Television company and brought you today by your television provider. Mark kenyon was raised in michigan, introduced to the outdoors at a young age by his family he grew up hunting, fishing, hiking and camping. After college he worked for google and started the blog and podcast wired, his ratings of appearing outdoor life and field and stream, a member of the lifestyle can become he has hikes, rested, hunted, fished and bagged his way across public land in montana, wyoming, michigan, california, arizona to utah, nevada, colorado north dakota and elsewhere. Without further a do, mark kenyon. [applause] thank you, samantha. Thank you all for being here. This is terrific. Im thrilled to be here sharing with you my first book. I thought to myself it would be appropriate to tell a funny story that i thought was funny. This being my first book and my first book tour i got to thinking about my first public land adventure. The story quickly came to mind, it is perfect, funny, its subject is a winner. Before getting here, i should pass this through my common sense filter, a decent way to describe that, being my wife. Last night i sit down in bed and say i want to start with a story, very funny. What do you think . I walk her through it and the further i get through the story it was an experience i had in wyoming a number of years ago you could see her face start to contort more and more into this i dont know if it was concerned or discussed but i got done with the story and you could tell she was appalled and couldnt believe i was going to open tonights gathering with the story, something about the combination of grizzly bears in human urine that to her since abilities didnt seem appropriate to this refined gathering so i will save that story for after hours but i do appreciate, great to see this many people come out to talk about public lands, wild places, wild things. What i wanted to do was open with a little background as to who i am, my story, how i got to this point, how this book came to be and read a short passage from the book and what i would like the most time to be spent on his open dialogue, q and a about public lands, the book commit anything that gathered interest in talking about. I spent a lot of time sitting in an office by myself talking to a microphone. Rarely do i get people in front of me to talk back so i want to take advantage of that. We never went to mexico or florida. We didnt do those types of vacations. If we took a vacation it was going to be camping or seeing family, or more likely camping with family, along those lines. Thats where like it. We did not take an allinclusive trips. I think the Fanciest Hotel we ever stayed at seven or eight years old and i remember only fragments of this trip but we were in Washington State camping alongside the shore somewhere along Olympic National park. We were in that general realm and the beautiful campground right on the edge of the ocean or baker a member there were sea lions and dolphins just off the shore absolute beautiful place but but a storm came through, vicious storm came through, so much my dad and uncle tried to put up this big old canvas tent. They couldnt do it. The polls were collapsing. The walls were getting knocked over by the wind. The tent was completely filled with water and eventually reluctantly they decided are realized we werent going to be able to camp on this one. We packed up all our stuff. Everyone got in the van. We drove off to the nearest town, found all the hotel with any vacancy and proceeded to pack my dad, mom, myself and safety, my aunt and uncle in various cousins into one admittedly very fancy hotel room. That was the high point of our luxury vacation but thats where we liked it. Would like to be outside. We had a cabin up north that we frequently traveled to. As much as i enjoyed the things we did outside, i think they were relatively pedestrian. We did a lot of local things which are great, fun, but it had these aspirations, dreams of getting out and doing something a little more. I grew up reading books about people exploring across the western states of america or traveling through alaska are climbing to the top of mount everest. I harbored these hopes of someday doing something kind of like that. Bring up though, junior high, high school, mostly those types of places, those types of experiences, that lived in the page at somebody elses book that was on the screen. I just didnt feel like i had the skill set or the training to do Something Like that, until college. I took a class my senior year in college called wilderness preparedness 101. It was just as cool as sounds like it shouldve been. It was terrific. I had a great professor. He was like bear grills but with a better beard and less annoying. He was a field biologist who i travel all across the world studying big animals and wild places. He been in antarctica and all the way down to the amazon studded walls and grizzlies in alaska and montana. And so this was the first time i was face to face with someone had been to these places and done these things. So inspired. By the time we got done with this class i felt armed with the tools i needed to go into some of these things. I could read a topographic map. He taught us how to pack 70s work of gear. He taught us how to safely camp or hike in grizzly bear country. Simple things but things i wasnt learning in grand rapids. I graduated. Had that information in my back pocket and decided it was time to go and use it. So at 21 years old or so find i can visit my girlfriend we should head west. I had a career as mentioned though started out in california. We took three weeks and road trip across the country. Went to rocky Top National Park in colorado, yellowstone and grand Teton National parks in wyoming. I think if any of you have been to some of these places you will know what im talking about especially the first time you see Something Like that. It is lifechanging, it is paradigm shifting when you see whats available to you, whats out there, this big for anyone