Press RoomPress Release  
OLN, TRCP and Orion Introduce "Life In The Open"Friday, January 28, 2005 - Today at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, OLN, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), and Orion Multimedia announced the creation of a new hunting and fishing show. Life In The Open debuts as part of OLN’s Fields Sports programming in October 2005. The show takes viewers to some of the best hunting and fishing destinations in America, including some trips down Theodore Roosevelt’s old hunting trails. Through Life In The Open, the TRCP seeks to draw American sportsmen into asking themselves "What would Teddy do?" and inspire them to act in a manner worthy of his conservation legacy and work to guarantee us all a place to hunt and fish. The show, like the TRCP itself, is inspired by the conservation legacy of Theodore Roosevelt and his love of hunting and adventures in the outdoors, or "life in the open" as he called it. Along with great hunting and fishing and important information on fish and wildlife conservation, Life In The Open hits on the one issue that is perhaps the biggest threat to hunting and fishing in America: access. The TRCP’s primary mission is to "Guarantee Every American a Place to Hunt and Fish." Life In The Open features places to hunt and fish that the average American can affordably access. Hunting and fishing access comes in many shapes and sizes: from public lands such as those set aside by T.R., to private lands where hunters and anglers, with the right approach, are welcome. Life In The Open will even throw in a few fantasy destinations and look at the access some average sportsmen get to once-in-a-lifetime trips. The show will look at the specific ways the TRCP is seeking to increase access for the average sportsmen. With Life In The Open, the TRCP is seeking to use the uniquely powerful medium of television to better carry out its mission to "Guarantee All Americans a Place to Hunt and Fish" by reconnecting American sportsmen and women with their historical role as conservationists and responsible stewards of land, water, fish, and game. The sights and sounds of hunting and fishing in the 234 million acres of public wild places T.R. set aside, as well as trips to other lands T.R. hunted, will bring home to American sportsmen what he did for them, why he did it, and why we sportsmen need to do more. Jim Range, Chairman of the TRCP, says "Life In The Open shows viewers the kinds of hunting and fishing we want to protect and expand and ways they can help accomplish that." George Cooper, Director of Communications for the TRCP and a former producer at CNN, adds, "I believe sportsmen will find themselves coming back to this program because it not only shows them some great action in spectacular settings, but also teaches them some interesting hunting, fishing, and conservation history, connects them directly with one of their biggest heroes, Theodore Roosevelt, and shows them ways to take action to help guarantee them and future generations a place to hunt and fish." OLN is including Life In The Open in an exciting slate of new hunting and fishing shows for 2005. "With open land and wildlife under increasing pressure, we need Teddy and his values and vision more than ever," said Gavin Harvey, President of OLN. "Life In The Open translates the vision of Teddy Roosevelt to television and addresses issues that OLN is passionate about - conservation, wildlife, and access." SponsorshipAs an organization, TRCP is reaching beyond the traditional hunting and fishing groups to actively engage the millions of sportsmen and women who may not formally belong to any conservation group or hunting or fishing organization. One such group is the Building and Construction Trade Unions (BCTD) of the AFL-CIO. The BCTD has come on as the anchor sponsor of Life In The Open. Over 70% of the BCTD’s members hunt and fish and the TRCP is proud to welcome them to the conservation community and appreciates their generous sponsorship of this show. The TRCP is looking forward to bringing other sponsors on board to support Life In The Open and the mission of the Partnership. Orion and the Show ItselfOrion Multimedia, creators of such award winning programs as the World of Beretta and Benelli’s American Safari, is producing this first season of "Life in the Open." Chris Dorsey, Orion CEO, says "Few names in the sporting world resonate more with sportsmen than does Teddy Roosevelt, so we're delighted to be amplifying TR's sporting values to millions of American hunters and anglers." Every show will start off with an exciting big game hunt and then move on to a variety of wing shooting and fishing adventures. This first season will feature: - A public lands antelope hunt on Montana’s 1.1 million acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge;
- A mule deer hunt on a ranch where access isn’t advertised but found through persistence and politeness;
- A float down the famed Big Horn River, where anglers stand a good chance of hooking the biggest trout of their life on waters accessible to anybody;
- A unique hunt on a Crow Indian reservation where, for a modest license fee, upland and waterfowl hunters can access a million acres of hunting that few people outside the tribe have ever seen;
- A pipefitter from Iowa and an electrical worker from Pennsylvania as these two Building Trade union members enjoy access to dream elk hunts at the famed Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico and the Mooncrest Ranch in Wyoming.
The HostThat’s just a handful of the adventures chronicled on Life In The Open. Taking viewers along, with rod and gun in hand, will be host Ken Barrett. Barrett is a lifelong sportsman who has dedicated his career to reinvigorating the conservation legacy of Theodore Roosevelt while pursing a sporting life with a passion T.R. would appreciate. In a diary kept by Barrett's mother, there is an entry that dates to when Ken was four-and-half-years-old that reads, "All Ken can talk about is hunting and fishing, I guess he's going to be an outdoors man." He proved her right and on Life In The Open Barrett shares his knowledge of conservation history and skills in the field and on the water, while shedding light on current issues affecting the future of hunting and fishing in America. Barrett resides in Bozeman, Montana and when not writing or working on Life In The Open, he can be found preparing fish or game in the kitchen, training bird dogs, hunting and fishing with family and friends, and reading and researching topics related to his life-long passions. Of hosting Life In The Open, Barrett says, "Just like when hunting and fishing, sometimes you get lucky. There I was sitting and writing at my desk one day, and a call came offering me the opportunity to go hunting and fishing around the country, and to share those experiences with lots of people. How lucky can a guy get? I'm delighted, honored, and filled with gratitude to have this opportunity. It's a dream come true." Joining Ken for several trips afield on Life In The Open are Jim Range, TRCP Chairman, and George Cooper, TRCP Director of Communications.
OLN® is the home of field sports’ finest. Now in more than 61 million homes, OLN features best-in-class events like The Tour de France, The Gravity Games, Professional Bull Riders (PBR), and USSA Skiing. The Network offers exclusive programming in four primary areas: Outdoor Adventure, Action Sports, Field & Stream® and Bulls & Rodeo. OLN is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. http://www.olntv.com The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading conservation organizations and individual grassroots partners, working together to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat, increase funding for conservation and management, and expand access to places to hunt and fish. For more about the TRCP and its partner organizations visit: www.trcp.org. Founded in 1998, Orion Multimedia is one of America’s leading outdoor television producers with corporate offices located inside the Denver-based Comcast Media Center. Apart from the award-winning programs Orion already produces, including Benelli’s American Safari, The World of Beretta, and Beretta’s Bird Hunt Journal, all seen on OLN, Orion is producing several other shows along with Life In The Open that will debut on OLN this year. They include Dangerous Game, Ruger’s Hunting Adventures, Expedition Safari, Benelli’s Dream Hunts and Dangerous Game. http://www.orionmultimedia.net/ ### CONTACTS:
Amy Phillips OLN 203-406-2509 aphillips@olntv.com
George Cooper TRCP 202-508-3421 gcooper@trcp.org
Chris Dorsey Orion 303-712-3412 cdorsey@orionmultimedia.net |