EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Enjoy this blast from the past from the EarthX Archives. 'Round the Fire was one of the first shows we produced and aired back in 2020. EarthX Media has grown a lot since then, but we still like to look back on these insightful conversations and see how far we've come.
See how spending time outdoors during the pandemic helps us all stay healthy and sane.
About 'Round the Fire:
Hunters and anglers sit around the (virtual) campfire to discuss conservation and environmental issues from the unique perspective of outdoorsmen. Sportsmen and women can be important allies in America's ongoing efforts to protect its landscapes.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/earthxmedia
How to watch:
EarthX - Cable:
- Spectrum
- AT&T U-verse (1267)
- DIRECTV (267)
- Philo
- FuboTV
EarthXtra - Streaming:
- Plex
- Fire TV
- Xumo
#EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX
Enjoy this blast from the past from the EarthX Archives. 'Round the Fire was one of the first shows we produced and aired back in 2020. EarthX Media has grown a lot since then, but we still like to look back on these insightful conversations and see how far we've come.
See how spending time outdoors during the pandemic helps us all stay healthy and sane.
About 'Round the Fire:
Hunters and anglers sit around the (virtual) campfire to discuss conservation and environmental issues from the unique perspective of outdoorsmen. Sportsmen and women can be important allies in America's ongoing efforts to protect its landscapes.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/earthxmedia
How to watch:
EarthX - Cable:
- Spectrum
- AT&T U-verse (1267)
- DIRECTV (267)
- Philo
- FuboTV
EarthXtra - Streaming:
- Plex
- Fire TV
- Xumo
#EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Todd Tanner and I'm round the fire today with Steve Hempkins and Steve Ramirez.
00:21Steve Hempkins is a vice president for Orbis and a serious hunter, a serious angler, long
00:27time sportsman.
00:29And Steve Ramirez is an author, actually just came out with a new book.
00:33And Steve is also a sportsman, a hunter, but primarily a fisherman.
00:39And we're going to be talking today about something that I think pretty much anybody
00:44who's watching this right now can empathize with.
00:48It's been a crazy year.
00:49It's been literally as nuts as any of us could ever have imagined between the pandemic and
00:57the wildness of our political season and the economic collapse that we're all participating
01:02in and dealing with.
01:04And so we're going to talk about how we get through that and specifically how nature,
01:10how spending time outdoors, whether that's hunting or fishing or even camping or hiking,
01:16whatever might be, gets us to a place that helps us cope with each and every single day.
01:23So Steve Hempkins, I'm going to start with you and I'm just going to ask, you're up in
01:28Maine right now, and how are you making out with the general insanity that we're all experiencing?
01:38I have two little boys right now that are three and five.
01:43So we're definitely in hand-to-hand combat and trying to find little moments of structure
01:49and safety.
01:52And almost all of those revolve around being outside.
01:56Now our big backyard has been really awesome to have that be our habitat and to live in
02:05the moment with these two just really precocious and high energy, but very curious and observant
02:15little people that live in the now all the time.
02:20A lot of us, we get in our heads and we're focused on something that's going to happen
02:25tomorrow or next week or next month.
02:29And maybe we could all take a lesson from our kids who do live in the moment and experience
02:35things a little bit more purely.
02:37I know one of the things I've noticed over the years is that sportsmen, anglers and hunters,
02:44we pay a little bit more attention outside than most people do.
02:48And Steve Ramirez, I know you just got back from a trip to another state where you literally
02:54went off grid and went out hiking.
02:57Was that the kind of thing that helps you through these difficult days?
03:01Absolutely.
03:02I actually have been traveling all across the Rockies and even through the pandemic
03:08as safely as possible.
03:11But getting out off the grid, as you're saying, getting out even with friends, being careful
03:16in the way we do it, it's made a huge difference.
03:19I mean, to me, nature saves me.
03:23I think it saves us and it teaches us lessons too.
03:28Nature teaches us that life's not fair.
03:31Get over it.
03:33It teaches us to find the joy in that moment.
03:36And I love what Steve was saying about being with his children because kids remember something
03:43we've forgotten.
03:44And I think what we do as anglers, as hunters, as hikers, whatever we do, it keeps us in
03:51that moment.
03:52It gives us something to ground us.
03:54So we realize that nothing's permanent, including the craziness we've experienced.
04:00What are the things that make it harder than usual for you right now?
04:04Is it the pandemic?
04:05Is it something else?
04:06Is it being in a new place where you are in Maine?
04:09Well, no, I think we have an incredible amount of access to the outdoors.
04:14Maine is awesome in terms of the coast.
