Personal pathways to conservation from the PF & QF team
By Ryan Sparks, Quail Forever Journal editor
Editor's note: Here at PF & QF we have a wide array of talented individuals all across the country working hard every day to deliver our mission, each with unique backgrounds and skillsets. In our new blog series, “Why Conservation,” we feature some of the incredible employees that make up the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever family. Each of these blogs will highlight background information on the employee, the important work they do for the organization and answer the important question of — Why Conservation?
I grew up on my family’s farm in southeast Nebraska near the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers. My dad and both grandfathers were passionate quail and pheasant hunters, so my introduction to hunting came naturally.
My first hunting memories are of walking fencerows for quail when I was just old enough to stumble in front of my dad’s pointers and flush coveys of bobwhites. My grandfather on my mom’s side, “Papa,” was also an obsessive duck hunter and fisherman so I grew up going on fishing trips with him for catfish, crappie, and bluegill.
Those initial outdoor experiences formed my love for nature as well as hunting and fishing. I later taught myself about bowhunting, flyfishing, waterfowl, turkeys, trapping, foraging, and several other outdoor pursuits.
In college, I took classes that sounded interesting and came out with a double major in history and English. After graduating, I thought I wanted to be a history professor, and applied to study environmental history at Montana State University. I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship and a graduate teaching position in one of the strongest environmental history programs in the country.
Living in Montana opened my eyes to public land, big rivers, and wild country. It also made me realize I didn’t want to pursue a career in academia.
My academic advisor, Michael Reidy, gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received. He told me that no matter what I did after graduate school, I should keep writing. And I did.
For the next decade I built a career as a full-time freelance writer and photographer, focusing on hunting, fishing, wild food, and conservation.
Through my work I’ve had the opportunity to go on some incredible adventures. I’ve traveled the world with a notepad, camera, and either a shotgun or a fly rod (and sometimes both) from Alaska to the Amazon.
Hunting, fishing, eating wild game, and conservation are all integral parts of my life. They aren’t hobbies or a lifestyle – they are who I am.
Working as the editor of Quail Forever Journal is a dream job for me. It combines what I am good at with my greatest passions in life and is fulfilling work.
I think about conservation a lot, and I’ve realized conservation is multifaceted. I find doing habitat work on our family farm as fulfilling as a successful hunt. On a larger level, if I can help advance the conservation mission of Quail Forever by informing and inspiring other hunters and conservationists, I find that extremely rewarding as well.
Simply put, conservation is taking care of the things we love. I love to hear a turkey gobble in the spring. I love to see a covey of quail explode from a thicket. I love to watch whitetails rut in November. I love to catch a stringer of crappie and fry them up with my family.
I know my parents and grandparents loved these things before me and I’m doing my best to make sure my future children will have a chance to love them as well. If we want these things to last, we need to be involved in conservation. Conservation is ultimately about caring for the things we cherish—those vibrant moments that make us feel alive and deeply connected to the world and Creation.
Without a cultural value of nature, there won’t be a voice to speak for it. Hunting and fishing are the greatest ways I know for someone to learn about themselves and their place in nature. They are a key component to our humanity. It is why we feel so alive when we hunt and fish.
That exuberant feeling of life is what inspires me as a conservationist. Hunting and fishing have taught me about my place in the world, and they inspire a sense of responsibility and a deep connection to the land and my community.
Working in conservation isn’t just about preserving landscapes; it’s about nurturing the cultural and ecological tapestry that defines who we are and what we value. Without a collective effort to protect these treasures, we risk losing the profound essence of what makes us human.