who appreciates the outdoors who appreciates openspace, quiet encounters of animals, if you appreciate any of those things, lunches are heading out into some of these bigger, wilder places and you see that scale and the depth of that, it hits you right in the field and that happen to me. We climb to the top of the mount. We backpack over 12,000foot mountain passes. We saw bears and bison and elk and all those things that up into the point had been here. Now they were there. And and i knew right then and t, and my poor girlfriend at the time, not my wife, she probably could couldve sought in my eyes as well that we were not going to be the same after this. This is what to be something i would have to be a a part of or lives from there on out. And i set my sights tried to do that. We returned, i continued working in california but from that point forward every spare vacation day come in in a tript we took it was going to be and i guess im following in the footsteps of my family, my mom and dad. We didnt go to mexico or disneyland. We didnt go to any fancy resorts. Were slipping in the of my pickup truck or camp in the tent and montana or idaho or maine or tennessee trying to see as many big wild places as we could. Now, i am humbly fortunate that is able to swallow some kind of deal which i was able to make a fulltime living from outdoors eventually as noted, was able to start writing about the outdoors can start speaking about the outdoors and all about us to continue to spend more time outside. Eventually with us spending sometimes weeks in weeks and weeks, and after buying an old camper and renovating that, sometimes months and months camped out on public land in montana or utah or idaho, in michigan, to. And throughout those experiences doing all the affirmation things that i do, hunt, fish, hike, backpack, i realized two things. I realize, one, what an unbelievable inheritance we have. We have 640 million acres of public lands spread across the United States that opened each and every one of us and we can do any one of those things i just mention plus dozens of others. Wildlife watching, scuba diving, kayaking, whatever your flavor is it is therefore us and that is not a common thing throughout the globe. Its very easy take for granted and ive taken it for granted most of my life. We have a cabin up north and he was right next to a large swath of public land and i never once wondered how we got there. Why that was there when it meant, its just as public. North of the ditch, go, its yours. I didnt realize that it wasnt there by default. Wasnt there by accident. He didnt fall from the sky. People had to fight for this places. People still have to fight for those places. So this is something that i solely was learning more and more about. Around the same time i was also coming to find that these things were not guaranteed. There were many pressures on these places, outside forces, political, business, whatever wanted to take revenge of the landscape for different reasons. One of note that became pretty ubiquitous and 20142015, this idea of the Land Transfer movement. Some of you probably heard about it, if you follow what i do. And this basic idea was relative or seem to be a shouldve been pretty fringe, pretty radical but it was this idea that government shouldnt have plants can we should never public land. We should instead sell it off to the highest bidder or transfer it to states to let them do with as they will. This of the outset seems pretty simple, like its not a very good idea when here so that all public land. Places millions of americans go and visit every year. Places attract a a very importt economy around the recreation around them, places that harbor huge wildlife population, make sure we have clean air clean water, renewable resources. This is important stuff, but what you come to find is that obviously theres people with different ideas about that, different goals, different priorities, and this is all happening. Im spending more and more time out here. Also bring more and more about the second that the Land Transfer movement is this thing that could possibly influence the future of these places that i was coming to follow increasingly in love with. Then we get to 2016, and early in the month of january a group of pretty radical ranchers and militia types storm into a National Wildlife refuge in oregon and take it over at gunpoint. You mightve seen this in the news. It became a thing for days and days and days, weeks and week. This group occupied the National Wildlife refuge and use that standoff as a bully pulpit to spread their rhetoric, which was government should have these lands, we should sell them off, given to different people. The big thing here, there was a lot of concern elements around it that the biggest thing that was consumed to me was the fact it was in a way normalizing the idea because it went from being this topic discussed just in little backyard gatherings in certain parts of the country to being something that without being discussed on cnn and fox news at all points in between because of that mainstream nature of the conversation now that all submit much more possible that this could be a real thing. They went so far as then president ial candidates talking about supporting this idea. So things are looking dicey. Things all of a sudden seem to be in a position where the seemingly impossible idea of us was that some of our public lands all of a sudden maybe its also possible. My wife and and i turned to whe oftentimes do, which was having to some wild piece of public land. We packed up the truck and drove across the country to utah and arizona for about ten days of hiking and camping in that kind of stuff. Which brings us to the passage of the book i would like to read to you, which is several days into that trip and the Bundy Standoff, i should mention, folks leading that take over the malheur National Wildlife refuge were led by this guy. The Bundy Standoff is going dash by think it was dash ill probably read you some hundreds of miles away from where we were. While thats going on outside trying to see these places and i find myself increasingly contemplating what could happen if they are not around. After spending a few more days in Canyonlands National park, we moved our camp driving down into arizona and the Glen Canyon National recreation area. There we returned to the colorado river. This time at the mouth of the grand canyon about three miles south of our first stop. I remember in the early 1900 the grand canyon faced an uncertain fate with eager mining corporations and tourist industry profiteers seeking to have the area parcel out to private land owners and businesses. Soon after president Theodore Roosevelt a fellow hunter and conservationist stepped up to the plate to ensure that didnt happen. After seeing the giant chasm in 1903 he addressed the people of arizona. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on an man can only mark it. What you can do is keep it for your children and your childrens children, and for all who come after you as one of the great sites every american if you can travel at all should see. Weve gotten past the days my fellow citizens when we are to be pardoned if we treat any part of our country is something to be skin for two or three years for the use of the present generation. Whether its the forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever it is handle it so your childrens children get the benefit of it. Five years later with his own executive authority roosevelt permanently protected the grand canyon for those future generations. Standing there before that same seemingly impossible chasm i watched the shimmering emerald waters of the colorado race by. Avalanches of fraud rising falling as accrued over each new rapid intercept of the carving the canyon deeper and deeper still. Ahead of me and behind rosen near vertical walls of sandstone and above all was the dome ceiling of the most vivid infinite blue. With my wife by my side i couldnt help but wonder how different they canyon might be if it were not for roosevelt and his contemporaries and a different own lives might have been. How many parking lots, ice cream stands or smokestacks and no trespassing signs mightve been within my view. A few days later we were home in michigan when the standoff came to a dramatic close. On january 26, 2016 on the way to me outside the refuge ammon bundy and several other leaders of the occupation were pulled over and arrested by the organ state police and fbi. When member of the group fled leading police on a highspeed chase. Eventually running his car into a snow bank. When he disobeyed Police Orders and appear to reach for a weapon, he was shot and killed. Soon after the rest of the occupiers and liquid control of the refuge and the standoff came to an end. Despite this violent ending mondays antipublic land message have had been broadcast loud and clear. It didnt take long for the mainstream politicians to continue to push the Land Transfer agenda forward. In november 2016 november 2016w Republicancontrolled Congress was elected and amid a complex and breakage and within the party seem singleminded intent on destroying the public land system as we knew it. In the following months a number of bills were proposed that would remove roadblocks standing in the way of transfers settling lands the others came right out and called for the sale of 3. 3 million acres of land owned by the american people. As i watch this much quieter headlines, it seems everclear that if this movie wasnt stop, our greatest National Treasures would be stolen right out from under us. I decided i need to do something. I couldnt singlehandedly stop a politician from running a bill or convince the president to stand up for parks and forests. But i could at least try to make sense of how we got here to share what ive learned. Up to that point ive been speaking to the hunting and Fishing Community to my podcast website in social media. I knew there was room to do more. I had reservations. I wasnt sure i was the most best mouthpiece that i didnt live full time among the that were most hotly debate. I wasnt an environmental historian or conservation professional. I was under 30. This is my first public land controversy i had lived through as an adult. What did i know . Whispering doubts swirled but i also wondered if these perceived limitations were as bad as i feared. As a midwestern i was aware firsthand of how these issues in places sometimes fly under the radar of americans who dont live close to the public land expanses of the west. My fresh eyes and outsider perspective might help bring the issue to the wider world in a relatable way. As a young person wasnt my fellow millennials and i not the baby boomers in office would be living the loggers with the ramifications of the decisions currently being made . My outsider status applies to more than just my location. My nascent critique of the antipublic land republican platform prepared me with some strange bedfellows. Staunch democrats are more than happy to attack the agenda. But on the other end of the spectrum many self identifying red americans were reluctant to criticize the administration they had voted into office over any agenda. I found myself squarely in the middle as an independent, gun owning, prohunting, nature loving, freethinking conservationist. Neither Political Party seems to only represent me. In a climate of increasingly partisan politics my independent stance felt not only unique but also slightly disoriented. But my stance on public lands was clear. I was happy to stand sidebyside with anyone fighting on behalf of our public lands, no matter what other differences we might have. I hope i wasnt alone. My course was set at a continued my Research Reading as much as i could about how our current public land system had come to be, convinced some key unifying truth might be found in the past. Mark twain supposedly once said that history doesnt repeat itself, but it often rhymes. If we want to win