Rafting the Alsek with Mandela van Eeden

What does it mean to be a conservation advocate? It's different for every person. This week, Artemis ambassador Anne Jolliff talks about what she's learned over the past year about how to best advocate for wild spaces. She shares her "why" and her "how," and more on how it's going. 00:20 Artemis 101 and advocacy 1:00 "Go Confident as an Advocate" program 3:00 Ladies and gentlemen... we are hearing from a mother of 5-year-old triplets 6:00 Why be a conservation advocate?  8:00 First thing: What's holding you back? 10:00 The first time you speak up for something you believe in 13:00 Writing an op-ed, testifying at a hearing, sharing what you know with others 15:00 Preconceptions about what it means to "be an advocate" 16:00 "I'm not here to be the magic bullet that changes everyone's minds and pivots this whole discussion, as much as I would like it to... but I am going to show up." 21:00 When was the last time you changed your mind?  23:00 Wear fancy dresses in the dirt, ya'll 28:00 Start by watching... hearings, the political process, everything. Follow the groups that fit your beliefs. Engage. Reach out. Talk to people. 33:00 Don't be afraid to fail... failure is integral to how you learn this kind of thing 37:00 Ethos, logos, pathos 39:00 Bear! Right there! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Tingey is one of the brains behind a small packrafting company called Alpacka Raft. It started as a basement type of operation, fueled by adventures in the Far North, including time spent in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sarah tells us about her experiences on that incomparable landscape, plus what it's like to travel there with a small child (on a 10-day packrafting trip, of course). Taking kids into the backcountry isn't all puppies and unicorns, but it can be hugely rewarding when we do make the effort. 1:00 Engage the BLM on Arctic Conservation Issues at www.nwf.org/protectthearctic 4:00 Career life at a small outdoor products company like Alpacka Rafts (you're a jill of all trades) 6:30 Packrafts - they started as a means for water travel in the deep backcountry, like -- say -- a 700-mile trip across Alaska's Brooks Range 9:00 From a basement sewing machine operation to a company that employs 45 people 10:00 "Design by Sheri" - a staple of the Warren Miller ski days, also what would be the skill base for a packraft company 14:00 Sheep hunting; New Mexico elk hunting 21:00 Visiting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and suddenly feeling like all those discussions about oil development weren't very abstract anymore 25:00 Check out a map of where ANWR is 26:00 Efforts to conserve ANWR predate Alaska's statehood 28:00 Would you rather visit a place called a 'petroleum reserve' or a 'wildlife refuge'? 30:00 Taking a BABY rafting on a 10-day trip in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (flash floods, weather delays, hustle hustle hustle) 33:00 Risk judgement when conditions change (leave the stress out of it) 36:00 Carrying a baby in the backcountry; hunting with a baby (or not) 42:00 Growing up in a hunting family, but not ever going along 43:00 Sharing the burden of all the extra energy that goes along with taking a kid outside 47:00 Taking kids into the wild isn't all unicorns and ponies 51:00 Catch the Emily Ledergerber episode on Hunting While Pregnant 53:00 An 185-mile overland trip over several drainages in Alaska, and getting to see a pristine salmon run 56:00 "The 'potted plant' phase [of babyhood]... soak it up." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traditional bowhunter Beka Garris joins Artemis this week to talk about what it's like bowhunting with a baby. Yes... literally WITH a small child. Beka tells us about harvesting two deer (and a squirrel) alongside her daughter. She also talks about traditional bowhunting, the skills involved, and how your experience in the outdoors changes when you have a little one in tow.  2:00 Tiny human podcast crashers... #momlife 3:00 The switch from bowhunting to traditional bowhunting... the trad bow range is more like <20 yards 5:00 "If anyone wants to put the work in, they CAN do it... it's just a lot more work than a compound bow." 6:00 Hunting with small children (yes... like, hunting with them literally on your back) 8:00 Bug repellent (AND... the Victoria's Secret scent that some anglers swear by (BeBe Episode) 10:00 A Thermacell for bugs 11:00 Shooting squirrels with a trad bow... "it's hard." (But also fun.)  12:00 Hunting rabbits with a trad bow AND a beagle -- you come to rely on the intuition of your shot. Here's an exercise: Throw a shoe box into the air and try to shoot it 15:00 Bow skills: Back tension and proper release (aaaand... release words!) 17:00 Fitting a trad bow & arrow selection 20:00 Bowfishing 23:00 Hunting outdoors with littles: Take it slow, make it short, just ease into it 26:00 The 'death' part of hunting for kids 30:00 Children playing with bows 35:00 "Are you willing to give up the idea of definitely filling your tags to take your kid?" 37:00 Every kid is different in how they handle the outdoors 39:00 "When deer-hunting, you can't really worry too much about being scent-free if you have a kid in diapers." 42:00 Harvesting, dressing, and dragging a deer back to the Jeep as your infant snoozes 45:00 Deer-sized cargo carriers on a vehicle 50:00 HERUpland podcast, BirdDog Babe podcast 52:00 Find Beka on Instagram (@bekagarris) and Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the program, a reunion! Mandela van Eeden is leaving Artemis for an epic road trip throughout Africa, where she plans to put her storytelling skills to work on behalf of endangered elephants and rhinoceros. Marcia drops in to talk about what she's been up to ever since leaving Artemis a year ago. We discuss conservation work, burnout, and the powerful feelings of success in what can feel like an up-and-down career.  