Joe Stefko
Greensburg, Pa.

Diplomas don’t impress Joe Stefko. The 61-year-old Wildlife Education Supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game commission has been working outdoors long enough to know that a degree in environmental science or wildlife biology doesn’t usually prepare someone to tag a black bear or shoot a rifle.

“I see the colleges as puppy mills,” he says. “The students go through four years and they have the academics for wildlife biology, but they don’t have the hands-on experience.”

Stefko has provided that hands-on experience for more than fifty students since 1999, through a Pennsylvania Game Commission internship program that he started and oversees. Every year, Stefko accepts applications from star students at local colleges who are considering careers as conservation professionals.

“Our future is in the young people,” Stefko says. “If I can get one of these students into a conservation-related job, then we’ve done something great for the environment.”

Stefko’s students don’t file paperwork or make copies, rather, they’re out in the field, anesthetizing bears, maintaining trails, and helping out with wildlife studies. Stefko likes to emphasize oral communication skills, so he makes his interns give presentations to children at sportsman clubs, teaching them the basics of conservation, hunting safety and wildlife biology. Not all the interns go on to careers in conservation--past interns have ended up as stem cell researchers and correctional officers--but that’s okay with Stefko.

“Some of the kids who come to program will never hunt again, but at least they’ve seen what it’s like to shoot a .22 or a bow,” he says. “And maybe 15 or 20 years down the road, they buy a house and they look out the window and they see a hunter in blaze orange, and they don’t call 911. We’ll have someone on our side that’s not anti-gun and anti-hunting.” -- Spencer Kornhaber

Labels: Heroes of the Week

The plight of Pebble Mine and Bristol Bay in Alaska is well-known here at Field and Stream. In our March 2008 issue, Kirk Deeter wrote about the battle to save the area (Download the article: Salmon%20Roulette.pdf).

Hero Kevin Paulson (February 2008), who runs HuntingLife.com, has teamed up with one of the most active conservation groups in the Bristol Bay area, the Sportsman's Alliance for Alaska, to raise awareness and funds for the group. Visit Hunting Life or the SAA for more details.

Molly Costin
Wadena, Minn.

"From the day we were walking, my siblings and I have been hunting and fishing," says Molly Costin. But Costin, 26, has noticed that for most kids today, the ability to walk rarely comes with a guarantee that they'll be heading outdoors.

"I have 11 nieces and nephews, and a lot hunt and fish," she says. "But I talk to them and I hear that their friends don't. [Hunting and fishing] is not normal anymore."

When Costin, a Soil and Water Conservation District technician, was only 23 years old she started the Wadena Conservation and Wildlife Expo, an event focused on sharing hunting, fishing and conservation traditions in Costin's small Minnesota community. Using games, demonstrations, crafts, and prizes, Costin aims to show children just how important and fun natural resources can be. She also arranges for veteran hunters to teach archery lessons, zookeepers to showcase live animals, and conservation experts to give presentations. Last year even featured a race that required participants to navigate an obstacle course, suit-up in hunting gear, and assemble a tree stand.

Though Wadena is a community of less than 5,000 people, more than 2,200 came through last year's expo, an increasing proportion of which are children. She hopes to repeat that success at this year's event, which will be held from Aug. 22 to 24 at the Wadena County Fairgrounds.

"We want to get the children interested," says Costin. "We're trying to get them to know that conservation is an important issue, and they can all do something to impact it." -- Spencer Kornhaber

Labels: Heroes of the Week

The Total Outdoorsman Challenge regionals are now complete, and the Independence, Mo. regional's Heroes of Conservation presence was perhaps the best yet. Thank you to the following organizations for coming out:

Missouri Hunting Heritage Foundation: This unique group takes hunter education classes to the next level. Certifying new hunters, taking them into the field to show them how to use firearms, and then provides a mentored hunt. Their website is currently being developed (www.mhhf.us) -- check back for contact information.

Missouri Hunter Education Program: The Missouri Hunter Education Program has been around since the 1940s, and held its first formal class in 1957.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Osage Buglers Chapter: This RMEF chapter's work includes funding conservation education projects designed to instill an appreciation for our natural resources and hunting heritage among youth and adults statewide. To date, the chapter has funded 73 projects.

Pheasants Forever, Heartland Chapter: The Heartland Chapter of PF is in its 22 year, and is one of the oldest chapters in Missouri. Pheasants Forever (PF) is dedicated to the conservation of pheasants, quail and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public awareness, education and land management policies and programs.

National Wild Turkey Federation: The NWTF is a grassroots, nonprofit organization with more than 500,000 members in 50 states, Canada, Mexico and 14 other foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.