04:17It's I think one of the biggest challenges of having a young family right now is just
04:23managing life on a day-to-day basis, the things that you take for granted in terms of being
04:28able to take a kid or two kids into the grocery store, throw them in the cart, kind of go
04:34out the window.
04:36And so I think that the access is there for us.
04:39The will is there.
04:41But it's a, what's the Yiddish proverb?
04:44We plan, God laughs.
04:45So that's how I feel like our lives are right now.
04:50Steve Ramirez, you've been fishing a bunch.
04:54Is the fishing time you've had recently, is that a little bit of a lifeline for you?
04:59Oh, absolutely.
05:01As you were saying, all the craziness we've experienced.
05:04If we really think back, we've been through this before in different ways.
05:09And nature is actually teaching us, I think COVID is teaching us to adapt.
05:14So I've had to adapt in order to make these travels for the second book that I'm writing.
05:19But it's allowed us to pay attention to, like nature teaches us to pay attention to the
05:25moment, pay attention to each other.
05:28So there's been a real gain.
05:29The other part is, I have found that by traveling out and meeting these friends who also love
05:34nature, we have that common bond right now.
05:38So it's been a real lifeline for me.
05:40I've met the best people of my life because of my love of nature.
05:45I can't argue with that.
05:46Steve, how has that been your experience as well?
05:49I've found it to be incredibly, there's really three dimensions of it for me.
05:55One is the therapy, the medicine that it is for me.
05:59So I've got a lot going on professionally over the past eight or nine months as we react
06:06to the volatility and fragility.
06:09So just needing to get out, and my medicine has been to go striper fishing.
06:15It's nothing flashy.
06:16The coast is close, look at the tides, figure out when a good window is, and normally it
06:24would be kind of nocturnal or before dawn and see the sun come up.
06:32And so to have that moment or the knowledge that I can go, it's there.
06:40The anticipation and the curiosity and the excitement of thinking about what it might
06:46be at a particular tide level, moon phase, what the wind's doing, what the weather's
06:52doing, fishing at night versus fishing at dawn, has all of the variables that get me
07:00really excited and motivated.
07:02Then to go out and be there and to actually see what the birds are doing and what the
07:06fish is doing and what the tide is doing and catch a couple of fish and then being able
07:12in a lot of cases to go home and be home and have had a day and had a moment of real
07:21value and generation for me and help and have my household either still be asleep or just
07:30waking up has been really awesome.
07:34Then there's the social element of being able to share that experience with some other people,
07:39either using it as a currency to get to know people in a town that we haven't lived in
07:46before but found ourselves living in because of the COVID situation and be able to like,
07:53hey, normally you might go to a bar, get a beer, you might go to a concert, sporting
07:59event, do something like that.
08:01Like a lot of those things are off the table.
08:05I've had a number of opportunities to invite people and share my love of fishing with my
08:11brother-in-law, with my father-in-law, with maybe some friends or soon-to-be friends.
08:17It's been really awesome.
08:18Then the last thing is being able to share those moments with my kids and with my wife
08:24and go out there and dig the worms in the garden and then go to the pond and have them
08:31trundle around and fall in the water and have it be over and have to go home and all those
08:38things. It's been so, so foundational to being able to not just survive, but hopefully
08:48thrive through these ongoing periods of craziness.
08:55One of the things I've noticed over the years is that when we live in the moment, when
09:01we're intimately engaged, whether that's with a fly rod in our hands or a spinning rod or
09:06a rifle or a shotgun or a bow, whatever it might be, when we're in the moment, all that
09:12stuff on the periphery sort of fades away.
09:15It just sort of slides away.
09:16And we have peace and we have the ability to concentrate on something that we love to
09:23do. I mean, we're all really serious outdoorsmen.
09:25We all love to spend time in nature.
09:28And I mean, it's just it's one of those things where, especially right now in this
09:35particular moment with the political season and with the pandemic and with the economy
09:40in such rough shape, I mean, it's one of those things that it's just it's restorative and
09:47it allows us to sort of recharge our batteries.
09:52And then when we have to wade back into the thick of things, we can do that with some
09:59sense of balance anyway.
10:01Steve Ramirez, are you experiencing, I know you don't have kids at home right now.
10:08Are you still able to connect to nature the way you want it to?
10:12I know you're teaching and that's got to help, right?
10:18I am connecting to nature the way I want to.
10:23Again, it's about adapting.
10:25And one of the problems here in my home state of Texas is we don't have a lot of public
10:31land. It's been interesting to watch.
10:33I'd like to see that change.
10:36It's been interesting to watch people trying to get outside to the point that our state
10:41parks now have to take reservations for you to get in.
10:44And that tells you everything about how much we need more access, more public land.
10:48And I'm bringing that topic up because it's tied into getting everyone, including urban
10:54people who live in urban settings, more connected to nature.
10:56I've found that luckily I live in an area where I can drive for 30 minutes and I can be
11:02in a river by myself.
11:04I don't have to worry about social distancing unless the deer have COVID.
11:08So I have been able to get out.
11:11It's made all the world of difference.
11:13And it's also made a difference to push forward and find ways to meet with friends.
11:21As Steve said, current friends are soon to be friends.
11:27That restores us.
11:28It definitely restores us.
11:29It gives us perspective.
11:31It's kind of like seeing that flower growing out of the crack, you know, on the rocks.
11:35It gives us that perspective.
11:38So I feel optimistic, actually.
11:41Well, we've all made it this far, which is a which is a really, really good thing.
11:46I've been thinking a little bit about in all the Leopold quote, and the quote is basically
11:52that one of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world
11:59of wounds. And it seems like right now that just gets it seems like we just keep getting
12:06stuff heaped on top of us.
12:08It's more and more and more and more.
12:10So maybe it's people arguing over politics.
12:13Maybe it's people who can't do the things that they want to do outdoors, indoors.
12:20They can't go to a movie or they can't go sit down in a restaurant with a bunch of
12:24friends or go to a bar and have a beer with their buddies.
12:28And so that leaves us all just a little bit more on more than usual.
12:33Steve Hempkins, I'm sort of curious.
12:36How is Orvis handling all this stuff?
12:38How is Orvis trying to get through probably the toughest time or one of the toughest
12:44times the company's ever had?
12:45Well, it's been an adventure for sure.
12:48We've been really encouraged and gratified by the customer, our customers, and by what
12:55has been happening in terms of people.
13:00People are saying they need to get outside, they value being outside.
13:04And that they need things from brands to either discover or learn the activities or they
13:12need they need the gear.
13:14And so we've seen a tremendous amount of interest and activity around fly fishing.
13:21Our wing shooting or hunting business is having a really solid fall.
13:27Our dog business, which is another smaller part of the company, is having a really
13:33solid fall. And that's another part of the overall Orvis portfolio has also been really
13:39dynamic. And so folks are looking for that connection, whether it's with a four, with
13:46their four legged friend who's become a co-worker all of a sudden, or they went and
13:52adopted a dog through the pandemic, or they're finding time and the motivation and kind of
14:01either get that, pick up that fishing rod again and go out and fish, or they've always
14:06wanted to but haven't had the time.
14:09And so we've been really encouraged by the movement back outside and connection to some
14:16of these things that are really intrinsic to Orvis and just trying to manage through it as
14:24responsibly and thoughtfully and nimbly as we can.
14:29So Steve Ramirez, I'm going to I'm going to put you on the spot.
14:32You're doing something pretty crazy, right?
14:35You're writing a book.
14:37In the middle of a pandemic, through an insane political season, through a difficult
14:43economy, what's different than maybe you thought going into the whole process?
14:48So the first one, the one that came out just yesterday, is about human resilience through
14:54hardship. This one was supposed to be focused more on our native species, our
15:01watersheds, conservation and our interaction with that.
15:06In the middle of writing this book, I was on Pyramid Lake when I found out that my
15:10daughter had COVID in England.
15:13I remember being at Pyramid Lake and watching what we call a strike indicator in
15:18fly fishing, but we all know it's a little bobber.
15:21And thinking about how my dad took me fishing and I loved what I was hearing with Steve
15:27with his children. And it has caused the story to change because now it's a story not
15:33just about nature and our impact on it, but its impact on us.
15:38So I think that's what I also would share with this crazy political season, as we would
15:43call it, with the pandemic, with all the challenges we have right now.
15:47The story is where we're at with it and how that unfolds and how do we adapt to it.
15:54That's what I've learned. It has made it harder, but I had to ask myself, can I still do
15:59this? And the answer is yes, but I have to change the way I do it.
16:05It wasn't as easy as I had planned.
16:08What I think of activism, which is something that we're all engaged in to some level, and
16:15particularly activism on really serious issues, climate change being probably the biggest
16:22one out there right now.
16:24How has this year and all the changes that you and your family, the larger Orbis family
16:31that everybody's going through, how has that impacted your activism?
16:35You know, in some ways it's tough to think about the big picture and to stop what you're
16:40doing on a day-to-day basis.
16:42You're just trying to get through to the next thing.