5:00 Bear-fat French fries, applesauce up the wazoo, and game as a substitute for lamb in recipes 8:00 Straddling life between South Africa and Montana 12:00 Cultivating a life in radio... 18 years strong (then transitioning to video) 14:00 'The Easter rhino'... also an egg-layer? 15:00 Conservation as a family legacy/identity 19:00 "If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've obviously never spent the night with a mosquito." 22:00 Career transitions and the why of how we find our paths (with a side dish of burnout) 28:00 Supporting public educators with counseling 32:00 When your hometown feels a little more cozy in the outdoors than it used to 35:00 Inadvertent geotracking of your wildlife photos  38:00 Lessons learned from a career at NWF - lead-free ammo, wildlife crossings, CWD, policy change, salmon recovery, and more 42:00 Advocating for the Grand Canyon on Capitol Hill 52:00 Staying involved in advocacy in Montana and abroad 53:00 Game Rangers International; Xplorer Maps 55:00 The Trail Less Traveled podcast and radio show 56:00 Interacting with children at home and abroad 57:00 Storytelling as a conservation tactic 1:06 It's not goodbye... it's 'see you downstream' 1:09 "This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. --George Bernard Shaw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're revisiting one of our favorite episodes on a timely subject matter: Rifles - they seem so simple, right? You put the bullet in. You pull the trigger. You (hopefully) kill the animal. But there's a lot of nuance in how a rifle performs, and it can often feel overwhelming to new hunters. This week we're talking to two experts from the firearms industry: Rachel Schmidt, formerly of Kimber Manufacturing, and Neal Emery of Hornady.  3:00 - Mushrooms in lasagna? OR CAPERS?! 5:30 - Piscivorous: You were probably missing this from your vocabulary. 7:00 - On growing up in a hunting family, "I never knew there wasn't hunting." 14:00 - Rifle calibers... what do those numbers mean?  15:00 - First off, you don't need to be a rifle caliber/reloading expert to have enough working knowledge to go hunting. So don't sweat it. Start with knowing what you want to hunt. 18:00 - Calibers are confusing. It's like learning the English language... there are some general rules, but lots (LOTS) of exceptions. 19:00 - Hornady website, go to "Rifles" and "Ammunition" for a basic caliber chart 21:00 - Start with the basics: How does your rifle work? What does the firing pin do? How does the safety stop it from firing? Check out this great animation from hunter-ed.com. 27:00 - Caliber is just a size. The same caliber bullets can come in different weights, which are called grains (i.e. 220 grain versus 110 grain) 32:30 - Rifle fit and recoil. Heavier guns generally absorb recoil better (the downside: you have to carry them places). 35:00 - Muzzle brakes screw onto the tip of your barrel, and they dissipate the pressure of the air as the bullet exits the barrel, lessening recoil 37:00 - Recoil pads can go on the back of the gun to soften the recoil impact on your shoulder 37:15 - And different ammunition has different recoil... minimizing the weight of the bullet can reduce recoil some. And different gunpowder has different burning properties that can affect how a bullet feels leaving the barrel. In short: Lower recoil loads exist. 39:30 - Does noise make recoil feel worse? Wear ear protection! 44:00 - Bullet construction: This controls how fast (and when) a bullet opens up...aka mushrooming. 50:00 - How well a rifle shoots certain ammo is subjective. The only way to know what works best for your gun is to try a bunch of different bullets. 1:00:00 - Checklist for choosing a rifle: Game you're hunting, stock fit against your body, weight of the rifle, budget. 1:04:00 - Length of pull: distance between the trigger to the butt of the gun 1:06:00 - Hornady cheek pieces 1:12:00 - Rifle myth busters: "A good cartridge for women and kids is the .243" 1:24:00 - Marcia's Moroccan Fish Tagine with halibut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long-time Artemis host and friend of the podcast Ashley Chance returns this week to talk about upland birds. As the new hunting heritage program manager at Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Ashley is working to conserve upland bird habitat and recruit and retain new hunters. She introduces us to a new film series called How to Hunt Upland Birds, and also tells us about the Hunter Mentor pledge, which has some sweet prizes attached to it this year. (Pssst... want more bird stuff? Check out past episodes with the grouse lady, Ashley Peters, and an episode on bobwhite quail with Brittney Viers.) 2:00 Wingshooting in wild weather - an Artemis event goes on undeterred 6:00 New town, new job, new childcare... but same passions 8:00 Deerhide in the freezer = endless possibilities 10:00 Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever - working to put more birds on the ground through habitat conservation 11:00 Minority Outdoor Alliance 14:00 Getting into upland bird hunting behind a dog named Rocky in high school 17:00 Road trip adventures with a bird dog buddy (in this case, a pudelpointer nicknamed Leo) 20:00 Registered dog names that make a statement 23:00 The thrill of finding quail in unlikely places 25:00 Steep decline in quail habitat with the rise of mechanization in agriculture 30:00 Development and suburban sprawl is a huge threat to upland bird habitat 32:00 How to Hunt Upland Birds course, like 'upland bird hunting for Netflix,' filmed and produced by Modern Carnivore 39:00 The video series portrays a variety of hunters, hunting cultures, and birds 41:00 Hunting with babies and kids - do what works for you 44:00 "Approaching hunting in the way that felt right for me was a revelation that's been valuable moving forward." 