In the Arena: Jackie Holbrook

March 14, 2019

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation

Jackie Holbrook

Hometown: Cascade, Montana
Occupation: Freelance writer
Conservation credentials: Educated audiences on conservation issues as a TV news reporter; champions showcasing better hunting and fishing ethics on social media

Jackie Holbrook is the kind of outdoorswoman we want to be—whether she’s hiking, scouting, and fishing with her young daughter strapped to her back or reaching out to a new generation of bowhunters. Holbrook was raised in Helena, Mont., spent ten years challenging herself in the last frontier of Alaska, and has dedicated much of her career to sharing important conservation stories through her journalism. Here is her story.

My dad took me on fishing and hunting adventures from the time I was toddler, and I completed my hunter’s safety course at 15 years old—I was the only girl in the class. I will never forget the experience of shooting my first deer with my dad that year.

I got hooked on fly-fishing in college and met my husband after I moved to Alaska, which opened up an amazing new world of hunting and fishing opportunities.

I have fantastic memories of landing a 30-inch rainbow trout on the fly, shooting a moose with my bow, and coming face-to-face with bugling bulls, but getting engaged on a three-week hunting trip is probably my most memorable adventure in the outdoors. During the trip, we bowhunted caribou and brown bears and watched a wolverine race up the side of a mountain. My husband harvested two wolves, and I shot my first moose on the final morning of our trip. It was an amazing Alaska adventure.

None of these adventures would be possible without conservation.

Conservation is also a big part of my life and career. My “beat” as a former TV reporter was hunting and fishing. Most of my coworkers thought those issues were boring, but to me there was nothing more important than informing people about conservation issues. Now, as a freelance writer, a lot of my work is focused on recruiting bowhunters and giving them the tools to succeed.

I’m shocked by how many people are opposed to hunting without having a basic understanding of the facts. I think social media has made this attitude worse. Hunters are getting bullied online, especially young women, and I’m afraid this will deter younger generations from taking up the tradition.

Hunters are essential to conservation and that message often gets misrepresented. I think widespread misinformation can cause a lot of damage to the public perception of hunters. I also think this anti-hunting movement is dangerous to conservation when public opinion begins to overturn sound science in wildlife management decisions.

After a decade in Alaska, I moved back to Montana because I missed the hunting and fishing here. There is nowhere I would rather be in September than in elk country chasing bugling bulls. Now, we live along the Missouri River, and I love being able to walk out the front door and throw a fly at hungry trout with my toddler on my back.

Motherhood reaffirmed my commitment to conservation. Watching the world through the eyes of my daughter reminds me of its magic. My 20-month-old laughs and yells “fish” when my husband I are fighting fish. She also makes a pretty perfect elk bugle. Hunting, fishing, and the outdoors aren’t hobbies—they’re a way of life for people. At such a young age she’s already enjoying the gifts of conservation, and I want her to grow up with the same clean water, public lands, and healthy wildlife populations that I had.

Do you know someone “In the Arena” who should be featured here? Email info@trcp.org for a questionnaire.

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by: Kristyn Brady

posted in: In the Arena

March 6, 2019

In the Arena: Ed Jaworowski

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation.

Ed Jaworowski

Hometown: Chester Springs, Pa.
Occupation: Writer, photographer, and retired Villanova University professor of classical studies
Conservation credentials: First recipient of the Izaak Walton Award, presented by the American Museum of Fly Fishing

Not only has Ed Jaworowski been teaching casting and fly fishing for more than 30 years, he has shared his passion and skills with countless readers as the author of four fishing books and a featured expert in 200 articles since 1977. He was the first individual to be honored with the Izaak Walton Award by the American Museum of Fly Fishing, for living by Walton’s Compleat Angler philosophy, providing inspiration to others, and promoting a legacy of leadership.

Here is his story.

I was born in 1942, and most of my earliest childhood memories relate to frequent fishing trips.

With my uncle, who had recently returned from World War II, I fished mostly local streams for sunfish in the Philadelphia area. Within a decade, we were making regular trips to lakes in New Jersey, primarily for pickerel, and I also started fishing for stocked trout in local streams. Through the late 1950s, my father periodically took me to the Jersey Shore to drift for fluke in the bays.

In the more than 60 years since, I have had so many experiences on the water that I am hard-pressed to single out any one that I could designate as my most memorable. And I feel fortunate that I can’t narrow down my choices and select one favorite species or top destination. I love to visit remote and exotic venues, but am equally excited about local waters. Each provides different, but equally rewarding experiences.

I gained broad experience with all sorts of tackle in freshwater and saltwater, eventually traveling from the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of South America. Fly fishing eventually eclipsed all other forms, and I’ve been fortunate to have caught more than 100 species on a fly rod. Fly fishing has expanded my awareness of entomology, physics, chemistry, biology, mechanics, limnology, and countless other fields of study.

None of my experiences would have been possible if these oceans, lakes, and streams were polluted or incapable of supporting sportfish. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, in rivers from Alaska to Iceland, from mountain streams in Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay, Idaho, and all the rest, my sport would simply not exist without clean water.

This is why conservation of these resources is vital.

In the densely populated mid-Atlantic region where I live, irresponsible commercial and residential development is the greatest challenge to conservation of our environment. I believe education and thoughtful planning are the answer. We can see that the needs of society are met, but with the understanding that those needs include clean water, woodlands, and riparian and littoral zones that are part of the entire natural complex.

Preserving our waters and their surrounding habitats, like forests and shorelines, is the only way to ensure that these places—and the activities associated with them—survive for those who come after me. I am indebted to those who came before me for my experiences and memories. As a writer, photographer, and flyfishing instructor and coach, I want people in turn to have the same opportunities to create their own memories.

Do you know someone “In the Arena” who should be featured here? Email info@trcp.org for a questionnaire.

by: TRCP Staff

posted in: In the Arena

January 18, 2011

It Is Not the Critic Who Counts

The famous Theodore Roosevelt quote about striving valiantly and daring greatly

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

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