the current and future battles over public land, and better understand the one that has come before. In the same weight for the latest showdown with monday. It would not be the last of its kind, that much i knew. There would be new lessons to learn from the present struggle as well. I wanted to understand it all. When i embarked on my studies i decided to drown myself in the nation. I explore the national force, monuments, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas across the country, that hung in the balance. In nevada and montana, i would like in utah and hunt in alaska, i would fish in wyoming and back back in michigan. I sank my feet into the dirt of the very places up for grabs and confront the reality of what the future might look like without them. I made a schedule destination for the next year and a half come signed up unsuspecting child companions, bought new gear, convinced my wife to join up in some of these trips, cobble together a plan to report back to my followers and headed out to the great wide open. Over the next 18 months i would come to discover an ever greater detail the ways previous generations of hunters, hikers, campers and kills other stood up to protect these places. By the end of it all one defining truth place within me like the red rapids of utah. If they could do it then, we sure as hell to do it again. So this book was the product of that journey that i embarked upon common and the route all that time, throughout the mons traveling across the country to the days and days and weeks and months of sitting in my office beating my head against the wall waiting for something to emerge on the computer screen, two things really kept me pushing forward, kept me focused, stood as these simply the reasons, the reasons why i had to do this. I think number one, i alluded to these already but never one was affect i recognize a huge knowledge gap. If i did know about these things, if i didnt realize that we had so much available to us as americans, if i didnt understand the history of these have glanced across the country, and i worked in the world, what about everybody else . What about somebody who lived in new york city or l. A. . Chatting with friends and family here in michigan and elsewhere i saw there were many of the same gaps as well. The problem was there are books out there, resources that speak to the very important issue, but almost to every single one that are dense historical tones that your average person probably will never pick up and give a try. There had to be something that was accessible, engaging and available to the average person because the average person is whose action going to go to these places, the axa going to stand up for these places. I wanted to bridge that gap. I also wanted to bridge a gap tween people here because one of the really neat things that also frustrating things about public lands across the country is that almost without exception they are multiple use, meaning they are to be used by all sorts of different people for all sorts of different reasons. And that is part of what makes them so great but also why they are so contentious with all these different stakeholders. The sludge of it i just by how it should be used, how they should be managed. That result in a lot of conflict. The thing is that if we want to keep these places around, we cant allow those conflicts within our family of people that care about these places to get in the wake of the larger issue. I recently read that somewhere around 2 million acres of open space disappears across the country every year. Think back about the woodlot behind her house house when youre growing up or the old swamp behind walmart where you caught turtles and snakes and frogs. Those places are disappearing day by day by day and we can all think of our own example like that. Thats not changing. The country is growing. The population important things. Through all of this through this whole project, through all of these there is trips i went on through writing this book i come back again and again to the words of Theodore Roosevelt. He said, i quoted it within my reading, but he said something along the lines of the fact that every decision we make when it comes to wildlife and wild places, public lands, we have to pass it through this filter of what it means for the next generation. What does it mean for our children . And our childrens children. I used to think i understood that. I understood it from intellectual level but not emotional. But i am now a father. I have a two year old son and the Second Coming in a couple weeks. And i dont ever want to see a future with him at the same opportunities i do. And i cant imagine what that looks like and i never want to. That is why i am here. Thats why i wrote this book. I think there is this tendency to sometimes look at these historical figures, Theodore Roosevelt, and say wow, these people were special. It did these amazing things. We put them on a pedestal and we think of them as other, as given that, because they are the folks. But while the did some very, very special things, they are just people. Those people are not here anymore but we are. We have to be the next roosevelt. We had to be the next leopold purebred to be our generation. Thats why wrote this book. Thats im really excited to be a talking to you and seeing some people come out to celebrate public lands and so, with that i would love to answer any questions you might have. I would love to chat about wild animals, while places, public lands and what its like to be my head against the want wall o something appeared on the computer screen. Whatever it is i would love to chat about it. I appreciate everyone being here and if anyone wants to be brave and stem to ask a question, i would encourage you to do so. I will say before you answer, ask your question, waiting for the mike flynn to get you want to make sure there it is. This question is coming from a mentor of mine. He was wondering, maybe so offtopic but how was the squirrel hunting in