47:00 From the Artemis archives on hunting while pregnant and/or with kids: Motherhood and Traditional Bow Hunting with Beka Garris; Melody Haege on Traditional Bow Hunting with Kids; and Hunting While Pregnant with Emily Ledergerber and Kyla West 49:00 Access is a big barrier for new hunters (or new-to-a-place hunters), especially in states with lots of private land 51:00 "What if there was a lease that was all women? That would be cool" - introducing the private hunting lease in Tennessee that Ashley worked on and secured (with A LOT of sheer tenacity and letter-writing) 55:00 Food plots vs. baiting 59:00 Consider taking the Hunter Mentor Pledge at Pheasants Forever - take a new hunter in the field, snap a pic, and be entered to win a guided upland bird hunt for two Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alisa Davis took her partner's military career as a chance to fly-fish the waters of several states, including Hawaii, Colorado and North Carolina, while also pursuing advanced education in science. Alisa is an avid outdoors educator and fly-fishing instructor. In her words, "The more we teach fly-fishing, the more people are going to get into fly-fishing... which is always good for conservation." Alisa also a Type I diabetic, and in the second half of the program she shares how she naviates her outdoor pursuits while managing chronic illness. 2:00 Squirrel cacciatore and other adventures in eating!  6:00 Harvesting rainbows in cutthroat country -- smoke them, eat them, and if not... they're hearty fare at a local raptor center 8:00 Military life, moving across the country, cramming in an education... and getting hooked on fly-fishing 13:00 Southeastern states = fly-fishing powerhouse 16:00 Fly-fishing - not as gear-intensive as elitist as outsiders sometimes think 18:00 Laying off on fishing trout if water temperatures get high 21:00 Little fish with big fight: bass and panfish are hard to beat 25:00 The Joan Wulff method of fly-casting 26:00 "The more we teach fly-fishing, the more people are going to get into fly-fishing... which is always good for conservation." 27:00 North Carolina's John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center 30:00 Getting into conservation careers; Volunteering is a great way to start 34:00 Volunteers are the engine of conservation work 36:00 Hawaii: the devastating fire and the adventures that preceded it 45:00 Managing diabetes (or any chronic illness) in the field... dealing with fatigue, preparing for emergencies, cultivating grit 48:00 Knowing your body, developing a routine, staying hydrated 56:00 Find Alisa on Instagram @starryeyedandoutdoorsy 1:02:00 Sharing nature with kids and families... #warmfuzzyfeelings 1:08:00 The joys of preparing for hunting season Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Artemis program manager Carlee Koutnik tells us about her summer trip aboard a fishing boat called the Warthog in Bristol Bay. The sockeye fishery is a frenzy of activity, and Carlee got to work aboard a 32-foot fishing boat schlepping salmon. We get an inside look at the fishery, the regulations that keep it viable, and the business of commercial fishing. Plus... how do you go make a poo on a small fishing boat? Stay tuned. 4:00 Storytelling = mankind's earliest form of entertainment 6:00 Offering to help on an Alaskan salmon boat solely for the experience, getting the 'yes' from a fishing captain, and then... "Planning for Alaska is a different type of planning." 10:00 How the sockeye fishery works 12:00 Xtratuf boots in the habitat they were designed for 15:00 Fisheries regulation in Alaska 20:00 When fishing is on, it gets hectic -- lots of boats in the water are vying for a limited quarry 21:00 Gillnet fishing 25:00 "Picking, bleeding, chilling and floating" 32:00 From Bristol Bay to your dinner table 35:00 Finding a $20 gallon of ice cream at sea... #bliss 40:00 Preparing salmon  44:00 The life cycle of salmon -- it's a pretty amazing feat of biology  50:00 Managing fear in high-consequence environments; Leaning into discomfort/risk 54:00 "Be bold, stay curious, and get outside"... words to live by 57:00 "The Brilliant Abyss" by Helen Scales 1:02 Biden creates new national monument to protect Grand Canyon 1:04 So... how DO you poop on a 32-foot fishing boat? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mandela van Eeden is an outdoors communicator, an educator, a yoga instructor, a podcast host, and... a raft guide. She's recently back from an expedition on the Alsek River in the Yukon and Alaska. On this episode, we discuss how wild places rejuvenate us and give us perspective -- and they can even inspire us to act on behalf of the marvelous places we get to visit. Plus: Wool socks, glacial lakes, and riverboarding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is Artemis? This week we're revisiting one of our earliest episodes, featuring two of the brilliant minds who spearheaded the effort to make a space for sportswomen and conservationists. We'll hear from Maggie Heumann and Jess Johnson about how Artemis got going and why this work matters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices