Garden & Gun Announces its 2022 Champions of Conservation

Press Release

Garden & Gun, in partnership with Atlantic Packaging and A New Earth Project, unveils Champions of Conservation in the October/November 2022 issue (right) on newsstands today. The new program spotlights ten exceptional scientists, advocates, and groundbreakers on the front lines of conservation efforts critical to the protection of our Southern ecosystems, at an important time in their history. Advocating for threatened waterways and agricultural, environmental, and cultural challenges, the dynamic group of crusaders from across the region are working to ensure a more sustainable future for the next generation. Honorees will be fêted with a dinner at Garden & Gun headquarters on Thursday, September 22nd.

“Each of the outstanding heroes that we got to know through the Champions of Conservation program inspired hope,” says David DiBenedetto, senior vice president and editor in chief of Garden & Gun. “And while each of the passionate honorees has a different focus, all are moving the needle when it comes to conservation.”

G&G’s editorial team assembled a panel of conservation experts to offer perspective and help identify the final selections. Members of the inaugural Champions of Conservation panel include Wes Carter, the president of Atlantic Packaging and founder of A New Earth Project; Longleaf Alliance president Carol Denhof; Dale Threatt-Taylor, the executive director of the Nature Conservancy in South Carolina; Georgia hunter and bird-dog trainer Durrell Smith, cofounder of the Minority Outdoor Alliance; and Simon Perkins, the president of Orvis.

“Hearing about all of these amazing folks and their work gives me hope and further inspires me to do more,” says panel member Wes Carter. “Nature and wild places are what nurture us as humans. This is where we return to our essence, find our joy, and teach our children about the wonder of life.” “There is no place in the world that compares to the ecologically diverse habitat of the South,” says panel member Dale Threatt-Taylor. “I felt hopeful just reading about the work of the outstanding conservationists working to protect it.”

Learn more about the Champions of Conservation in the October/November 2022 issue of Garden & Gun on newsstands, and online at www.gardenandgun.com/feature/championsofconservation/.

CHAMPIONS OF CONSERVATION

• Chris Crolley of Coastal Expeditions and the Coastal Expedition Foundation (Charleston, SC): For three decades, Crolley and Coastal Expeditions has been introducing people to the beauty of the Lowcountry and saving critical species in the process
• Savi Horne of Land Loss Prevention Project (Durham, NC): Horne leads the legal services for North Carolina–based non-profit LLPP, which helps Black farmers—historically stymied by racism—and in acquiring loans or property
• Jason Throneberry of the Nature Conservancy (Birmingham, AL): The director of freshwater programs for the Nature Conservancy in Alabama is fighting to restore the ancient migratory pathway for sturgeon and countless other threatened fish species.
• Jennifer Schopf Rehage of Florida International University (Miami, FL): Rehage, a coastal and fish ecologist and professor at FIU, investigates the health of Florida’s recreational fish and fisheries.
• Jaret Daniels of McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity (Gainesville, FL): Daniels, an entomologist and curator at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at Gainesville’s Florida Museum of Natural History, is at the forefront of the charge to save Southeastern pollinators.
• Hallie Shoffner, CEO of SFR Seed (Shoffner, AR): A sixth-generation farmer and vocal climate activist, Shoffner advocates for more awareness of climate extremes and their detrimental effects on modern farmers and the food chain.
• Benny Blanco of Fishing Flamingo (Islamorada, FL): A descendant of Cuban fishermen and a seasoned fishing guide, Blanco is a passionate advocate for the conservation of threatened Florida waterways.
• Caleb Hickman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Fisheries & Wildlife Management
  (Cherokee, NC): Hickman is the supervisory biologist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina where he spearheads the research, conservation, and restoration management of his people’s native land.
• Hannah Chalew, an artist and environmental activist (New Orleans, LA): Chalew constructs living sculptures, growing native plants on intricate forms made from plastic waste and scrap metal.
• Gail LeBoeuf of Inclusive Louisiana (St. James Parish, LA): LeBoeuf cofounded the grassroots nonprofit Inclusive Louisiana to advocate for the area, historically plagued by pollution, and its working-class citizens.

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