years of intense grazing had done damage to grasses and broad-leafed forage plants that would last for decades or even longer. At the same time, invasive plants like cheatgrass had been imported with contaminated seed, which would damage the rangeland in the Great Basin forever. The dreaded cattle disease brucellosis was brought to North America with infected livestock and was probably introduced into Yellowstone bison shortly after 1900 when domestic cows were used to foster young buffalo in an effort to preserve the species.
After less than a century, this is what Jefferson’s dream for his beloved Western territory looked like: a land controlled and operated by millionaires and conglomerates, many of whom had connived or simply flouted the law to control the economy and politics of the public domain. A land stripped of its pristine promise: the range overgrazed; the forests over-cut; mountainsides raw and bleeding from the pitiless extraction of precious metals; streams polluted; the great herds of game, the beaver, the sage grouse all but extinct.
The entire nation was appalled. Faced with the ruin wrought by an unfettered market and a moneyed elite, a generation of Americans began looking for a different way to realize the democratic ideal in the arid West. It began in 1872 with the creation of the world’s first national park, continued in 1890 with the protection of our first national forest, and culminated in the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, two laws that mandated better management of Bureau of Land Management lands.
The movement proceeded from the notion that our common interest is sometimes best served when we own things together. The idea of places and resources held in the public trust gained traction with wildlife in the 1840s and was extended over the next century to the great open spaces of the West’s public domain.
The form and function of the consensus has been hammered out over 100 years. It has changed with time, and it will continue to change as the people who care about the public domain change, and as the land itself changes. Finding consensus among 300 million citizens is always a challenge, and it is especially difficult when we look for consensus on managing public land in the West.
But neither history nor recent experience supports the notion that these lands would better serve America if they were in private hands. The demands big business continues to make on the public domain in the West haven’t changed; they’ve been held in check only by federal regulations that seek to control the management of national forests and BLM holdings. If these lands were to be given to the states, or sold to private interests, these smaller governing entities or owners would not have the power to resist the influence the corporations wield. Even the federal government struggles to resist that influence. Land use would quickly return to the patterns that developed in the nineteenth century. The resources on the public domain, renewable and nonrenewable, would be sacrificed to enhance profits and the public would lose its right to visit what was left.
These days, Americans are dispossessed, confined in our apartments, on our quarter-acre lots, estranged from the land that, in large part, has defined our character as a people and a nation. We are held prisoner by economics. Perhaps the only physical expression of freedom we have left is the public domain. Together, we can use it without destroying it; we can enjoy it without dividing it.
We should never give it up.
— Circle of Chiefs articles are written by those who have received the Circle of Chiefs Award for conservation reporting and coverage. The Circle of Chiefs are considered OWAA’s conservation council. The article reflects the opinion of the author. If you’d like to add to the discussion, please send a letter to the editor.
— Chris Madson is a freelance writer specializing in conservation and hunting subjects. He lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

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100 years of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:43:27 +0000

