McKean-Newberg Podcast Series Talks To Former Wildlife Agency Director On Hunter Relevance

Traveling this long holiday weekend? You might give Andrew McKean and Randy Newberg’s latest podcast in their series on the state and future of wildlife management and governance in Washington and across America a listen.

The former Outdoor Life magazine editor and the host of Hunt Talk Radio bring in former Nevada Department of Wildlife director Tony Wasley for a sobering look at the on-the-ground realities of what it meant to head up the agency and “address rapidly changing demographics, lower participation, and (maintain) relevance in an urbanized populace.”

It’s a fascinating two-hour listen with Wasley, who is now with the Wildlife Management Institute, that touches on “what messages are proven winners and failures” with the general unaligned public, the importance of passing the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act in Congress for not just the greater good but to free up Pittman-Robertson dollars for more direct state agency hunting management, and actively defining where we want conservation to go in the coming years, integrating all of hunters accomplishments over the decades with a relevant message and base of the North American Model of Wildlife Management.

Previous podcasts in the long-in-the-planning series outlined the situation from a higher level and brought in former Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission member Kim Thorburn for what she saw in the Evergreen State, where things have perhaps been most active, as any number of blogs here have detailed.

All in all, this has been really informative and a must-listen series from two tempered, thoughtful and articulate hosts. Can’t wait for the fourth and planned final segment.