In the Arena: Dr. Carolyn Mahan

July 17, 2025

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.

Dr. Carolyn Mahan

Hometown: State College, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, Penn State Altoona
Conservation credentials: Dr. Carolyn Mahan has spent her professional career researching topics to improve conservation across America and the world. Currently, Dr. Mahan’s research interests include wildlife use of human-modified landscapes, management of public lands, and squirrel ecology. Her research has been widely published and cited in top science journals, and she currently serves on Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s Advisory Council for Conservation.

Dr. Mahan has researched wildlife around the globe but loves the diverse world of the Appalachian Mountains she calls home. Her education and research combined with passions for hunting and fishing make her a fantastic educator in the Penn State University system, as well as an invaluable expert when working with the oil and gas industry on conservation. Dr. Mahan lives a life that takes active steps toward a future where humans and wildlife can coexist.

Here is her story.

TRCP: How were you introduced to hunting, fishing, and the outdoors? Who introduced you?

Dr. Mahan: I always loved nature, hiking, bird watching, and wildlife. However, my husband, Kurt Engstrom, introduced me to fishing and hunting while we were dating and both students at the University of Connecticut in the late 1980s. At first, I would just accompany him in the forest and watch wildlife. Gradually, I learned how to fish for bass and trout. Finally, once we moved to Pennsylvania, I began to hunt whitetail deer.

Dr. Mahan with a British Columbia bull trout.

TRCP: Tell us about one of your most memorable outdoor adventures.

Dr. Mahan: I have had so many memorable experiences in nature locally, nationally, and internationally. However, a seemingly small natural event occurs every year on my back porch, and I treasure seeing it. In late March, a pair of Carolina wrens inevitably chooses my laundry apron, the pocket of my hunting coat, or my window box as a place to build their beautiful moss-covered, domed nest. This event is one of the first signs of spring for me and my family, and we watch the wren pair as they lay their four eggs, incubate them, and eventually fledge their babies. This annual event is an on-going sign that, perhaps, humans and wildlife can travel together into the future.

TRCP: If you could hunt or fish anywhere, where would it be and why?

Dr. Mahan: I would like to go on a pack trip on horses into the western backcountry to hunt for elk. I grew up riding horses, so this would combine things that I love. Fishing for Atlantic salmon in the UK or brook trout in Labrador would be amazing as well.

TRCP: How does conservation help enhance your outdoor life?

Dr. Mahan: My entire life is conservation. I am a professor who teaches courses in conservation to undergraduate students at Penn State, and I conduct research on conservation of all types of wildlife (native pollinators, breeding birds, carnivores, small mammals, and rare species) in human-modified landscapes such as oil and gas pipelines. So, every time that I am in the outdoors for work or play, I am thinking about conservation and how to create and restore landscapes where humans and wildlife can coexist.

TRCP: What are the major conservation challenges where you live?

Dr. Mahan: I used to think that habitat loss was the biggest threat to wildlife. Habitat loss is still a critical factor impacting wildlife, but we are learning to manage landscapes so that both humans and wildlife can occupy the landscape. In terms of drastic wildlife losses, the spread of infectious diseases caused, in part, by globalization, climate change, and human activities (e.g, game farming), is the biggest challenge. Infectious diseases and pathogens like Chronic Wasting Disease, White-nosed Syndrome, West Nile Virus, and Avian Malaria has caused sudden and drastic health threats to whitetail Deer, North American bats, ruffed grouse, and songbirds respectively. In addition, non-native species including Japanese knotweed, stilt grass, spotted lanternfly, hemlock woolly adelgid, and emerald ash borer have changed the species composition of Pennsylvania forests over the past few decades.

TRCP: Why is it important to you to be involved in conservation?

Dr. Mahan: Aldo Leopold wrote that “one of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.” I feel that quote everyday as I see the changes in wildlife populations and forest composition that I previously mentioned, and sadly, many of these negative changes are unnoticed by the general public. People can make a difference, however, through their actions. Actions may include removing non-native species, planting a native tree, growing native forbs, teaching others to cherish nature, being conscientious about what you purchase, and assisting in wildlife management.

Dr. Mahan on a Pennsylvania pheasant hunt.

TRCP: Why should conservation matter to the next generation of hunters and anglers?

Dr. Mahan: In the United States, conservation is funded at the governmental level primarily by taxes on hunting and fishing equipment and hunting/fishing license sales. If you are a hunter or an angler, your money is used for conservation. Newcomers to these past times should learn about ways that their funds are used and assist state officials in explaining the importance of hunters and anglers in their role as conservationists. I also hope that hunters and anglers will focus on more than just the species that they harvest. Conservationists should care about all species of native wildlife because healthy, functioning ecosystems are critical for sustainable hunting and fishing.

Photo credits: Dr. Carolyn Mahan

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One Response to “In the Arena: Dr. Carolyn Mahan”

Edward Gabsewics July 22, 2025

As a Penn State graduate of the University’s Environmental Resource Management Program, this “In the Arena” feature caught my attention big time. I can relate with Dr Mahan’s appreciation for even the smallest joys that nature brings to us every day in our own back yards. My wife and I marvel every day at the hummingbirds at our feeder just feet from our kitchen window.
We too have wrens and bluebirds returning every year to our property and watch them build their nests and raise their young.
As a lifelong hunter and fisherman, I appreciate the efforts of Dr Mahan in regards to promoting conservation and sustainable development. My Son and Grandson are committed to carrying on the hunting and fishing family tradition.
Thank you TRCP for sharing Dr Mahan’s story. TR would be proud of her and the other folks who are “In the Arena”!

July 22, 2025 at 9:25 am

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by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: In the Arena

May 1, 2025

In the Arena: Capt. John McMurray

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.

John McMurray

Hometown: Oceanside, New York
Occupation: Fishing guide/charter boat captain
Conservation credentials: McMurray has been the executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association New York and director of grant programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation. He was also a legislative proxy for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and served for a decade as New York’s recreational representative on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

Capt. John McMurray hails as a renowned big tuna and striped bass charter captain based on Long Island, New York. The hard-charging captain has been the owner and primary operator of One More Cast Charters, Inc. for more than twenty years, where he charters trips far offshore on seaworthy Contenders and inshore on smaller skiffs. McMurray has been a leader with the New York arm of the Coastal Conservation Association and a long-time advocate for menhaden conservation. He’s also served in the U.S. Coast Guard as a coxswain and law enforcement officer, and for 16 years served as the director of grant programs at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, which distributed over $20 million in grants that largely targeted the protection of marine fish and habitat. Driven to fish hard for his clients without respite during major runs, he’s out on the water almost every day of the season, rain or shine – including a running timeslot every other Sunday he sets aside to take his son and his friends fishing on what he refers to as “Bro-day.”

McMurray is an oft-published outdoor writer, who currently blogs for the Marine Fish Conservation Network and has had feature articles/photography published in On The Water, Saltwater Fly Fishing, and The New York Times. A decade ago he penned a weekly conservation blog for TRCP.

Here is his story.

No one ever really introduced me to the outdoors. I didn’t really come from an outdoorsy family. Just kinda got into it myself. There was a local pond we’d go to in northern Virginia. I started out with bluegills, graduated to catfish, then largemouths in the Potomac. I later enlisted in the Coast Guard, which brought me to New York, where I discovered striped bass and became a full-on addict. Eventually I got into tuna fishing. At that point fishing kinda became my life.

I guess my most memorable outdoor adventure was at that local pond, there was a “giant” catfish (I’m sure it was probably more than one) that would break people off, stole at least one “dead-sticked” rod. No one could ever land it. Eventually, one year (I think I was 9) I stuck it, did a lap around the pond while a small crowd gathered as I landed it. It was not “big” really, maybe 10 lbs., but back then? It was HUGE! I was an instant legend (in my own mind anyway).

If I could fish anywhere in the world, honestly, it would be Long Island, New York, man. Believe it or not, we’ve got one of THE best fisheries in the world. Incredibly abundant striped bass populations. The sight/flats fishing is GREAT in the spring and the fall blitz fishery is Nat Geo-type stuff. We’ve also got an extraordinary giant tuna fishery within sight of land. Mid-shore the recreational size bluefin fishery is awesome too. Fish in the 150, even 200 lb.-range can be caught on spin gear! Offshore? We’ve got an insane yellowfin tuna fishery. We get 100 lb. fish on poppers regularly.

Conservation enhances what I do because it creates abundance, and abundance equals opportunity. The main conservation challenge off of Long Island is that A LOT of our fisheries revolve around menhaden aggregations. We get the menhaden schools, we get predators. Every year though, the large-scale processors in Virginia sail purse-seine boats and fly spotter planes up here. They sit right off the 3-mile line and rake up hundreds of thousands of pounds of menhaden, effectively shutting down bluefin and striped bass runs. It REALLY sucks.