BY ASHLEY PETERS
You’ll never see a heath hen, Labrador duck or great auk. These migratory birds went extinct by the early 1900s. Even the passenger pigeon, once plentiful in North America, saw its numbers dwindle as people overhunted it. The once abundant species went extinct in 1914 when the last of its kind died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
Wood ducks and snowy egrets almost disappeared as well, but thanks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, their numbers have rebounded. There are now millions of wood ducks and more than 140,000 snowy egrets in North America.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the United States and Canada signing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It was one of the first pieces of environmental legislation designed specifically to help birds and led the way for later laws like the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, which also addressed major threats to birds.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act addressed the biggest, most immediate threat to our birds at the time: overharvesting. However, one of its lasting accomplishments was simply making people in North America think about how our birds are doing.
A century later while we celebrate the treaty’s accomplishments and the birds it’s benefited, we should still be asking this question as we try to understand the biggest threats birds face today and how we can help them thrive.
Background
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, feathers were en vogue, used for creating entire dresses and hats in the United States. The booming plume trade lasted for decades, causing birds to be overharvested to the brink of extinction. Americans started to see a marked decrease in the numbers of birds like wood ducks, snowy egrets and willets and more than 40 other North American species. Plume hunters killed nearly 95 percent of Florida’s shore birds.
Various public campaigns tried to make feather fashion a faux pas. Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, started in 1900, encouraged people to switch from shooting as many birds as possible in a day to recording the greatest number of bird species seen. Yet these efforts weren’t enough.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act made it illegal for “anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations.”
Birds still need help
A century later we can tout the successes of the act, as well as other laws like the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, which according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, raised more than $4 billion for 30 million acres of wetland conservation projects in the past 20 years, but certain bird species are still struggling.
According to The State of North America’s Birds 2016 report, the last half century has seen a severe decline in quality habitat and 37 percent of North American bird species are “of high conservation concern and at risk.” Seabirds, waterbirds and neotropical migrants have seen huge population crashes over the past 50 years, despite benefiting from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, mostly due to habitat loss. Marine ecosystems are in crisis, tropical forests are disappearing and rising sea levels threaten coastslines.
Federal laws, like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, need to be adjusted and viewed in conjunction with national and international habitat protection efforts. Management of whooping cranes, an endangered species, exemplifies this.
Despite the protections afforded under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the whooping crane population crashed to fewer than 30 birds by the 1940s due to habitat loss. The species narrowly escaped extinction and is still very much at risk with population estimates around 600. For these birds, habitat protection was, and still is, needed in addition to federal laws. The establishment of a national park in Canada and the Texas’s Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in the early part of the 20th century helped keep the birds from complete extinction.
Even after 100 years of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, there are still stories like this that need to be told, in addition to the success stories of the law.
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Tell the story

Make it personal. Find someone who can tell their personal story about helping birds. Emotion and the human element are the ever-important “spoon – ful of sugar” for stories about policy and natural resources management. When your audience sees how birds or bird conservation have inspired someone else, they are more likely to empathize and digest the meaning of the story.
Make it local. Depending on your outlet, focus on a bird or a destination in the region that inspires people. Recommend popular parks or public lands where people can go to see the birds you write about. Talk to local experts, from state bird biologists to area Audubon members.
Make it actionable. When some – one can see how they fit into the big picture of conservation, they are more likely to be motivated to get involved. Tell readers about local groups they can join, a law they can vote on or a change they can make in their own backyard, like planting native plants.

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— Ashley Peters joined OWAA in 2014. She is the communications manager for Audubon Minnesota. For nearly a decade, she has worked to communicate and advocate for environmental conservation. She can be contacted at apeters@audubon.org.

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On assignment with Peter Frick-Wright