the back 40 . He wanted to reiterate he has 40 acres in baldwin. Its not going well. So yes. The question was how was the squirrel hunting. I think its two things. Simple, i dont have, i cant do the magic Silver Bullet but number one, informed. Just tap into this whole river of information because theres so many things going on today. Its very hard to keep track. Even someone who this is why do for living i cant keep track of everything going on but awesome tools and Community Resources that can help you understand whats happening out there. The thing is theres a lot happening thats impacting wildlife thats impacting the space and public lands. And very seriously that the general public almost never hears about. And so all we can do is pick and try to capture those most important issues and jump on them when we can. Number one is trying to find ways, the best way is to choose a couple conservation organizations that do a good job of filtering everything and plug into those. When it comes to public lands especially if you hunt or fish, back country hunters, theyre doing a great job of doing exactly what it says, taking everything going on, filtering it and then letting us know when the something really need to jump on. If thats such a thing, Something Like the wilderness society, whatever. Pick a couple of those and try to get involved in some way. The second thing is when the opportunities arise take some kind of action. Doesnt need to be heroic. You dont need to storm the capital. You dont need to write a book. If you chat with someone at thanksgiving and tell them about why this thing matters, if you send an email, send a tweet, maybe you do show at the capital building. Every single one of those Little Things does make a difference. For every Theodore Roosevelt, we need billions and billions and billions and billions of people that just wanting to write that letter. Just do those simple things and keep doing it. It helps. It makes a difference. Its why we have these places. I wish i had something special. I wish i could tell you to buy this book and you have it all figured out. But, but just care and show people that. I think if we all do that it changes the world. How about we go this way . Im here all night. Two questions, quick. Im a big fan of your podcast. Information in this doesnt guess you have under is very impressive to keep up the good work. Ive always wondered, i love the pregame with dan jackson. I always wondered how did you hook up with dan jansen and number two is speedy some deer hunting talk. I run this thing called the wired to hunt podcast. Its not that funny. Its not that it are ten at all i realize i need a gene to my gain. I needed whats his name at sullivan to the johnny carson. Im not that old but someone emailed me that before. I knew i needed somebody like that and i had met a guy like that a few years before at a film school actually learning to fill out the film itself like that, hunting. He was a guy who at acute personality, a huge guy but only nine fingers which made him stand out. When i start having this thought process of developing podcast like this he seemed like a really good fit to kind of balance out my sometimes over intellectual nature. I gave him a call with it and said have you ever done a podcast . Thats how it came about. He said yes. The rest is history. As far as that dear you mentioned, i named him that after buddy of mine whos here tonight, jason. I hunt a lot. You sometimes see the same gear over and over again so just because of what i do for a career i talk about these dear a lot. Made sense given a name of some kind. Sounds a little weird but yes on the last day of hunting season i saw him, believe he still around, 2020 2020 will be an interesting hunting season. Thank you for listening. How about the young guy in back . Why do you hunt . Wow. [laughing] coming at me with the big one. [laughing] whats funny is i dont think ive prepared myself for that one tonight. [laughing] its a great, great question and one thats not easily answered. I think if you cant, its good to take some time to try to answer that for yourself. I hunt for a lot of reasons. And so my answer is, if you were to take all the different things, though that and a pot and stir it all up and cook it and then take whatever that concoction is, thats my answer. But it will involve a few things. Things. Number one i first and foremost hunt for food. Its way to provide my family with protein and sustenance and i can do it away that i am very connected to the eye can exactly where we get our red meat so we havent had to buy red meat for years and years and years. I think that is, is that for everyone, thats fine, but its the right way for me to get my food. I secondly hunt because it allows me to engage with the Natural World in a different kind of way. When i was writing this book and i am after hiking to a place, lets say the tetons. When youre out hiking around your passing through a location, passing through a forest or set of mountains and seeing them but youre just an observer. When you go out and hunt, even if its in the exact same place, its a completely different experience. You go from observer to a participant. You are part of have you ever seen lying king . You may be heard of the circle of life. When you go out as hunters you become a part of the circle of life, the kind of that is a really special thing to do. Every sound matters more. Every smell matters more. Everything around you is now influenced by you and influences you and what youre going to do next. So that, i mean, thats an experience that is powerful, exciting, compelling, and he keeps me coming back again and again and again. So i hunt to get food. I hunt for that experience. I hunt to connect with what is a very human part of what we are. We have teeth that are built to eat meat. Humans have been hunting for tens of thousands of years. This is what we are built to do physically here i think when you hide you tap into that. You press a button that the something in the back