October 8, 2025 • 37 mins
Updates from the State of Indiana Forester and the Waterfowl Biologist, as well as a report from Ducks Unlimited.
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Speaker 1 (00:28):
What do you say we party hardy here? Huh it's
Indian Outdoor show Man. Am I glad to be in here?
There is no better time to be on the Indiana
Outdoor Yeah, any place the outdoor playground that is in
the fall. We have a beautiful fall finally in the
state of Indiana, and so many things happening this time
(00:52):
of the year. People are getting rid of they're already
deer hunting with archery. Firearm season starts real soon. Waterfowl
fishing is just off the hook. You heard from our
good correspondent friend Jay Anglin. No better time, but my gosh,
we've had a beautiful early changing of the leaves. I
am excited, So why not celebrate with Indiana Outdoors. Of course,
(01:12):
I'm your host, Brian Pointer Indiana Outdoors. We're brought to
you by our good friends at Indiana Donor Network Driven
to Save Lives dot org. I know we've been talking
that tagline now for years, but making progress getting people
off that donor waiting list, give the gift of life
and heal dozens with that gift and save many lives.
(01:37):
And we appreciate that of course. Now making it easy
to buy when you buy your hunting and fishing license
to sign up to be that organ and tissue donor.
Because there is so much going on, it's really one
of my favorite times of the year looking at Indiana
outdoors and scheduling because we have so much diversity getting
into the field and forest. We're going to kick things
(01:59):
off with, speaking of forest, our state Forester Jack Seaffert.
Jack is a long time two plus decade I believe,
leader of Indiana forests and many many times a thankless job,
but by all accounts, forest management Indiana's certainly rivaled amongst
(02:19):
many of the neighboring states, and that's because of Jack
and all of his team's leadership. Forestry is so very,
very important. They have some open houses coming up. We're
going to find out from Jack what people can expect
to see and what they should be prepared for. Plus
a little update on the forest health, if you will,
always good to get that. Plus in the litany of
(02:42):
all the great things going on this time of the year,
waterfowl season. We have the youth waterfowl season coming up,
and the seasons are set. Obviously the weather is changing,
so we're going to get a good update from our
state waterfowl biologist Adam Phelps. He's one of my favorites.
(03:02):
Always good to visit with him. And that's going to
be followed with our friends at Ducks Unlimited. We have
a brand new development director in the state of Indiana
and great. We've had so much positive energy and we're
on a roll here in Indiana and it's going to
be our Jay's job to keep that up and we're
going to visit with him find out what led him
(03:23):
to Ducks Unlimited. As you can see, it is a
great start to the Indiana Outdoor Show and I couldn't
be more happy to be here with you. And there
is a new license system. Remember go in and check
out how to do that before it's too late. I
always give that as a mention. But don't you worry.
We're coming back and joining me our state forester mister
(03:45):
Seffert right after this and Indiana Outdoors on a Saturday
in the fall in October. Couldn't get any better. Probably could,
(04:08):
But this is pretty darn good to me. I your host,
Brian Pointer. It is the Indiana Outdoor Show, and we
do appreciate all of you who listen throughout the year,
and we especially thank those that carry this station and
have for all these twenty five six seven. I don't
even know how many years we've been doing it, but
we've been having fun for all that time. And because
(04:28):
of our good sponsor, like our friends at Indiana Donor
Network driven two SaveLives dot org. That's the number two.
Sign up to be that organ and tissue donor, give
the gift of life, heal many save lives. And you
know it couldn't be any easier. When you go buy
your hunting and fishing license, you can sign up to
(04:49):
be that organ and tissue donor. Speaking of licenses, new system.
We keep reminding people go in early, don't wait till
the last minute. There's a new system that's going to
be so much better and efficient for the folks. But
it's a little different than what they may have been
used to in the past. So there's my reminder. As
I mentioned at the top of the hour, it's always
my distinct honor and privilege to have the conversation with
(05:12):
our state Forester, our Director of Forestry and Indiana, Jack Seyffert.
Long time, Well you've been how long have you been
the forester? Jack? This is quite a land of years
twenty twenty one. All right, so you came just a
little bit after we started Indiana Outdoors, and it seems
(05:33):
like that makes sense because as long as we've been
doing this, you've been our go to and forestry has
certainly been. It's so important to the state, and we
have such beautiful assets here in the state in our forestry,
and a lot of good comes out of that forest
management for local communities and other things. But I saw
(05:54):
recently that, as has been your tradition in forestry, there's
going to be some open houses for the public, and
just thought would kind of get a brief update from you.
What is the condition, What is the state of Indiana's
forest management process right now? How are things going?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Excuse me, Actually, they're going pretty good, both on the
private and public side. The only issue of concern right
now is the economy a little bit slow, so that's
reflected in when people try to sell a standing timber.
