The Outdoor Writers Association of America [1] is a group of communications professionals dedicated to sharing the outdoor experience with readers and viewers across the country. This year's annual conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan was a great opportunity for us at Campaign for America's Wilderness—a supporting member since 2003—to connect with old and new friends and to share stories about the wilderness areas we love.
Campaign staffers Lindsay and Brian took the opportunity to share information about the newly protected wild places contained in the omnibus public lands bill that President Obama signed into law this spring, and about the 45th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act this September. A few lucky OWAA members went home with a copy of Doug Scott's great new book: Our Wilderness, America's Common Ground [2]. Even more took home the Campaign's WILD stickers. Check out our Facebook page [3] for information about how you can get a sticker of your own.
The highlight of the weekend was the "Breakout Day" at nearby Riverside Park where, amid a virtual snow shower of cottonwood seeds, we visited with OWAA members and had a great time quizzing the more adventurous among them about the newly designated wilderness areas.
Our team met freelance writers and photographers from throughout the country and caught up with old friends like Montana writer/photographer Jack Ballard, who last year wrote about a wilderness hunt in Peterson's Hunting, John McCoy, who covers the outdoors beat for West Virginia's Charleston Gazette, and outdoor writer Mark Taylor from the Roanoke Times. New friends included outdoor adventurer and Green RV enthusiast Brian Brawdy, who mentioned the Campaign in his blog, Buried Logic [4], and whose RV is now sporting a brand new WILD sticker.
The OWAA does an exemplary job supporting the men and women who write about the outdoors, and has created a great environment in which to discuss how best to share news about the many ways people enjoy and experience the outdoors and spread the word about the importance of conserving our nation's wild lands. Campaign for America's Wilderness is proud to support the many hunters, anglers and other outdoors men and women who also enjoy the solitude of the wilderness experience, and who share our goal of protecting wild lands for future generations.