16:48On the other hand, you know, probably have to go back three or four generations,
16:54homesteading, to find a time in American history where people, especially dads, were
17:01spending this much time with their kids on a day-in, day-out basis.
17:05And it's really a blessing to be able to see them every day as much as much as I do and
17:12honestly adds to the gravity and the sense of responsibility around where we're at in
17:21terms of some of the choices that we have in front of us, whether it's conservation,
17:26it's around climate change, it's around public lands, it's about biodiversity, it's
17:31about ecosystem integrity.
17:35The list just goes on and on because I'm just with them all the time.
17:43I'm seeing them, I'm thinking about the things that I'm teaching them, that their own
17:49habitat that my wife and I are creating every day, what choices we can make as parents to
17:57model good behaviors in them in terms of trying to think sustainably, to think about
18:05the bigger picture.
18:07We'll see.
18:10And Steve Ramirez, where do you see us going from here?
18:14Where do you see, specifically sportsmen, specifically hunters and anglers, what kind
18:21of impact is a year like this, something that, as we all know, is completely
18:26unprecedented, something that we didn't see coming, it just sort of came out of the
18:29blue. How is this going to impact us going forward and what is it going to do to to
18:37nature? Will people become more involved, more engaged?
18:40Will more folks want to spend time out fishing?
18:42Will more folks want to want to hunt?
18:45Will they want to hike? Will they want to camp?
18:47Or is this sort of spurt of nature time that a lot of us have seen over the last few
18:54months? Is this just the one point in time when this is behind us?
18:59We're going to go back to to the way things used to be.
19:01What I've seen as I've been traveling is both good and not as great, we'll put it that way.
19:09So people are getting out into nature, but they're not respecting it.
19:11And national forests and parks are being trashed at access points.
19:15And so I've seen that part.
19:17I've also seen the really great part where people are seeing it for the first time and
19:22because of what's been happening and it's it's making that connection.
19:26So here's my my vision of it for sports.
19:30We'll say sportsmen, but I'm going to say outdoors people who are anglers, who are
19:35hunters, who are hikers, who are paddlers, whatever it be.
19:39What I'd like to see is for us to learn from this and choose to adapt and change.
19:46So here's what I mean.
19:47I want people that would say I'm I'm an ecologist, I am an environmentalist to also
19:56realize that people who are hunters, anglers, hikers, paddlers, climbers, that we can all
20:04we are also environmentalists.
20:05And I want us hunters and hikers and campers and anglers to to think I'm an
20:13environmentalist first.
20:15I am an activist.
20:17I care about this place that I love.
20:20So I guess one thing that has disappointed me is Covid has given us a chance to learn
20:26something here. And I don't see that we're really learning.
20:29And I hope we can turn that around.
20:31We saw the environment get better.
20:33We saw that we can work from home.
20:35We can stagger things.
20:37We saw that we can treat each other differently.
20:39And I am still hopeful that forums like this and others will help change the way we see
20:48ourselves and our interaction with nature.
20:50I want it to last.
20:52I think it can.
20:53And I want to see groups come together.
20:55People would say I'm an environmentalist.
20:57People say I'm a hunter.
20:59I'm an angler. We're all in the same boat.
21:02And that's my answer is I want to see that change.
21:06I don't know what will happen, but that's what I want to see.
21:10Steve Hempkins, what about you?
21:12Do you are you sort of in the same place or are you coming to things from a little bit
21:16different angle? I'm really optimistic that we are going to learn some things from this
21:23that are that are healthy.
21:25Obviously.
21:28Some point.
21:30Professional sports and college sports and team sports and concerts and rack sport,
21:36bowling leagues and all the other stuff that people used to do and with each other are
21:43going to start to reemerge.
21:45However, I I know what it's meant for me in my life, and I can't help but imagine that
21:54folks either that had lost it because of other things that were going on in their lives,
22:00who are discovered it, who have had the chance to go fish, go camp, go paddle, go hunt, do
22:09whatever, and not for it to become sticky for them.
22:14There are clinical studies, there are mountains of research that reinforce that what we're
22:21talking about isn't some like crazy hunter, fisher, voodoo.
22:26It's actually nature is good for us as humans.
22:30There's a species that it's going to be sticky enough for enough folks, and we can continue to
22:38not just keep people participating, but have it not be transactional, but have it be about
22:44stewardship and commitment and about leaving the campground better than than we found it, not
22:52just for ourselves and the current generation of participants, but for those in the future.
22:59Amen.
23:01You know, I've been I've been spending the last couple of days, I've literally been out
23:05splitting wood and stacking wood, which is one of the things that I sort of do a lot of time a
23:11year. And I've been thinking about the fact that I'm going to dive into our local big game
23:18season here in Montana.