“If we deplete forage fish stocks, those predator fish ain’t coming around.“

I’m involved in conservation efforts out of enlightened self-interest. I need there to be an abundance of both predators and forage fish around to be successful at the catching part. My business emphasizes the experience fishing brings rather than just filling coolers. So a fish in the water is WAY more beneficial than a dead one on the dock. It’s not really how many I can kill that’s important, but how many we can catch.

It’s obvious to me why conservation should matter to our next generation of anglers. We kill too many predator fish now, there won’t be any left for my kids. If we deplete forage fish stocks, those predator fish ain’t coming around. For me, or for future generations.

All images credit John McMurray

by: Noah Davis

posted in: In the Arena

March 27, 2025

In the Arena: Leland Brown

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.

Leland Brown

Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Occupation: North American Non-lead Partnership co-founder / Oregon Non-lead Hunting Education Program Manager / Ph.D. candidate Portland State University
Conservation credentials: Brown carries a degree in environmental biology and is currently researching the terminal performance of hunting ammunition for his Ph.D. at Portland State University.

After graduating with a degree in environmental biology, Brown started working professionally conducting invasive species management projects and taught himself to hunt on his own time. Since then, Brown has hunted big game and upland birds across the West, most recently in Oregon. After realizing the unintended impacts lead left in carcasses and gut piles of shot animals has on scavenging birds of prey as well as other mammals and birds that feed on the carrion, Brown co-founded the North American Non-lead Partnership, which promotes voluntary best management practices, including the use of lead-free ammunition.

Here is his story.

TRCP: How were you introduced to hunting, fishing, and the outdoors? Who introduced you?

Brown: I was originally introduced to fishing and the outdoors growing up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. My family would go fishing in the rivers and lakes in the White Mountains, and I have hiked and camped my whole life. I had always been interested in hunting but didn’t have mentors who hunted to teach me how.

My older brother started hunting as a teenager with friends. He really introduced me to the mechanics of shooting and hunting. During university, that interest in hunting was cemented as I learned even more about hunting as a wildlife management tool, and the broader contribution to conservation. After graduating with a degree in environmental biology I started working professionally conducting invasive species management projects and taught myself to hunt on my own time. I’ve been lucky enough to meet a lot of talented hunters over the years and am always learning from people. I love to hunt and fish, and I like being with good people almost as much as the act of hunting or fishing.

TRCP: Tell us about one of your most memorable outdoor adventures.

Brown: I’ve been incredibly lucky in my adventures. It makes it hard to choose the most memorable one. I’ve done a lot of solo hunting over the years and had some incredible experiences in the field with no one else around.

One that sticks out to me was spending four hours laying behind my rifle in an open grassland canyon watching 15 cow and spike elk bed and feed. They finally stood up when a 5-point bull came up the canyon bottom and started barking at me. I made a shot on a cow 20 minutes before dark and finished butchering her by myself around 11:30 p.m. That solo experience was awesome, but the thing that really means a lot were the friends who dropped everything to help me pack that animal out when I needed the extra hands. Recently I have found a lot of joy in sharing time in the outdoors with my wife and other friends instead of going out solo.

Brown processing a mule deer for good meals ahead.

TRCP: If you could hunt or fish anywhere, where would it be and why?

Brown: This is a classic topic of conversation. I go two directions: 1) I love going to places that I have a past connection to. Continuing to experience a place and seeing the changes that occur over seasons and years whether it’s a river or a forest is awesome. 2) I want to go to new places and experience things I’ve never done before. Realistically, where has become less important than who for me these days. I want to spend the time outdoors with people who love the areas, love the activities, and I enjoy spending the time with. Whether it’s a place I’ve been 100 times, or my first time in an area, if I’m with the right people, then it’s where I want to be.

TRCP: How does conservation help enhance your outdoor life?

Brown: Conservation and the outdoors are inextricably intertwined for me. My professional career in conservation is so closely linked to the outdoor activities I enjoy that I cannot separate the two. Conservation and knowledge about the ecosystem inform my enjoyment of the outdoors. As is common with people who enjoy the outdoors, being involved in conservation—whether working on habitat, engaging in the process of wildlife management, choosing lead-free ammunition for hunting, or just working to make sure others are aware of the challenges we face—is a way to build a larger connection to our outdoor activities. Conservation provides the foundation and context for my time outdoors, both in making sure it’s there for the future, and in making sure my activities only cause the impact I desire.

If we want to see hunting and angling continue through the next century, I strongly believe that conservation cannot be lip service. It must have active participation from hunters and anglers, and we need to tell the story to the public.

TRCP: What are the major conservation challenges where you live?

Brown: There are a lot of challenges for conservation. One of the biggest that I’ve been focused on is either apathetic or unaware members of the community. For all the conservation challenges we face, we need engaged, active participation to be successful. One of the reasons I shifted from field work to engage more in conservation information and education is that I see the need across all these current issues—habitat loss, migration disruption, changing ecosystems, lead exposure, and disease—will require engaging with not just our fellow hunters and anglers, but also members of the general public. Not only do we have to engage, but we need to do it in a way that builds partnerships between different groups who may not have historically seen themselves as potential partners. We need to shift from conflict in conservation to cooperation to really address the wide variety of issues we are facing in conservation today.

Brown takes advantage of a prime window to glass.

TRCP: Why is it important to you to be involved in conservation?

Brown: A lot of people talk about leaving things better for the next generation. For me, being actively involved in conservation is my opportunity to contribute not just to the next generation of people who want to have these incredible opportunities in the wild, but also making sure that the entire ecosystem, including people, is in better shape than when I started. It’s a small way of attempting to give back to the lands and wildlife that have sustained me and inviting others into those places. I see the need for active efforts to promote conservation, hunting, and fishing that connect to building strong, resilient ecosystems.

TRCP: Why should conservation matter to the next generation of hunters and anglers?

Brown: Conservation, hunting, and angling need to continue to be connected for our outdoor activities to remain relevant and sustainable. If we want to see hunting and angling continue through the next century, I strongly believe that conservation cannot be lip service. It must have active participation from hunters and anglers, and we need to tell the story to the public. We have a lot of people in America who are supportive of hunting and angling. Conservation is one of the ways we can connect our activities to people who have never had the experience in the field and do it in a way where they leave excited about what we contribute to the resources owned by the public and managed for their benefit. Hunting can contribute to conservation, but we need hunters (and anglers) to be conservationists for us to maintain public support.

Photo credits: Leland Brown

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: In the Arena

March 6, 2025

In the Arena: “Python Huntress” Amy Siewe

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.

Amy Siewe

Hometown:: Kettering, Ohio
Occupation: Professional python hunter and guide in South Florida
Conservation credentials: Siewe has dedicated her life and career to the capture and removal of invasive Burmese pythons, endemic to Southeast Asia but wreaking havoc on native wildlife in the Everglades. She not only offers guided hunts and goes after snakes on her own – which can top out at almost 19 feet long – but assists researchers working to tag and release male “scout snakes” with transmitters to help find breeding-age females and their nests. Siewe also helps raise money for conservation and other nonprofit efforts, having brought in nearly $600,000 through charity-auctioned hunts for organizations including Rookery Bay National Estuarine Reserve and The Alliance for Florida’s National Parks.

“Python Huntress” Amy Siewe is one of those rare individuals who pursue their passion for an unlikely dream and find phenomenal success. Growing up exposed to wild snakes, she was always drawn to and fasciniated by the reptiles, and later became a volunteer at the Toledo Zoo in college, as well as an exotic pet breeder and educator. She eventually moved into a 13-year, more comfortable career in real estate in the Midwest. Then she began to see news coverage of Burmese python hunts in the Everglades. These incredibly successful apex predators, which were first detected in Florida in the late ‘70s, have since become the invasive wildlife species of top concern in the Everglades.

Six years ago, Siewe took a vacation to see if she could capture one of the invasive pythons. After catching her first snake (a nine-footer), she was hooked, and resolved then and there to do whatever it took to spend her days – and nights – chasing after the evasive predators across South Florida. She walked away from her real estate business and headed to the subtropical U.S. to start a business guiding clients as the Python Huntress, since featured in stories with The New York Times, National Geographic, Time Magazine, and CNN. Working for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and in her own business, she has captured more than 600 snakes as one of the best-known python hunters in the state.

Here is her story.

My dad instilled in me a deep appreciation and respect for nature, teaching me from a young age how to catch and admire all kinds of creatures. From the moment I saw my first snake, I was captivated. That fascination only grew, leading me to a lifelong passion for catching, studying, and even breeding these incredible reptiles.

My passion for snakes is what makes me excel at my job. I have tremendous respect for the Burmese python, but I also have immense respect for Florida’s delicate ecosystems. The reality is clear — these invasive predators must be removed, as there is no alternative. I capture them and ensure they are euthanized in the most humane way possible. It’s not their fault they are here, but protecting our native wildlife means making the tough but necessary choice.