of your mind thats, it feels they write. Again, not everyone is going to want to do it. That Everyone Needs to do it. Some people might not even approve of the fact that we do it, but but i see value in it. I think it reads advocates. Oftentimes people who dont have hard time understanding that. But when you have an engagement, when you get your food in that kind of way, its really hard not to care about animal and not care about the places they live. And told me that was one of the major things that drove me to do the things im trying to do. So theres a few more ingredients in the pod that im not thinking of right now but thats a start. Thanks for the question. How about right there . What is your favorite, like the best way to hunt . Oh, boy. My favorite whitetail hunt, so ive been very lucky to get to hunt a lot. Whitetail deer is a thing i spend most time pursuing. They are the most ubiquitous and across north america. Probably see a lot of it in your backyard or around. My favorite whitetail hunt. Man, i think i could point to some big deer i shot or some story that was great that i really enjoyed and shared with my followers and was great for my career or Something Like that, all those things are make for great hunts. But i think a couple probably stand up to me that wouldnt fall within that period i think one experience which is not really a hunt but sort of was, was my first time that i can remember. And i didnt have a gun. Wasnt even hunting season. But it was somewhere in july or august and i was with my grandfather of our small family property in northern michigan, and i was probably five or six, some in the ballpark. I cant member a whole lot but i remember these little flashes. And is the earliest flash i can remember from my entire life of having an upclose experience with wildlife if any kind. Just so happen to be deer. My grandfather i were sitting in a shack he built like a out door carpeting staple to cedar posts and some met in camouflage fabric and we sat there. He had a little video camera with him and wish i could find this footage. Maybe someone has a summer but our memory him filming it and me being this little kid and a group of seven or eight dell came walking across from you to me. Ive never seen anything like that so close but i know how i must have remembered or it must have been told a lot about deer or animals because the thing i realized was it was special. I remember the deer walking cross in front of me. Everything is green around but the beer are almost an orange or red. I can still see it and a walking across and i was just erupting with excitement. Grandpa, grandpa, deer, deer. He felt anwar, youve got to be quiet. Youve got to be quiet. Youve got to be quiet. And so i just remember the pure joy of it. Again, i wasnt hunting really. I was just being there in the wild and seeing those animals and that is your joy i think is was kept coming back again and again. Again he comes back to that engagement with him is something that special, quite simply. That one stands out. Ill stick with that one. How about way in the far back, black hat. So nervous in front of everybody. Just like that jim and said, im sure a lot of you guys have listened to wired to hunt podcast. I want to say thank you. Im sure everyone else wants to thank you for that. Change my life really. I started hunting late in life. It helped me out. It was awesome. Still appreciate listened every episode of my question for you is, as someone who aspires to go out west to hunt somewhere, hunt on public land obvious it probably, what was that like for you . Like, what was your First Experience out there doing hunting . Not just camping, what was it like for you and kind of tell i guess what that was. Again, another one of those kind of paradigm shifters where i went for my life was like this to all of a sudden wildlife can be like that. I loved hunting here in michigan. Michigan. Still love it. Its home, something really special about it. But again i would always encourage people to go outside of the comfort zone to see these new places, do these new things that but my First Western hunt was in elkhart in idaho in the national force. Its been one of those things where again, kind of as a major earlier i had always dreamed of doing that. Someday i will do it. Sometime going to do. I want to do it, i want to do it but it didnt feel confident. Theres a lot to figure out, new gear, need to learn how to survive in these different places. Much of an walking behind a house and sitting in a tree. So its interesting, this guy has helped with a lot of these things that i was reading something from steve and it finally gave me the push, like bennett, i just got to go do it. It was a passage in one of his books actually about elkhart he was on and just flip the switch and i said forget the i dont know about this at about that, just go, youll figure it out once you do it. I found a friend whod been to before and it said were doing it this year, lets make it happen. Checked all the boxes, built the to do list, exercise, got ready, quit my job, headed out. You dont need to quit your job. But i quit my job. For multiple reasons. Headed out there, and again i come back to some of the same ways of describing. I wish i had something new to say, but when you go from deer hunting or hunting in michigan which is a pretty intimate experience, its small places, its close encounters, and thats great. But then theres something really great about the places, wide open vistas, intense experiences where youre literally chasing animals on foot are running up mounds trying to find them in standing on top of them out and sing miles and miles in any distance. And again layering the huntington put on top of that so youre fully tap into everything going on around you. Thats really cool. I sometimes compare this by look at the difference between deer hunting some delightful cutting. When you are deer hunting you are given these opportunities to step away from everything and you can completely turn your mind