Outdoor Writers Association of America

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Outdoor Writers Association of America

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Founded in 1927, OWAA is a professional association of 600 outdoor communicators and 100 corporations

11/02/2026

⛺We're starting your week off strong with a post!

OWAA member Edgar E. Castillo (Hunt Birdz) got spooky right in time for Halloween with his new story "The Demon Grouse," which explores the creepy tale of an early 1900's hunting trip gone awry for Field Ethos Journal.

On the other hand, Christine Peterson pens a story for High Country News that's based firmly in the present, exploring cases of AI leading people into dangerous situations in the backcountry.

And, believe it or not, sometimes our members are featured in stories, not just the one's writing them! Pete Brookes was featured in the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's "Man in the Arena" series, which "highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation."

👹Read Edgar's story: https://fieldethos.com/the-demon-grouse/
🤖Read Christine's story: https://www.hcn.org/articles/ai-gets-people-into-trouble-in-the-backcountry/
🎣Read the TECP's story on Pete: https://www.trcp.org/2026/10/28/in-the-arena-peter-brookes/

Want to be featured in these posts? Make sure to join the OWAA Members Only Facebook Group to share your work during our . You can also fill out our Google Form, "OWAA Wants Your Digital Content."

11/01/2026

Breaking news, extra extra, the 2027 Excellence in Craft (EIC) Awards are now open for submissions! 📰🥇

The prestigous contest awards the best outdoor media from the previous year across a range of categories and mediums, from angling podcasts to landscape photography to children's books.

Read the rules and find the submission page here: https://owaa.submittable.com/submit

Submittable

Photos by Paul Queneau

10/30/2026

One of the most valuable resources available to OWAA members just got a refresh: the Freelance Resource List📝

✍Updated by members Edgar Castillo and Kyle Wright, it will have approximately 450 total links. Edgar and Kyle tested each one to ensure they work. This includes over 400 outlets!

⛺These consist of various magazines, journals, publications, websites, and emagazines that cover a wide variety of topics in the outdoors including hunting, fishing, birding, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.

📸New additions include international publications, annual photography contests, how-to sections, book publishing information, and more!

Huge thanks to Edgar and Kyle for their incredible work! Take advantage of this incredible resource on our website: https://owaa.org/member-resources/

Hunt Birdz; Kyle Wright

10/29/2026

OWAA Historical Facts #21

The Keep America Beautiful campaign seemed at first to be a program worthy of OWAA’s support. Who could be wrong about trying to prevent litter?

Lady Bird Johnson endorsed KAB and Lassie was the campaign’s mascot. Then there was KAB’s “Crying Indian” public service announcement featuring Iron Eyes Cody that netted two Clio Awards.

OWAA signed on, too, and held a position on the KAB advisory panel. So did the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It all changed in 1974 when KAB came out against proposed legislation patterned after an Oregon law banning the use of non-returnable b**r and soda containers.
No surprise considering KAB was founded by the American Can Co. and Owens-Illinois Glass Co., and later joined by Coca-Cola and the Dixie Cup Co.

The obvious conflict of interest prompted OWAA to withdraw from the advisory board. The IWLA and NWF also stepped away from KAB.

The EPA went so far as to challenge the popular Crying Indian PSA campaign.
“What the ads neglect to point out is that KAB is owned and operated by the bottle and can industry,” the EPA said in a statement. “That’s why the ads never mention throwaway beverage containers – the biggest source of little in America.”

The EPA estimated that a national system like Oregon’s would save 350,000 tons of aluminum, 1.3 million tons of steel, 4 million tons of glass, and 39 barrels of oil per year.

After a KAB board member referred to the controversy as a “Commie plot” on the part of ecologists, the EPA also withdrew its support.

Although a national ban on non-returnable containers never passed, nine states have laws similar to Oregon – California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Vermont.

KAB hasn’t suffered, growing into a network of millions of volunteers, hundreds of local affiliates, and dozens of companies.

Leading up to OWAA's 100th anniversary, we'll be sharing 100 facts. Join us for the celebration!

10/28/2026

DMOs, want a smoother press trip? Here's what media appreciate:

📅Share an agenda, and maybe a packing list. Not everyone knows it rains every afternoon in June where you are!
📱 Start a group chat or email thread a week before. Share updates, answer questions once for everyone, track down the person running late to dinner, and swap photos.
📳 Provide contact info for the people and places on the itinerary. Writers often need follow-up details for their stories.
🎯Be upfront about what you need. Looking for journalists? Social creators? Both? Say so, and media can tell you whether they're the right fit.

Photo by Paul Queneau

10/27/2026

OWAA member Dennis Dauble recently released his book "Casting Into the Twilight." 📚🎣

Per Bookshop.org, "How, exactly, does a fisherman grow old gracefully? Dennis Dauble offers his insights in this humorous and poignant collection of essays from his fishing life. Follow in his footsteps while he hikes wilderness trails in search of one more last trout, manages his expectations for steelhead, and is attacked by a madcap donkey. Learn what donuts, memory tests, underpants dreams, and zingers have to do with fishing. Share his thoughts while he casts into the twilight to retrieve memories of long-time fishing pals and beloved family members.