One of my most memorable outdoor adventures happened one night when I was alone in my truck. I spotted a small part of a python pattern in the grass at the tree line. I jumped out and followed the pattern a couple of feet up to its head — the biggest I had ever seen. The rest of its body was hidden, but I knew it was a monster. I only had a small 6-by-6-inch black drawstring bag. (In the veterinary and pet world, we would cover an animal’s head or eyes to calm it down.) I looked at the bag and looked at the snake… questioned my sanity… and jumped on it!

Somehow, I managed to slip the bag over its head—and just like that, the battle was over. It stopped fighting and was completely subdued. Turns out, it was 17’3” long and 110 lbs. (GoPro video here; warning, contains profanities.) That was an unforgettable catch!

“My office is the Everglades. I get to work in one of the most diverse and beautiful places on earth.”

There’s nowhere I’d rather be than hunting invasive pythons right here in South Florida. There is no greater thrill for me than capturing massive pythons. They’re incredibly difficult to find, which makes the moment of discovery an adrenaline rush — and the catch even more exhilarating. While my journey to Florida began with the excitement of hunting these giants, I quickly came to understand the devastating impact they’ve had on the ecosystem. In some areas of the Everglades, pythons have wiped out a full 98 percent of the mammal population (including deer, raccoons, and opossums), leaving a once thriving habitat in crisis.

My office is the Everglades. I get to work in one of the most diverse and beautiful places on earth, catching the giant constrictors and helping to save our precious everglades in a life that I didn’t know existed, until I did. I couldn’t do that if people didn’t care about conservation. So conservation not only benefits our wild places, but also makes my work possible.

“In some areas of the Everglades, pythons have wiped out a full 98 percent of the mammal population.”

Burmese pythons are a major conservation challenge. They thrive in an environment that is 97 percent inaccessible to humans. You can’t simply walk into the swamp and expect to find them. Instead, we rely on spotting them as they cross roads and levees. Adding to the difficulty, these snakes remain motionless for nearly 85 percent of their lives. Their intricate patterns offer a perfect camouflage in this environment. Every one of these factors makes finding them an incredible challenge.

In Florida, we have over 500 non-native plants and animals, with pythons being the most destructive wildlife species. If we don’t find a solution, our native mammals could face extinction. Losing even one native species from the ecosystem sets off a domino effect, leading to catastrophic changes down the line.

This has implications for the next generation of hunters and outdoor users. If invasive species go unchecked, native wildlife will vanish, leaving Florida overrun by non-native creatures that don’t belong. The ecosystem will be forever altered, and Florida will no longer be the place it was meant to be.

Images courtesy Amy Siewe

by: Ryan Lockwood

posted in: In the Arena

February 13, 2025

In the Arena: Franklin Adams

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.

Capt. Franklin Adams

Hometown: Born in Miami, Florida
Occupation: Retired; former occupations include warden-naturalist for the National Audubon Society, Florida Master Naturalist, land surveyor (with projects in Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and the Florida Keys), surveyor/mapper for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Merchant Marine officer, and eco-tour operator/ fishing guide with a USCG 100-ton Master’s license
Conservation credentials: As a true Gladesman, conservationist, and historian, Adams has spent more than six decades championing Everglades restoration efforts while working for and with conservation nonprofits, government agencies, and private businesses, as well as chartering inshore fishing adventures. He’s also the former chair of the Florida Wildlife Federation and a 31-year board member, as well as past president of the Florida Division of the Izaak Walton League of America and Collier County chairman of the Friends of the Everglades.

While thousands of people and scores of organizations are involved in the conservation of America’s Everglades, few, if any, have the breadth and depth of experience and understanding as Capt. Franklin Adams. This is a man who was fortunate to experience South Florida in a relatively unspoiled, natural condition, and was on the front lines of early protection efforts. Who else was personally mentored by Marjory Stoneman Douglas – the author, women’s suffrage advocate, and conservationist credited with launching the Everglades conservation movement – and once hunted waterfowl in the wetlands that later became Everglades National Park? Adams has been officially recognized as a “Guardian of the Everglades,” largely for his advocacy for Big Cypress National Preserve and successful effort to help protect what became the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, now the largest state park in Florida and a refuge for Florida panthers and the rare Everglades mink, as well as the largest number of rare native orchids and bromeliads in North America.

Here is his story.

