The Outdoor Scene

Last weekend I visited my hometown, Wausau, for the first time in years. Riding in the back of my mom and dad’s car, I gawked at the sights of this north central Wisconsin city of 38,000 people like I was in New York City or Washington, D.C. A lot has changed in the 25 years since I left. And a lot has stayed the same.

Of course in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, I was the kid who read too many books and heard too much music, causing me to believe Wausau was a dead-end, backwater burg. There was a world of things happening out there, and I had to go find them. While I never found the hub, I have discovered some interesting people and places along the way, as well as a milder climate.

During my visit last weekend, I saw plenty of evidence to remind me what made Wausau such a terrific place to grow up.  First, several rivers traverse the city, including the mighty Wisconsin. In fact, it was the Wisconsin River that first drew settlers to the area originally known as “Big Bull Falls.”  And it still attracts people today with its plethora of paddling adventures. The same rapids that first provided power to the lumber mills of Wausau’s early residents are now the site of world-class whitewater kayak and canoe competitions.

Outdoor traditions such as fishing are holding strong in my hometown, too. Kids still ride their bikes to Lake Wausau, fishing rod in hand ready to do battle with pike, walleye, muskie and pan fish. While not crowded by any means, kayaks, canoes and motor boats dotted the reservoir and neighboring wetlands last weekend.

Mountain bikers have it good, too. Nine Mile County Forest Recreation Area has great trails for bikers as well as hikers and horseback riders. In the winter, this area becomes the domain of cross country skiers and is famous for its fabulously groomed trails.

Speaking of skiing, did I mention I grew up in a town with a downhill skiing area? Known as Rib Mountain back then, today Granite Peak is becoming one of the premiere ski facilities in the Midwest.

Then, of course, there’s my mother’s garden to enjoy. It’s a work of art, worthy of envy by any horticulturist for its color, variety, fragrance, wildness and sheer presence. Sorry, folks, it’s not open to the public.

Wausau is not without culture either. And I was able to sample a bit of it by visiting the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, which focuses on art in nature. The museum’s permanent collection features birds in historic and contemporary paintings, sculptures, and sketches. I can tell you, I felt right at home strolling past a beautiful sculpture of wild turkeys at the front entrance.

I’d love to go back in September or October when the museum hosts its annual Birds in Art exhibition. This internationally acclaimed, juried exhibition showcases a variety of styles created by artists the world over. In conjunction with Birds in Art, the Woodson Art Museum selects an artist to receive its Master Wildlife Artist Award. This year, Scottish watercolorist and draftsman John Busby is honored with the award for his outstanding achievements in using bird imagery in his work. If you can’t be there in person, the art is documented in a full-color catalog available for purchase.

Stately gardens dotted with sculpture are another treat at the museum. It’s worth taking a turn along the brick walkways of these outdoor galleries, which also offer views of the picturesque museum, an updated 1931 English Tudor period Cotswold-style residence.

You can learn more about the Woodson Art Museum by visiting http://www.lywam.org/. If you’re planning a visit to central Wisconsin, you’ll also want to check out this site: http://www.visitwausau.com/.

For the life of me, I can’t imagine why I’d want to leave a town where I played at riverside parks, enjoyed downhill and cross country skiing as well as hiking, biking, canoeing and bird watching. Sometimes, you just never know what you have until you leave it.

If you get the chance, stop by and say hi to me on Facebook and Twitter @TammyDianeSapp

So baby let’s sell your diamond ring
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away
This coat and tie is choking me
In your high society you cry all day
We’ve been so busy keepin’ up with the Jones
Four-car garage and we’re still building on
Maybe it’s time we got back to the basics of love

-Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) Waylon Jennings, 1977

Waylon’s powerful baritone in this anthem to the simple life is as unforgettable as the hard economic times the country faced in the late ‘70s. For those of us old enough to remember, getting back to the basics was more of a necessity than a choice for many Americans.

And now, more than 30 years later, here we go again. This country’s economic woes hang over us like the cloud that floated over Pigpen’s head in Charlie Brown. Skillful, dedicated workers are laid off, houses are lost and lives, if not ruined, are horribly disrupted.

Unless you’re a believer in the apocalypse, you can trace the history of the world as a series of bad times followed by good times. The Dark Ages and the Renaissance. The American Civil War and the Reconstruction Era. Through it all, humans have thrived when they could and endured when they had to.

Some say we wouldn’t know or appreciate prosperity without hardship. In fact, if there’s a bright spot, coping with adversity can bring out people’s better qualities. Entrepreneurship takes off. Thriftiness becomes admirable. And there’s a new yearning and appreciation for the simpler things in life. The love of our friends and family. The feeling of being connected to nature. Traits that will help us regain our foothold in our quest for success.

We’re already seeing signs that this idea of getting back to the basics is catching on. There’s an Allstate Commercial where Dennis Haysbert reminds us America has endured 12 recessions since the Great Depression.  Haysbert’s voiceover “After the fear subsides …people start enjoying the small things in life” is underscored by photos of families enjoying a home cooked meal and young boys shooting hoops in the driveway. I don’t usually rave on commercials, but this one is spectacularly done because it recognizes the pendulum effect of our economy and reminds us of our resilience.