off. Because youre not doing anything. You were sitting and waiting. Why sit and which of this really rare thing in life where you dont have to go anywhere else or you dont have to do anything else. I dont know about you guys but all the everyday i am rococo. Ive got this for somewhere to be, stress, worry, all these things going on. But when youre deer hunting just sitting waiting, watching, you can clear your mind and then decompress, think about things. When youre west and elk hunting, its exact opposite. You cant turn your brain off because its an active pursuit. Instead your brain is turned up to 15 because youre hunt depends on what you do next, what steps you take him what direction you go. Are you going one of there . Climbed a mountain . You are fully engaged, and thats a lot of fun, too. Ill recommend you do both. I recommend you go for it. Theres lots of public land out there to do it on, and i think having proper expectation is important. Going out there and not feeling like you have to have success. If you go out there looking at success as enjoying the experience and learning something, you are going to have a blast. Amazing. Do that. Dont go after thanking you have to fill attack. Eventually you might. Its amazing when you do. All of the work and effort and sweat that goes into it makes for what i call type ii fun. It can be painful in the moment but it will live long in your memories. That stuff is worth taking. Go for it. Its much more achievable and maybe you think it is. Just do it. Thanks. How about the corner they are . Might obviously in the way youre talking about in the book you are shooting for a much broader audience than something titled wired to hunt as youre trying to hit rei, you talked about, when you think about your approach to this book then, what is the role of personal narrative and storytelling and kind of breaking through those ideological barriers and helping people find a way in . And related to that, did you find yourself telling the hunting related stories differently for this book and you would if you were writing for a purely hunting, hunter audience . So i absolutely approached this from the perspective of not writing a hunting book for a hunting audience. Of course my court because of the things i have built to this point in my crew has been hunting focus. I knew that contingent of readers would be there. They would understand what is getting at even if i didnt get into the details. So i did kind of write it with a nonhunting audience in mind so that if you read the book, i had some people from like my core audience through the book and they were surprised at all the hunting in it. I did that on purpose because i talked to bridging that gap between arianna and camilla, republican democrat, whatever it is. Another thing i saw this as an opportunity to do that only did he think we could bring together groups that together a much more powerful force for public lands but selfishly one of my own personal goals is to help present and represent hunting in a way that will make sure that we can hunt into the future and making sure that something that socially and politically palatable for the general public. Thats something thats really, really important for anybody that has applied for even if dont have a platform its important for anyone to hunt to look us up as ambassador for what you do. Through this book i saw an opportunity, if i could get nonhunters to pick pick this book up because theres a lot of backpacking and kayaking and camping and fixing campers, if they would read this book and are willing to give me a chance, maybe something good come of the other and thinking the way he talked about the way he thinks about these things, i can get behind that kind of hunting. Maybe hunting is not so bad. So that was a really important kind of Stealth Mission i had with this book. I hope it comes off that way, that people to read it would come to, just a tiny little bit more understand the will were coming from. So yes, everything i say, everything i write and thinking about that because i think thats a fundamental issue for anyone who hunts, going into the future. We all have to approach in that kind of way. As far as the storytelling and the narrative, absolutely, whether the hunting or anything else. Again, this stuff can be happy, can be boring, it can be hard to slog through when it comes to all these public land issues. Theres a whole lot of legislation, all sorts of weird subcommittees and bills and regulations and laws that are even not that much fun to think about who to talk about. How you get that across to some of who to make that digestible any kind of way . I always append this, steve, i think you told me this, steve. Then he said i never told you that. Someone once told me if you want somebody to eat their vegetables here to give them a lot of candy along the way. For me at least this book and read the books i enjoy the most out of this problem what i wrote this book is good because this is a book i want to read. It was a book full of fun stories, personal narrative, someone who can drive along someones adventure at along the way throw in some vegetables you be so full and happy with the candy youre not going to mind the broccoli. Its funny, having written about, i wish i couldve done this different. I wish i couldve done a better job of that. But eventually you just have to, you can only rewrite and write and read and rewrite so many times eventually put out and say this is a best i could do at the moment of my life and hope its good enough. Im hoping that i will get a chance to do another one, and well see where it takes me, but its a lot of fun to try and fix up a meal like that. Right here. So im going to switch gears back to white too. You alluded to the fact that those of us who hunt whitetail tend to care deeply about the animals. And what they bring to our life. I think one of the biggest threats at this point to whitetails especially in the state of michigan is cwd. And so as a neuroscientist myself i