Franklin and friends at a 1962 Everglades outing. Credit: Franklin Adams

I was introduced at a young age to fishing, hunting, and enjoyment of the great outdoors by my father, G.B. Adams. I actually accompanied my dad duck hunting on West Lake prior to it becoming part of Everglades National Park in 1947. I was taught gun safety and to respect wildlife and wild places.

One of my most memorable outdoor experiences was a couple years before that when I was taken to the woods by my daddy for my seventh birthday. (We referred to the Everglades and Big Cypress as “going to the woods.”) We had to walk into the campsite at night as he and his friends had gotten off work late. It was so new and exciting for a young boy that I have never forgotten that first family experience. A cold front was approaching as we came into deer camp, so dad had me collect some “boot jacks” off a cabbage palm tree in the upland hammock and he used them to start a lightered pine fire.

“I began to see objects in the smoke and mist – deer, Indian chickees, and turkey gobblers floated through my imagination that night as I went into a deep sleep.“

Dad had brought venison chili, which was heated up on the fire grid and biscuits were baked in a Dutch oven. Smelled good, and tasted even better. After supper dad and his friends sat around the fire and sipped some “brown swamp water” and told stories of past trips and experiences. I leaned up against an old live oak and listened as the cold front moved in and enjoyed the odor of the burning, smoking pine. As the front moved in, a ground fog began to mist slowly through the hardwood hammock and I was fighting to stay awake. I began to see objects in the smoke and mist – deer, Indian chickees (traditional shelters used by the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes), and turkey gobblers floated through my imagination that night as I went into a deep sleep. In the morning, I awoke to the smell of lighter knot coffee, pancakes, and sausage on the fire. That was my first trip to the Everglades’ Big Cypress region and I was captured by that wonderful experience. I have been going back ever since. So, add 80 more years to that 7-year-old’s birthday. Thanks, Dad.

Franklin helming his vessel, Albatross II. Credit: Rick Farren

If I could hunt or fish anywhere, where would it be, and why? That’s a difficult one. There are so many places known for their fishing and hunting and I have never been to them. I want to take my grandson, Michael, with me, so probably the Ten Thousand Islands of the southwest Florida area. Up Lostmans River, Broad River, or Shark River to fish for snook. Why, it’s an area I know and love and not too distant from home.

Franklin in his TRCP hat, as a longtime supporter of the organization. Credit: Ryan Lockwood

Conservation absolutely enhances my outdoor life. This is how my career came about. As I accompanied my father in his surveying business around South Florida, I witnessed the destruction and continual loss of wetlands and woods that we had enjoyed. I began to become concerned and to inquire as to causes for the loss of these treasured natural areas. Why was it necessary to destroy that hardwood hammock, that prairie, or fill in that duck hunting lake? Mom and Dad began to encourage my conservation concerns and provided me with nature books, stressing the importance of outdoor ethics and the value of natural areas if left alone and protected.

“If we are to enjoy the outdoors, no matter what our interests are, then we have an obligation to defend and speak out on behalf of nature and wildlife.“

The more I learned, the more I became frustrated, and somewhat angry. When I was in high school, I discovered Marjory Stoneman Douglas’s book, The Everglades: River of Grass, published in 1947. From her book I learned so much, including that one could speak out in defense of natural areas. Later she would become a mentor and a family friend. In 1970, she established Friends of the Everglades to fight the Big Cypress jetport project and asked me to be the Collier County chairman. As I added on some age and experience, I headed up several conservation organizations as an unpaid volunteer over the years, including serving as chair of the Florida Wildlife Federation and a board member for 31 years.

A Florida panther captured on a trail cam on Franklin’s property, February 2025. Credit: Franklin Adams

If we are to enjoy the outdoors, no matter what our interests are, then we have an obligation to defend and speak out on behalf of nature and wildlife. If you are not already doing so, start by becoming a member and supporter of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

The biggest outdoor challenge we face in Florida, and there are many, is protecting wetlands and the water quality that they provide, cost-free if we protect them. We continue to lose critical habitat to unwise development and, yes, greed, and not respecting nature.

Franklin Adams Guardian portrait. Artwork courtesy Nicholas Petrucci.

It is vitally important to mentor and educate your children, grandchildren, and families as to the importance of conservation; why it is imperative for them to be involved in learning about and becoming knowledgeable defenders of the outdoors they enjoy and love. Otherwise, we will continue to lose habitat. Nature and the outdoors not only are important to wildlife, but they are also vitally important to us as an escape from stress, and provide restorative experiences that we can share with family and friends for a lifetime of memories.

Banner image: Franklin at a Fakahatchee Strand Preserve campfire talk, credit Dino Barone