The Circle of Chiefs
The unflinching voices of conservation
At the Outdoor Writers Association of America’s1 2025 conference in Chattanooga Tennessee, I was honored to receive the Circle of Chiefs award and be inducted into the Circle of Chiefs. My colleague and good friend Paul Hansen nominated me. Hansen was executive director of the Izaak Walton League of America when I worked there.
Here is the description on the award from the OWAA website.
The Circle of Chiefs Award was established in 1958 as OWAA’s top conservation award. Tenure and position in, or service to, OWAA is not criteria for this award. The award represents an affirmation of OWAA adherence to, and support of, the principles of conservation. In 1963 the Circle of Chiefs was designated as OWAA’s Conservation Council. As such, it is OWAA’s conservation conscience.
Though only OWAA members are eligible, the award is not presented by OWAA but by members of the current Circle of Chiefs.
My remarks were brief:
To say I’m honored feels inadequate.
I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.
My appreciation for the Chiefs knows no bounds.
I’m awestruck and starstruck at the same time.
The Chiefs are the pantheon of outdoor communicators and the unflinching voices of conservation.
Without conservation there is no outdoors, to write about, to photograph, or to enjoy.
To join their number is an honor beyond measure.
If we enjoy our natural resources, we have a duty to speak out in their defense
To be included in this circle is the pinnacle of my conservation aspirations.
I can’t thank you enough.
Reflecting
Now I’m home and have had a chance to reflect on this honor and why it’s so meaningful.
Midway in my career, I made a change. I left corporate America to take up the good work of conservation.
From my start at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, through my time at the Izaak Walton League, the Trust for Public Land, and now the Marine Fish Conservation Network, I have tried to be a voice for conservation in the halls of Congress, with the various administrations and in the press.
When OWAA’s board hired me to run the outfit, my mission shifted; I was now running a trade association for people who are the voice of the outdoors. My public advocacy for conservation may have been set aside—but my passion was not diminished.
I learned about an elite group of communicators, the Circle of Chiefs. The pantheon of outdoor communicators and the unflinching voices of conservation. Read the names and you will see what I mean.
Today, conservation needs our voice.
As Theodore Roosevelt said,
“Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."
As Edward R. Murrow said,
“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. Not from men who feared to write, to associate, to speak, and to defend the causes that were for the moment unpopular.”
And finally, as Tom McGuane succinctly put it,
“If the trout are lost, smash the state.”
Unflinching voices
As OWAA’s executive director I saw firsthand how the world of outdoor journalism was changing.
Outdoor beats were disappearing at the major papers
The click was the trick, putting a premium on jazzy headlines and hot takes
Legacy media slid toward capitulation—a journey that continues today
Social media, blogs and citizen journalism were becoming ubiquitous
As I said above, today the work of our guild is more important than ever—perhaps more so.
We need to amplify our own work and the work of other unflinching voices of conservation. We must break through the clutter in the news space and bring our voice of the outdoors and the values of conservation, to those who want and need to hear it.
More about that in the future.
This is wonderful, and well deserved. Congratulations Tom!
Congrats Tom