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:31:58 +0000

Covering the jogging ban in Burundi

BY TAYLOR WYLLIE
Peter Frick-Wright has nearly been in the wrong place at the wrong time on more than one occasion.
A freelance journalist based out of Portland, Oregon, Frick-Wright lived in Bosnia the year Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and left the country the day Serbians attacked U.S. embassies as a warning to Americans. He walked through a city square in Burundi, Africa the day before a shooting took place in the same area, and almost hired the one translator known to be, well, not so good.
But he continues to travel, searching for meaningful stories both domestically and abroad, which he often tells through the lens of an outdoorsman.
Frick-Wright traveled across the world to Burundi in the fall of 2015 for his second article for Outside magazine where he spent 10 days digging into the reasons current President Pierre Nkurunziza banned jogging, an activity that brought Hutus and Tutsis together after decades of bloodshed. He found a story that dates back 25 years, spanned an ethnic civil war and is one of the first signs the country might be on the brink of another.
Frick-Wright was able to tell the story in large part because of a man he met on his second day in Burundi, Ferdinand Nitunga. Nitunga became a stand-in for the joggers of the country who weren’t political, a man who dealt with the difficulties of life through exercise. His sociable personality coupled with his natural athleticism made for a multifaceted, likable character that readers could connect with through all the political complexities of the story.
Frick-Wright talked with Outdoors Unlimited about the difficulties of reporting in a politically unstable environment, how to break down barriers with sources while abroad and the golden standard in journalism. Read the interview below and be sure to read his story at https://www.outsideonline.com/2062806/worlds-most-dangerous-running-club-burundi.
Outdoors Unlimited: How did you come up with the idea for this story?
Peter Frick-Wright: It came about in a sort of backwards way. I was out running with a friend of mine and it was a hot summer day in Portland. We got back to the apartment and were hanging out and we started bouncing around ideas of places we might be able to go.
We were looking at, I think, Wiki Travel, and he pulled up the entry to Burundi and he was like well we could go, but we couldn’t go jogging there. He just read out a sentence that the president of Burundi banned jogging in March 2014 and we laughed about it at the time.
I went home that night and was like “how did this happen?” That was the driving question: what would make the country or the president ban jogging?
OU: How did the story develop from its conception to when you actually sat down and wrote it?
Frick-Wright: I didn’t know I was going to meet Ferdinand going there. Even after I got back, my first draft didn’t have him as such a central character. I knew he was important. He was sort of a stand-in for the rest of the country and these nonmilitant joggers.
My editor [Jonah Ogles] really helped me understand what role he would play in this. He gave me the best single edit I’ve ever gotten, which was helping refine Ferdinand’s place in the story.
OU: Ferdinand is quite the character. How did you know which people to approach, which people would make great characters?
Frick-Wright: Ferdinand, he just thrust himself into the front of my notebook and microphone.
The leader of the club, I was trying to talk to him and he was like, “you should talk to Ferdinand, this kid has a really incredible story.” So how did I know? Someone told me and I believed them.
OU: How were you able to approach and connect with potential sources, especially coming in as an outsider to a country where people are uncomfortable talking to the press?
Frick-Wright: The first day I was there, and there’s this scene in the story, Jean Baptiste my translator said “Oh I know where there will be joggers today.”
I came into that as a straight journalist. I have my notepad out, I’ve got my voice recorder, Jean Baptiste… is trying to get me what I came for and no one will talk to me.
The next morning, going and working out with the group, that just broke down every barrier that could be broken down. Once I spent an hour sweating with these guys everyone wanted to talk to me.
OU: Were you in good enough shape to keep up?
Frick-Wright: I thought I was in good shape until I tried to run with Ferdinand at the equator at 9 in the morning. He’s really a phenomenal athlete.
OU: What was it like working in a politically unstable environment?
Frick-Wright: In some senses, it was a lot harder and more nerve-racking than anywhere I have ever been.
We never were shot at. We never had any real issues personally. We had a lot of people that were nervous to talk to us. When we went to the [Movement for Solidarity and Democracy] MSD headquarters building, the police kept circling it. When I say police, I mean a pickup truck full of guys in the back with guns. Everyone inside got really nervous about talking to us and we had to reschedule that interview.
We rescheduled the interview, but the rescheduling was “we’ll call you at this time” and that phone call was “go to this church and wait for another phone call” and from there it was “drive south on the street that you’re on until you see the place and you’ll know the place.”
OU: How did working with a translator change how you approached reporting?
Frick-Wright: My translator was a very big fan of the main opposition leader that I wrote about. He interrupted some interviewees to talk more about [Alexis] Sinduhije. That became a bit of a liability. He was a really good translator though, he made the story happen for sure, but it became another variable to filter through when you’re trying to get both sides of the story.
OU: After being there for 10 days you had a lot of information to work with. How did you decide what to keep and what to toss?
Frick-Wright: It was really a process of adding movement and a narrative arc in a way that you still got a sense of what the political problems really were without getting into the weeds too much.
We did many, many drafts back and forth on that. Probably 10 to 12 drafts overall just getting it right.
OU: How do you balance a first-person narrative with a more traditional reported piece?
Frick-Wright: There are certain things you need, like you need a character that encounters a problem that gets solved. When you can do that without using first person at all, that’s the gold standard. When you can’t do that and you need the first person in order to make it happen, then you add it in a little bit at a time. That’s how I make it work.
Here’s a story about Burundi and a situation I had gone and seen. I needed it to be accessible for a reader who didn’t care about this, and I needed to hook them in some way. I didn’t think jumping straight into a civil war was going to do it. That’s a familiar story. That’s a story that people know and are tired of.
The reason we used the first person was I felt the strangeness, the novelty of the jogging ban, was the most immediately interesting part of the piece. That was going to be my hook. I could relate to readers by showing how weird I thought the situation was.
— Taylor Wyllie was an OWAA intern and is a student at the University of Montana, studying journalism and environmental studies. She’s worked for the independent student newspaper, The Montana Kaimin and her work has appeared on Montana PBS, Montana Public Radio and in the Missoulian.

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Make new media that makes money

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:31:02 +0000

Using journalism skills for a start-up

BY TAYLOR WYLLIE
We all know the story: newspapers are dying and working as a reporter is one of the worst jobs on every career list.
At the same time, millennials are starting more businesses at younger ages than their Baby Boomer counterparts.
Scorpio Partnership Consultancy surveyed 2,600 young entrepreneurs in 18 countries. It found an increasing number of individuals under 35 who have created their own companies — with higher profit ambitions than their elders.
David Detrick, 33, a student at the University of Montana, is one of those “millennipreneurs.” He started the online news publication IFlyFishMontana (iflyfishmontana.org) in the spring of 2016 as project for a journalism class on freelancing. The assignment was to create a mock-up of a “new media” publication, whether that be online or in print. As a self-identified fly-fisherman, he immediately went to an idea that’d been stirring in him for months: creating a digital space for those with the same passion.
The site is designed to act as a hub for the fly-fishing community, providing news, gear reviews and classifieds for selling products, as well as acting as a site to connect anglers to each other and businesses. Detrick solicits mostly student freelance writers and photographers to produce content for the website, oftentimes students, who write news articles, products reviews or even blog posts about fly-fishing trips.
After seeing the monetary possibilities, and loving the work involved in the upkeep, Detrick decided to sink his time into the business, with a long-term goal of turning it into his full-time job.
Here’s what he has to say about his transition from student to business owner:
Q: Why did you decide to create your own business, instead of pursuing a job at a daily paper, or other traditional news outlet?
I really like being in charge of it. I really like talking to fly-fishing businesses and companies and fly shops… I like trying to find reporters and photographers who can do this kind of work. It’s like being your own boss. I’m not making a lot of money from it, but it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s what I love to do.
Q: How do you plan to make money?
We’re going to look for more sponsors … clickable ads, things like that. But I don’t want to just throw up a bunch of Google ads, or Orvis ads all over the site. That’s not the goal of the site. We want to give exposure to the little guys, the up-and-coming companies, the online companies. We’re also going to monetize it through fly-fishing shops … by the time we have lots more traffic we can say ‘Hey, here’s how much traffic your website is getting from ours. The reason is you’re in this story, you’re here on the map-finder. If you want to keep that spot on our website we’re going to be charging this membership fee for you guys.” We’ll base it on the traffic they’re getting and we’ll be fair. So we’re going to be charging membership to the fly shops and fly-fishing companies that are linked on our page, plus a membership to our readership. We will also monetize the garage sale feature on our website, which is coming soon.
Q: How important has social media been in building your brand?
Social media has been huge — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been key in guiding people to the website and getting people to read what we have on the website.
Our biggest social media outlet right now is Instagram. We have over 4,400 followers right now and it grows every day. Every day we have 10 to 30 people adding. Most of the images we have there have anywhere from 150 to 500 likes. I’ve been looking this week, and this week we’ve made 13,500 impressions. That means one of our images on Instagram has popped up on somebody’s feed, they haven’t interacted with it, but they’ve seen it. Over 13,000 people have seen one of our images in their feed.
Q: How do you build that following?
I added people at first. It seems like other people are adding us because they’re interested in our content. Everybody loves fish porn. Well, at least fly-fishing people do.
I did a giveaway a few weeks ago for stickers, basically I said the first 10 people to repost this and tag us, would get stickers. We got a lot of attention from that, probably a lot of ads because people were seeing us pop up on other people’s feeds.
Q: How does studying journalism in college prepare you for this business?
The University of Montana school of journalism basically gave me everything I needed to start this business. Except the business side of it. I learned all about journalism in print, photo, online, etc. One of my last classes this year gave me the idea for this business in one of our final projects. While this business is still very small I see the potential for unlimited growth.
— Taylor Wyllie was an OWAA intern and is a student at the University of Montana, studying journalism and environmental studies. She’s worked for the independent student newspaper, The Montana Kaimin and her work has appeared on Montana PBS, Montana Public Radio and in the Missoulian.

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Using Instagram for instant career success

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:08:21 +0000

BY PHILIP QUADE
For awhile, I resisted joining Instagram. My climbing partner insisted I check it out, saying it might help me in my recent foray into climbing photography, but I wasn’t big into social media. I didn’t get it. I joined in 2014, but it wasn’t until I took a road trip last May that I finally learned how to harness the platform to help my photography business. In only a few months it helped me go from an unknown in the world of climbing photography, to publishing in national magazines and working with some of the industry’s biggest brands and athletes.
I picked up my first digital camera when I was about 20 years old. Originally I wanted to shoot wildlife. I envisioned myself tracking snow leopards in the Himalayan mountains, or something equally as rare in a similarly exotic location.
I discovered climbing while working at the Calgary retail store Out There Adventure Centre in 2013. I was already used to carrying my camera with me everywhere outside, so without thinking, I started taking it on weekend climbing trips. The things I loved about climbing myself — the movement, environment, power and precision — also made me love photographing the sport.
I realized that climbing photography was its own niche in the outdoor world and people actually did it for work. That became my dream.
I hit the road in May with a plan to visit some of the best- and least- known climbing destinations in North America. My plan was to climb — a lot — but also build my climbing photography portfolio.
A newbie to the niche of climbing photography, I turned to Instagram for networking and the results were astounding.
As a climbing photographer, if I have no climbers, I have no shoot. So my first steps were to line up subjects and areas to photograph. With a rough road map in place, I searched Instagram using hashtags and location tags to find climbers in the areas I traveled. I gradually sifted through photos and accounts — sometimes hundreds or thousands, sometimes barely a half dozen — and picked my top-choice candidates. I used Instagram’s direct messaging system (which only allows 500 characters per message) to reach those with whom I wanted to connect. Thanks to push-notifications, which alert account users if they receive a new message, recipients often responded within minutes of my crafting a message.
I was a little shy and unsure about this tactic when I started, but it quickly proved its effectiveness. I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and excited many people, including elite athletes, were to connect and work together on projects.
This new style of cold-calling proved to be the most effective method for me to land climbing subjects, tour guides and partners throughout my trip. In return for their time, I gave them a small portfolio of photos from our adventures. I built a name for myself much quicker than I imagined and soon had climbers, who had heard about me from friends or other athletes, reach out to me.
The domino effect had begun. Instagram became not just a networking tool, but also a type of live portfolio for my work. I used it to announce my agenda and let people know where I was currently and where I was headed next.
The more elite athletes I worked with who shared my work, the more comments and exposure I started to receive. I started paying close attention to who else was admiring my work — their sponsors. I understood the concept of shooting for a brand, but I had never chased the opportunity.
But while on a shoot with climber Claire Bukowski in Rifle, Colorado, that changed. I knew shooting sponsored climbers like Bukowski opened doors with companies that worked with her. I also knew shooting strictly editorial content is a hard way to make a living. Not only do brands usually pay well for images, it also provides you exposure to a larger audience. I also wanted to find my own sponsors for future trips and expeditions.
While working with Bukowski, I focused on getting images for social marketing and planned out shoots focused on branding and layout. I spent more time shooting from fixed ropes, instead of from the ground. We also planned our climbing around product placement, from what Bukowski wore to what gear we used. I also shot more lifestyle shots, like Bukowski drinking from her Skratch Labs water bottle, or coiling her Blue Water rope at the end of the day, or packing her SoiLL backpack. While all of these images were designed to showcase the brands, I still tried to shoot them candidly instead of having her pose with the gear.
I researched her sponsors, as well as brands she hoped to work with one day beforehand, and after made some calls. Bukowski is a well-known and respected climber, as well as the daughter of accomplished climbing photographer Todd Bukowski. On several occasions the brands I called already knew what we had been doing, thanks to Instagram.
Several companies requested my portfolio. I sold images and even had one company seek me out requesting my work for two projects.
The new world of social media got me attention from these companies, but good old-fashioned phone calls got me the sales. On more than one occasion I had a brand representative thank me for making direct contact and taking the time and effort to make a phone call, or at least sending a personal email.
It’s a changing world and an adapting market. But it doesn’t mean the old tricks don’t still work. Sometimes, you just need to take a different approach to the same ideas, and roll with the punches.
When I returned home after almost four months on the road, I had shot numerous assignments for Gripped magazine.
I also had a chance to work with the editorial team at Rock and Ice magazine during its annual climbing photography camp, where I worked with some of the best climbing shooters in the business. The magazine published a half page of my work in an issue featuring images from the camp. It marked my first photo published in a major national magazine.
Now home, I’ve been regularly working with Butora, a company that makes climbing shoes and accessories. Within the last six months, companies I shot for, or sold images to, include Skratch Labs, The North Face and Icebreaker. I’ve also covered local competition climbing for the Calgary Climbing Center and attended the Go Pro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado, as the official photographer for the Canadian Climbing Team.
Instagram completely redefined my approach to marketing. It also helped me launch the career of my dreams.
— Philip Quade is a 28-year-old climber, photographer and writer from Calgary, Alberta. He is interested in climbing and expedition and exploration photography. He just completed a 3 1/2-month North American road trip where he explored some of the best- and least- known climbing destinations in Canada and the U.S. Follow him on Instagram at philip_quade, or on Twitter @_Quade and view more of his work at www.philipquade.com.