As Dauble aptly points out, the golden years are not always golden... but really all you can do is go fishing!"

You can purchase this book, and other from Dennis, on OWAA's Bookshop page. Check it out here: https://bookshop.org/lists/owaa-member-s-works

Keokee :: media + marketing

10/26/2026

We've got a jam-packed today! 🌟

Our incredible president, Ashley Stimpson, had her incredible Longreads article "Swamp People" included in Mariner Books' 2026 edition of the "The Best American Science & Nature Writing." What an incredible achievement!

Member Jim Farber wrote about a section of the Great American Rail Trail in Ohio and Pennsyvania for the The Epoch Times. It came from a press-trip with Rails to Trails Conservancy he heard about through OWAA, no less!

David Zoby landed a piece in FishingBooker on Wisconsin's Driftless Area fly fishing, after attending a conference tour with Travel Wisconsin. Another conference connection!

Last but not least, Richy Harrod had a story on crappie fishing in the Snake River published in FUR-FISH-GAME Magazine.

If our members keep churning out such impresssive work at this rate our social media manager will struggle to keep up!

Want to be featured in these posts? Make sure to join the OWAA Members Only Facebook Group to share your work during our . You can also fill out our Google Form, "OWAA Wants Your Digital Content."

🏆Read Ashley's story: https://longreads.com/2025/10/02/to-love-a-swamp/
🚵Read Jim's story: https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/a-pennsylvania-ohio-ride-on-the-great-american-rail-trail-6105780?fbclid=IwY2xjawVEMbdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBGJyaWQRMXZzWWRBQVdBOUxmV0VDM3BzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81MTQ3NzE1NjkyMjgwNjEAAR5Kxe1BOVgfhSSCIxo7TPC_og0O0nhh_ls77hMDOwJqVJgJ6ejUlbBKnN99pQ_aem_Kh9mfqiizYl_qAUGJf56Og&welcomeuser=1
🎣Read David's story: https://fishingbooker.com/blog/driftless-area-fly-fishing/
📖Read Richy's in the latest print edition!

10/25/2026

OWAA's Executive Director Chez Chesak recently spoke spoke at the Idaho Conference on Recreation and Tourism in Moscow, Idaho 🌄

Alongside co-presentor Tony Harrison with Ski Idaho, Chez spoke with individuals in the hospitality industry on how to work with outdoor writers. From creating low-stress press trips to where to look for writers, Chez advocated for outdoor communicators like our members!

Thank you to Visit Idaho and Idaho Commerce for hosting!

Check out the conference: https://www.icort.org/

10/23/2026

More tips for getting the most out of a press trip:

🙏Be mindful. The DMO crafted this experience for you. Respect the time and effort behind it.
💬Communicate openly. Bad knee and a bike ride on the agenda? That's okay. Just tell them ahead of time.
❓ Ask what they need. Find out what the destination hopes to get from you as media.
💼Build a Muck Rack portfolio. It's an easy way for destinations to see your work.

10/22/2026

OWAA historical facts #20

One of journalism’s highest awards is the Pulitzer Prize, presented annually for excellence in various categories of reporting, photography, arts, and fiction.

OWAA has had a handful of Pulitzer winners in its ranks, but not all of them had to do with the outdoors, natural resources, or conservation.

In 1953, W. Horace Carter waged a successful editorial campaign against the Ku Klux Klan, earning the Tabor City (North Carolina) Tribune the first Pulitzer for a weekly newspaper. His work led to the conviction of more than 100 Klansmen and the imprisonment of the Klan’s grand dragon.

Carter was elected to OWAA’s Board of Directors in 1983 and again in 1987.

Tom Opre, OWAA’s president in 1980, was part of a Detroit Free Press reporting team that received the 1968 Pulitzer for its coverage of Detroit’s racial unrest the year before that resulted in 43 deaths, more than 1,000 injuries, more than 7,200 arrests and the destruction of hundreds of buildings.

Eric Freedman and a Detroit News colleague won in 1994 for disclosing flagrant spending abuse by Michigan’s House Fiscal Agency, and James T. Berryman of the Washington (D.C.) Evening Star in 1950 for an editorial cartoon of a committee hearing by Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling was a two-time winner as an editorial cartoonist for the Des Moines Register, receiving Pulitzers in 1924 and 1943. Darling went on to found the National Wildlife Federation and design the first Federal duck stamp.

Bob Marshall contributed to two public service Pulitzers won by the New Orleans Times-Picayune – 1997 for a comprehensive series on threats to the world’s fish supply and 2006 for coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

Dennis Anderson picked up an award in specialized reporting in 1989 for stories in the St. Paul Pioneer Press & Dispatch dealing with problems and abuses endangering waterfowl.

Leading up to OWAA's 100th anniversary, we'll be sharing 100 facts. Join us for the celebration!

Address

2814 Brooks Street , Box 442
Missoula, MT
59801

Telephone

+14067287434

Website

http://owaa.org/, http://owaa.org/ou

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