23:19And for me, that's almost gotten to be a situation where it's less about putting meat in the
23:27freezer or looking for a big buck than it is being out there and participating in the
23:34landscape, being part of it, being a natural part of it in a way that human beings have been
23:40literally for for as far back as we go.
23:44And it's real.
23:45It's something that, you know, a lot of folks don't find in other elements of their lives,
23:52whereas the time we spend outdoors truly is real.
23:55It's it's impactful, it's important and it's personal.
24:00I guess I'd like to wrap things up just asking each of you guys, what are you looking forward to
24:05right now, whether it's over the next few weeks or the next few months or the next year or two?
24:09I'm looking forward to continuing.
24:12It's not something I just do once.
24:14It's something that's part of who I am.
24:16I don't think actually I know I would not want to be alive without my interaction with nature,
24:23without being able to go fly fishing.
24:24And frankly, I would not be alive without nature and fly fishing.
24:30As you know, I've battled PTSD since my time in the Marines and it's fly fishing and nature that
24:36saved me, no doubt about it.
24:40So I'm looking forward to the next adventures.
24:42That's what I'm looking forward to and writing about them and sharing them and seeing what I
24:47learned from it and sharing that.
24:49I learn a lot from a walk in a canyon.
24:52We are participants.
24:55When someone who is not a hunter or an angler would say, how can you say you love wildlife when
25:01you shot a deer?
25:03And my answer is, I am a participant in the circle of life in nature.
25:07I shot that deer with respect.
25:10And that's what I'm looking forward to.
25:13Whatever comes around the corner, whatever I can create and whoever I can share it with, that's
25:18what life's all about for me.
25:20Steve Epkins.
25:21I'm looking forward to taking my little guys ice fishing this winter.
25:27You know, there's a particular kind of mind blowing element to the water and a different
25:35space and the fish being below and the pageantry and all the gear.
25:40So they're going to love that.
25:42I'm really hopeful that this coming weekend I'm going to be able to get my family out here and
25:49out of town to a camp, maybe take my five-year-old for a walk with a gun, because it's
25:57really the time.
25:58He's curious.
26:01And I think it's really important to have that exposure and obviously not to protect him too
26:09much from, as you said, the circle of life.
26:13And that, I think, is one of the things that gives me a lot of hope is you're out there paying
26:23attention, turn your ringer off on the phone.
26:27And you can't help but be part of the process in a different way.
26:35And I think that's one of the things, knowing what we share as anglers and hunters, is it's not
26:43to diminish the experience of hiking or skiing or mountain biking or a lot of different ways of
26:53being outside.
26:54But if you're fishing and you're wading into a river, you're out there on the flat or you're out
27:02there kind of pursuing something, you're seeing how it all fits together.
27:08And I think we're being blessed with a certain amount of perspective and reverence and a sense of
27:18commitment and purpose around how special and sacred it all is, that we all have a role to play
27:27in protecting it and making it better.
27:32Well, my hope today is that folks who don't fish or don't hunt and who might not really have ever
27:40spent any time with people who hunt or who fish will come away maybe with a little bit different
27:47perspective and look at sportsmen and sportswomen from sort of a new angle and say, you know what,
27:57some of these folks out there really do care about the environment.
28:02They care about conservation.
28:03They care about big issues like climate change and public lands.
28:07And then some of the smaller stuff, too, some of the local stuff.
28:11I think we have to bring people together.
28:14We have to bring hunters and anglers and folks who spend time outdoors in different ways together.
28:20And, you know, I truly thank you both for coming on Around the Fire and sort of showing people what
28:28that looks like.
28:31And let's wrap up.
28:32Steve Ramirez, do you have a copy of your book handy so that people can, if they're interested,
28:37they can take a look and see what your new book is?
28:43You know, Todd, I just happen to have one here.
28:45So and I love the way the cover came out.
28:50I was very lucky to have the illustrations by my friend Bob White.
28:56And I hope the people that do read it really get something out of it and not only enjoy it, but are
29:05enriched by it.
29:06I hope people take the time to check out your book, Steve.
29:09And both Steves, thank you very, very much for joining us on Around the Fire today.
29:14I truly wish you the best, both of you the best going forward in these crazy times.
29:20All right. Take care.
29:21Pleasure. Thank you so much.
29:22Thanks so much.
29:31We are sportsmen and we are in trouble.
29:36We've learned what happens when we underestimate a serious threat.
29:41We can't make that same mistake with climate change.
29:44We need to stand up for America and for our kids and grandkids.
29:51Tell Congress to act on climate.