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Draw viewers in with anthropomorphic photos

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 20:03:41 +0000

BY ANN AND ROB SIMPSON
Perhaps you recall exchanges with Looney Tune characters Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig in which the delineation between human and cartoon was blurred or even nonexistent. Who can forget the image of the tin man, cowardly lion and scarecrow skipping arm-in-arm with Dorothy down the yellow brick road toward Oz? Lewis Carroll’s pen has led many people through the looking glass into a dream world of a tardy white rabbit, smoking blue caterpillar and crafty Cheshire cat. Modern audiences have grown up with Big Bird, Roger Rabbit and other talking animals that teach and entertain their sponge-like minds.
These anthropomorphized characters walked, danced and stumbled their way into our lives, solidifying forever the notion that animals indeed could have humanlike qualities.
For a cartoon animator or a writer, the ability to create human-like characters from nonhuman animals and objects takes a playful imagination and the ability to convince the intended audience through words or drawings that the character has all of the emotions, feelings and reactions of a person.
Capturing a photo of an animal in the wild that portrays anthropomorphic characteristics is perhaps one of the most challenging of all photo assignments. No matter when, where or how you photograph animals, it is almost always just plain luck when you capture that one image that seems to say “I am human just like you.”
Photographs that convey anthropomorphism in animals can be some of the most captivating images created. Human emotions such as fear, happiness, surprise or anger appeal to audiences.
Studying animal behavior and anticipating movements and actions can be a key factor in stacking the odds in your favor for getting that perfect shot. If the deer walks away from you, keep your camera aimed, as it will often turn around for a quick, quizzical glance back. Also, watch for animals interacting with each other, especially the “greeting” nose touch, which looks quite similar to a “honey I’m home” kiss. Modern cameras and lenses have revolutionized photography with speed and image stabilization capabilities that allow you to get pictures that were next to impossible just 15 years ago.
Just as in writing, attention to detail is important with photography. Eyes are the single most important feature of any animal (or human). A tack-sharp eye, or lack thereof, can make or break the quality and effectiveness of your image. Place the camera’s focusing square on one eye of your subject. If the eyes are not in the same plane, make sure to choose the closer eye on which to place the focusing square.
All cameras have different methods to control the focus. Besides the common (but often boring and confusing) task of “reading your camera manual,” you can also go to YouTube and search the model of your camera and the words “auto focus.” Continuous focus or AI Servo auto focus mode on your camera is useful for moving subjects, while the focus mode called “one shot” is best for recomposing portraits. Position yourself carefully so that highlights of the reflection of the sun catch the light in the animal’s eye.
Sometimes it all comes together at the right time and right place but you have to be prepared. With nature photography, patience is not only a virtue, it is a necessity.
No reward is greater than capturing that perfect shot that says it all. Just as famous lines such as “Call me Mr. Ed”, “What’s up doc?” or “That’s all folks!” will forever have nostalgic meaning for those of us who grew up with these humanized characters, you can create wildlife photos that imaginatively pluck loudly with recognition at the heartstrings of your audience.
— Ann and Rob Simpson are nature photographers and authors of numerous books mostly about national parks. They have traveled extensively to photograph some of the earth’s rarest animals, plants and habitats. Their photos have a sense of place and show how we as humans fit into the environment.

