Connecting with Conservation

About Connecting with Conservation

Do you enjoy angling, boating, hunting, recreational shooting or just getting outdoors and into the backcountry? Connecting with Conservation is the only podcast that delves into the business of conservation. We talk with state wildlife agency and industry experts about how conservation is achieved in the United States along with the tremendous impacts to local economies that driven by the recreational user. Join our hosts as they explore this often unknown or misunderstood aspect of how fish and wildlife conservation works in the U.S.

Publisher

jgassett

Category

business · leisure · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Oct 2024

Latest episode

14 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

88 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Jul 2026

   Season 3: Episode 22: Youth Engagement and R3 Programs with Ducks Unlimited

   In this episode of Connecting with Conservation, hosts Jon Gassett and Jim Curcuruto welcome Mark Horobetz, Manager of National R3 Programs for Ducks Unlimited. Mark traces the origins of DU's youth engagement strategy from the moment research revealed a critical gap between the Greenwing program (ages 11 and under) and the collegiate chapter program, with high school-age youth falling through the cracks entirely. Since joining DU in 2013 as its first dedicated youth hire, Mark has helped grow a national infrastructure that now includes roughly 130 collegiate chapters, the Varsity high school program, 61 annual scholarships totaling $45,000, a staff of seven regional youth engagement coordinators, and an organizational culture that is seeing a significant increase in female volunteer leadership. Mark walks the hosts through two standout initiatives. The TRAC program (Team Resource Assistance Program) leverages DU's corporate buying power to help youth shooting sports teams run local fundraisers, netting an average of $7,000 per team with 100% of proceeds retained. Third Turn, DU's annual collegiate leadership summit in Memphis, brings together 350 students from more than 100 chapters for conservation education, business development, public policy training, and the peer-to-peer mentoring Mark credits as DU's most powerful R3 tool. The conversation also covers DU's "Conservation for a Continent" campaign, which surpassed its $3 billion goal by a full billion, and what that milestone means for wetlands and clean water across North America. For more information, please check us out at: Wildlife Management Institute — https://wildlifemanagement.institute Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation — https://outdoorstewards.org Ducks Unlimited — https://ducks.org #WildlifeManagementInstitute. #StewardsofConservation. #DucksUnlimited. #DuckHunting. #WaterfowlHunting. #WaterfowlConservation. #WetlandConservation. #HunterRecruitment. #R3. #ShootingSports. #YouthHunting. #HuntingCommunity. #WildlifeConservation. #OutdoorEducation. #ConservationFunding. #HuntersAndAnglers. #WildlifePodcast. #ConservationPodcast. #Waterfowl. #PittmanRobertson. #OutdoorSports. #WetlandHabitat. #YoungHunters. #NextGenHunters. #DucksCommunity

2. 

   9 Jun 2026

   Season 3: Episode 21: Teaching Hunting Across America with Eric Morris

   What does it take to bring a new generation of hunters and anglers into the outdoors, especially from communities that have historically been shut out, left out, or simply never invited in? In Season 3, Episode 21 of Connecting with Conservation, co-hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation sit down with Eric Morris, founder of Black Wolf Hunting Club and Non-Typical Outdoorsmen, a Georgia-based hunter, Army veteran, and one of conservation's most candid and committed voices on diversity, recruitment, and retention in the outdoors. Eric retired from the Army as a Major in 2016 after three combat tours, two to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, and asked himself one question: what would he do for the rest of his life whether he got paid or not? The answer was teaching people to hunt. He has been doing it ever since, and his approach is as no-nonsense as his military background would suggest. The conversation covers the full arc of Eric's journey, from founding Black Wolf Hunting Club in 2010 to launching Non-Typical Outdoorsmen TV on the Pursuit Channel, growing that show to nearly 75,000 viewing households before cable's decline forced it into hiatus, and now delivering hunter education workshops, firearm safety classes for kids as young as five, and mentored hunts across the Southeast and beyond. Eric and Jon dig into one of the most important and underappreciated debates in the R3 space, whether to recruit kids or adults first, and Eric makes a compelling, experience-backed case that reaching parents first is the key to unlocking generational change. He also reflects candidly on the history that has kept many Black Americans out of the woods, the perception barriers that remain, and why he refuses to let those barriers be an excuse. This is not a polished, politically careful conversation. It is honest, direct, and sometimes uncomfortable in exactly the way that productive conversations about conservation's future need to be. Eric Morris has been walking this walk for nearly 16 years, and the ripple effects of his work, from Darrell Smith's Minority Outdoor Alliance to Ivan Ford teaching his eight-year-old son to hunt, are the proof. This episode is sponsored by OpticsPlanet. For more information, find us at: • Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.institute • Outdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.org • Non-Typical Outdoorsmen: https://www.facebook.com/EricN.T.OMorris • Optics Planet: https://www.opticsplanet.com #wildlife #hunting #huntereducation #r3 #huntingcommunity #wildlifeconservation #publiclands #diversityoutdoors #outdoorheritage #newhunters #huntingculture #veteransoutdoors #wildlifemanagement #wildlifemanagementinstitute #outdoorstewards #connectingwithconservation