know how devastating that disease is to the deer population. But one of the things i run into is a miscommunication i think between the Larger Population about cwd and how it is a problem. People are getting information from all of these different avenues, whether it be a rock star or a scientific article, write . Like you dont always get information from the most reliable source. So i i guess my question for yu then is how to cut through all these barriers and how does the general population know what is good science and how to interpret that science into what it means for our enjoyment . The question was in regards to chronic wasting disease, which is a disease that was found in michigan some number of years ago. Its been spreading and popping up in various places across the country that is a fatal disease to deer and are a lot of concerns around with what that what that might mean for the future. Its a disease that is fatal, its transferred my little strains of proteins that are left basically anywhere that deer travel so its very easily passed. And so because of that, because of the possible ramifications of it, theres some pretty extreme ways that government, Wildlife Agencies approach trying to manage it. Oftentimes very controversial, really riled up the hunting public. For any of you who hunt this is probably not news for you. Like you said, i think the biggest thing going on is a lot of confusion and misinformation. And just frustration from the hunting public, too. Because when these regulations changes come to your neighborhood, usually not great. Usually you will not be very happy about it. So that riles a lot of folks up and youre not too terribly keen on it. The way i approach things like this is to understand what i know and what i dont know. What my limitations are and what my expertise is. And then working to those who have the best possible chance of knowing what theyre doing. So i am going to err on the side of science and the Scientific Method and the fact that you go with the best thing, the best knowledge you have serious and testing and you continue to see what the preponderance of evidence tells you. Im going to trust the folks working in this everyday no more than i do. They know more than a rock star nose and they know more than the guy on tv with gray hair. I am going to air on that side because if this thing is as serious as our biologists and Wildlife Agencies say, and i trust them, then we do need to take it very seriously. So ill will always err on the side of caution because this is an amazing resource we have, whether it is deer or elk or moose. If this thing goes a long way, if chronic wasting disease does become ubiquitous across the country, then the future for my children and all of our children, its pretty grim for a totally different reason. I try to lead by example in that. Im not going to claim to know it all that im just going to claim to try to stay uptodate on the latest science and put my faith in those that are spent their lives in the field of work. We have time for one more question. Who really, really wants to get the question in . How about with the vortex . Talk about public land, tak to us a little about what we should be, if there are issues we should be concerned about here in michigan. Im a public land hunter and i want to be informed because thats where i get into the wild. So are the issues we need to be aware of here in michigan . If so, wheres the best place to get information and just more information . Great question. There are a lot of things going on in michigan, but whats nice is that we do have different from some of the western states, the way the system works in places like michigan is pretty good. We managed a lot of state lands. We dont have a horrible track record of selling them but i will tell you there are examples even just recently some state land was put on the auction block. So i would say a couple things. Theres some local organizations that are keeping track. Again i mention backcountry. He said to celebrate public land and connect people so you can stay in touch, it is another great local organization doing a lot of great things to again give you what is happening in the state and they will tell you also that this whole National Federal publicly and think impacts this year two, we have a pretty darn Great National forest here in the state. The local organizations, get involved, i think alan would be a great guy to talk to if you want to do some things in michigan. All right. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. [applause] weeknights this month we are featuring book tv programs showcasing whats available every weekend on cspan2. Tonight we feature authors of history books starting with professor serenas avon on the 1770 boston massacre. Then its history professor benjamin park who wrote about the founding of illinois i mormon leader joseph smith in 1839. That is followed by gretchen on her book driving while black on how the automobile impacted the lives of africanamericans book tv all this weekend every weekend here on cspan2. Television has changed since he cspan begin 40 years ago but our Mission Continues to provide an unfiltered view of government. Already this year we brought to primary election coverage, the president ial impeachment process and now the federal response to the coronavirus. You can watch all of cspan Public Affairs programming on television, online or listen on the free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through cspan daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feed. Cspan created by private industry, americas Cable Television company by a private service and brought to you by your television provider. Good afternoon. I am Edward Steinfeld for the international Public Affairs. I am so delighted to be here today to celebrate killer high, and fantastic new book. As student of chinese affairs, hardly need to be told about the importance of the relationship between drugs and war. En i know the intensity of feeling in china