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Shooting shot shelling

OWAA Developer — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 19:57:19 +0000

BY LEFTY RAY CHAPA
A photo of a person shooting a shotgun into the sky looks pretty boring unless there is smoke and fire coming out of the barrel, or perhaps a shell caught in flight after it was ejected out of the shotgun. While not all shotguns emit smoke or fire on a regular basis, they do all eject the shell before another shot is fired. By following the next few steps, this action can be captured with a camera to make the shells more visible and the photo more interesting.
What you need
A semi-automatic shotgun is easier to capture as the shells are automatically ejected after firing, but a pump shotgun or an over-and-under shotgun will also work. You’ll also need a camera with a setting to allow a high rate of continuous shooting and shotgun shells of various colors. Safety equipment should include safety glasses and hearing protection for both the shooter and the photographer. Any size of shotgun will do, but a 12-gauge gun is pretty common and the 12-gauge shell is bigger than the other sizes like 28-gauge, .410 and 20-gauge.
Camera Settings
Shutter speeds slower than 1/1000 are generally too slow to freeze a shell’s motion in the air. Some blurring will occur, which might be acceptable in some instances. Speeds above 1/1000 will tend to freeze the shell in motion so well, it is possible to identify its manufacturer.
If the camera has more than one continuous shooting speed, use the highest frames per second. With a 10 frames per second speed or higher, it may be possible to capture more than one frame with a shell flying through the air. The key is to anticipate when the shooter is going to fire and hit the shutter button before that point and just hold it down until the shell is out of view.
While one or two frames may capture a shell in the air for each string of photos taken, the others can be easily erased. To avoid confusion between different strings, take a photograph of something completely different between image groupings. This will help in the editing session afterwards.
An aperture selection of f8.0 is a good starting point, but it depends on the light sensitivity range of the camera, or ISO, and how much light is available.
Selecting a focus point varies, as it depends on what you want to key in on. In most cases, try focusing on the gun where the shell ejects. Most cameras are able to switch focusing spots from one end of the view screen to the other. If you want to feature the shooter, focus on his or her face.
Position
There are three spots to shoot from. The first is behind the shooter. This is the easiest, as the shells come flying out perpendicular to the camera so it is possible to capture more than one frame with a shell in the air.
The second is behind, but slightly at an angle to the gun. In most cases this will be to the right side as most people are right-handed, but be aware if left-handed shooters are present and switch sides. This is probably the most interesting angle, as some portion of the shooter’s face will be visible.
The third position is perpendicular to the gun. This is the hardest as the shell is coming almost directly toward the camera. Good contrast with the background could also be difficult to achieve as the gun usually takes up most of the background. As a safety factor, never stand in front of the shooter.
Angle
If possible, vary the angle by standing higher than the shooter and angle down. Another way is to crouch down and shoot upwards.
Contrast
While I am not a big fan of shooting level towards the shooter, it really depends on the background. It might be necessary to make adjustments on the fly to make the shell contrast against the background scene. This can be done by making minor movements up or down with the camera. Another way to make the shell stand out is to use different colored shells. Red and green colored shells are prevalent, but blue, gold, silver and other colors also exist.
Miscellaneous
Pump shotguns eject a shell manually by the shooter doing the work rather than the gun. Have the shooter hold their aiming position after shooting while ejecting the shell. If the shooter fires two shots in quick succession you might also capture some smoke.
Over-and-under shotguns only eject after they are broken open. If done quickly after shooting, you might also capture some smoke in your image.
— Lefty Ray Chapa is a San Antonio-based freelance outdoor photographer and writer specializing in anything having to do with a fly rod or a shotgun. He is also the president of Texas Outdoor Writers Association.

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