A 2009 TripAdvisor travel survey verifies that this return to the basics is not just something you’ll see in a commercial. One of the primary trends identified is people are planning to enjoy the outdoors. A whopping 73 percent of respondents said they plan to visit a national park while 53 percent plan to go hiking.

Camping is also on America’s agenda this year as attendance and sales were up at recent RV shows in Michigan, Maryland, Utah and Florida. It’s a buyer’s market now and even with the cost of an RV, camping is still 27 to 61 percent less expensive than other types of vacations.

News such as this begs the question, will more people also hunt?  A reference to a study in the book “The Future of Hunting and Shooting Sports” suggests there’s a correlation between new housing starts and license sales. The study looked at 43 variables including economic data and found that as new housing starts increased, the sale of hunting licenses decreased. This could be the result of a couple of different factors: urbanization takes away hunting land or access to it and/or increased construction activity leaves less time for hunting (another part of the study found many hunters are in the construction business).

Doesn’t it stand to reason that if housing starts decrease then hunting and fishing license sales will increase? While researchers may not have the answer to that one yet, it sounds logical. And hopefully it would have a snowball effect as men (who make up the majority of hunters and anglers), would introduce their wives, girlfriends, sons and daughters to the woods and waters.

Hunting and fishing are great back-to-the-basics activities because not only will you enjoy the time spent outdoors, you can fill your freezer with healthy, nutritious meat that any locavore would love.

That reminds me of another classic country song by Hank Williams, Jr. Released in 1981, “Country Boy Can Survive” is an ode to survival and self sufficiency that rose to the top of the charts when times were tough in America. For many, the message still resonates today.

And we can skin a buck; we can run a trot-line
And a country boy can survive

Come to think of it, so can a country girl.

This is a difficult period for many Americans. But have faith. Plant a garden this spring. Go turkey hunting. Enjoy a picnic at a nearby state park. Watch the birds at your feeder. Catch a fish. And live like you mean it.

Some 15 or 20 years ago, when I worked for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, the agency hired its first female game warden. At the time, I was banging out magazine copy and probably the bravest thing I had done was edit out unnecessary commas. So I was in awe of this woman who had the moxie to walk up to a pickup in the dark and question its gun toting occupants. I wanted to interrogate her in the worst way, to find out what made her tick. Now, many years and commas later, I got my chance to talk to a woman who has made a career choice the average person can’t even comprehend.

Jasmine Grossnickle, a wildlife officer for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is one of four female officers working afield in the Buckeye State. This Ohio native has two years of experience under her belt and a passion for her job that’s evident, even over the phone.

She admits, though, that she really didn’t expect to go in that direction. Armed with a wildlife management degree from Ohio State University and a history of enjoying fishing, hiking and camping with her family, Jasmine thought she was destined to be a wild manager. However, a job search led her to wildlife law enforcement instead, a decision she’s glad she made.

I’ve always wondered what it takes to be a wildlife officer, and what Jasmine outlined did not sound like a walk in the park. First, there’s 16 rigorous weeks in the classroom learning the legal aspects of the job such as search and seizure, Miranda rights and more. That’s followed up by nine weeks of specialized wildlife training, which Jasmine told me is what she really looked forward to. She especially enjoyed the training stations set up that simulated a fishing, hunting or trapping scenario that the students had to treat like an actual field contact. After their approach and contact, the senior officers would critique their performance. There was also a challenging physical fitness schedule with one example being early wake up calls so the students could begin the day on a dead run.

Today, her schedule still includes insanely early mornings, late nights and weekends - whatever it takes to protect the wildlife resource from poachers and serve the residents of her county. But that’s what Jasmine said she loves, the chance to work outside and the job’s unpredictability. Every day is a surprise that unfolds when she checks her messages. Depending on the time of year, she may be out of the house before dawn checking waterfowl hunters or hitting the woods in the middle of the night to follow up on spotlighting complaints. No two days are the same. She also said she enjoys opportunities to teach at Passport to Fishing events and then seeing a young person she mentored fishing just a few weeks later.

I had to ask Jasmine about how she deals with the scary unknown. Handling a belligerent contact in the field, especially alone, would shake most people’s confidence. Jasmine admitted that the potential danger is a downside of her job. However, when she feels like the situation might get thorny, she contacts the county dispatch or a fellow game warden with her location. And she pointed out that she’s properly trained and equipped to deal with those kinds of situations and stays on her guard. To date, she’s not encountered anything too hair raising.

Jasmine also had great advice for women who are considering a wildlife officer career. First, a candidate needs to not only have a strong interest in the outdoors but a wildlife or law enforcement degree to back it up. And if you’re the type of person who can make contact with people and not be intimidated, this job will be a better fit. She said it’s an extremely competitive career path, though. Out of the hundreds of candidates who apply, only a handful are hired. While the hiring process is long and arduous, you can more successfully navigate it if you have an insider’s perspective. That’s why Jasmine recommends trying to first get a seasonal position or internship with the agency and learn as much as you can.

Being a wildlife officer is no job for a cupcake. I’m thankful for those special few who love being outside rain or shine and yearn for the excitement, danger and fulfillment their job brings. For me, though, I think I’ll just stick to doing battle with punctuation.