3. 

   4 Jun 2026

   Season 3: Episode 20: Managing Wildlife Across Two Thirds of a Continent

   If you've ever wondered what it takes to manage wildlife and fish across two thirds of a continent, this episode has your answer. In Season 3, Episode 20 of Connecting with Conservation, co-hosts Jon Gassett of the Wildlife Management Institute and Jim Curcuruto of the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation sit down with Zach Lowe, Executive Director of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA). WAFWA represents 23 states, provinces, and territories stretching from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic, encompassing more than 1,500 species and roughly 18,000 fish and wildlife employees. Zach brings a unique perspective to the conversation, having started his career as a prairie habitat specialist and Farm Bill extension biologist before spending 13 years at the McGraw Foundation leading the Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow program, and ultimately landing in the executive director's chair at WAFWA five years ago. The conversation covers the full sweep of what makes western wildlife management genuinely different from the rest of the country, from the scale of federal land ownership and the politics of multi-jurisdictional management to the quirks of shed hunting regulations and the lottery-level odds of pulling a float permit for Hells Canyon. Zach and Jon dig into how harsh western winters drive boom-and-bust cycles in pronghorn, mule deer, and elk populations, why tag quotas are a biological necessity and not a punishment for non-residents, and how WAFWA's big game migration and connectivity initiative is working at a biome scale that most conservation organizations can't match. On the fisheries side, Zach walks through three of WAFWA's fish habitat partnerships, including the Western Native Trout Challenge, the Desert Fish Habitat Partnership, and the newly expanding Great Plains Fish Habitat Partnership, and introduces one of the most innovative fisheries tools in the conservation toolbox: the Trojan Male Fish program, which uses genetically conditioned hatchery fish to crowd out invasive brook trout and, potentially, carp from western watersheds. Whether you're a hunter chasing elk tags in Wyoming, an angler working to check off native cutthroat subspecies, or simply someone who wants to understand how the vast, complicated, and spectacular American West is managed for wildlife, this is a conversation worth your time. WAFWA may not be a household name, but the work it does shapes hunting seasons, fish populations, and habitat conservation across the largest wildlife management jurisdiction on the continent. To learn more, find us at: Wildlife Management Institute: https://wildlifemanagement.institute Outdoor Stewards of Conservation: https://stewardsofconservation.org Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies: https://wafwa.org #wildlife #wildlifeconservation #wildlifemanagement #fishing #flyfishing #hunting #westernwildlife #publiclands #habitatconservation #nativetrout #biggame #muledeer #elkhunting #pronghorn #fishandwildlife #wildlifemanagementinstitute #outdoorstewards #connectingwithconservation

Who has been a guest on Connecting with Conservation

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Chuck R
• Conservation community leaders
• Dustin Wallace
• Scott Volquartsen
• Seth Swerczek

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

70,861

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 41 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

48

Social presence

0

YouTube

85

Engagement

0

Contact Connecting with Conservation

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.