But we're moving forward on species actives management. So yeah,
it's all pretty good.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So you mentioned the public and the private side, and
I've been the beneficiary at another time long ago, where
I was a landowner in the state and utilized the
private side of what you just reference. But for those
that may not be familiar, people are obviously know what
our state forests are and they know that they are
(06:54):
opportunities for recreation, but it's also a renewable resource that
does go into the economy. On the private side, explain that.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, I say, the private side. Most of the forest
land in Indiana is actually held by private landowners voters
of the state of Indiana. There's literally hundreds of thousands
of them across the state, obviously more in the south
centers and than ours, and they provide lots of assets,
not only on the timber side, but on the recreation side,
(07:25):
of the environmental side, and the wildlife side.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So that is a longstanding practice. And as I said,
I think people are familiar with the public side, but
I don't want to take that for granted. This is
an opportunity for you and those assets that aren't in
public hands and private hands. You have the public management
of our state forests and always always a challenge to
balance everyone's interests. But how are things on the public side.
(07:52):
I've never seen our forests look better and healthier, and
certainly I know that's a testimony to a lot of work,
but how do you characterize things on the public side.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Actually, on the public side that we're doing pretty good.
Our biggest concern probably going forward is that if you
think back at the inception and after the inception of
the States of Indiana, that a lot of the forests
were cleared and then those forests are come back, and
they've come back extremely well, but they're what we call
(08:27):
they're becoming older, and that means that they're kind of
like you and me. They do have a life cycle
an extent, and we're seeing lots of trees die, and
that's not all bad because they do provide other opportunities
for insect disease and birds who feed on those insects.
So we're just trying to look at how you motivate
(08:51):
the public to understand as well as public and private lands,
that forest management is actually a good thing because it
renews the forest right what we call age class distribution,
meaning that we need young forests, we need medium age forests,
and we need older force and right now most of
the forests and Indiana are trending towards older forests.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Is that a bad thing or is it neutral? Or
what do you do with an old forest?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Well, it's not necessarily all bad or all good. It's
just that the trend is moving towards older forest, so
the lack of younger forest, like you know, renewing the family,
so to speak with children. You have to renew the
forests with ceilings. And when you don't create and don't
harvest and don't create those habitats, you don't get a
renewal of new species and new young ceilings. So that's
(09:44):
that's a concern, and it's just not it's a slow
process because you really don't see it when you go
to the forest as a novice, so to speak, with
the data, the science has clearly been telling us for
the last twenty thirty years. We've got to change our
thought processes and motivate and convince folks that we do
need to do more active forest management.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That makes sense. You know, it's always a conundrum, right
to kind of balance that public perception with the mother
nature reality that forest management is a requirement, and sometimes
that means cutting trees. But I know the Governor's initiative,
the previous governor Holcom the million Tree initiative was wildly
(10:30):
ahead of schedule and a lot of trees were planted.
Is that help or is that just something on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, that actually helped because we added about a little
over one thousand acres of what we call young forests.
So we talk about a young forest, we're talking about
something that's zero to twenty years of age. And yeah,
there's always small ceilings in the forest, but chances are
of those small ceilings and the understory of breaching maturity
(10:58):
without a large natural disturbance or a harvest is very low.
So you literally have to go in and sort of
manipulate it through active management.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
And that's the same for every one of our biologists
who whether it's deer or turkeys or anything else, managing
that for the sustainability into the future is no different
than what I hear you saying, and we appreciate all
that effort for what you do. So when you look
ahead some of these open houses, who comes to those
(11:33):
who I know it's open to everyone, but what interest
do those bring?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Excuse? Typically they're the people who live adjoining us, who
are the ones that normally show up. We do a card,
we send a good neighbor invitation to everybody who joins us,
and then we do a public pr program with releases
for folks who may not be a joining land owners,
(12:00):
but typically those people who show up, special interest groups
like hiking groups, hunting groups will show up and we'll
typically have thirty to forty people attend an open house,
and our tend the open houses to be completely open
with people what we plan to do in the next
(12:20):
year or two years, whether it's a recreation activity, whether
it's building a building or rehabit a building, or upgrading
a trail, or active forest management. So we believe in
open houses and the public knowing what we're doing before
we do it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Jack Seyfford is our guest. He's two decades of superior
leadership and forest management and doing great work that, as
you mentioned, doesn't oftentimes get the visible light of day.
It's like putting in new sewer lines that need to
be replaced into a hotel and it doesn't do anything
(12:57):
to the lobby, right, you know, But it's if you
don't have the sewer line and you're in trouble this
in this instance, I can understand completely how you have
to manage that and public, private and everybody in between.
It's a balancing act and how do you do that?
How do you weigh all of the interests between those
that want to recreate and those that want to cut
(13:17):
the forest and get some cash back into their local economies, etc.
How do you do that? That's not really that's a
million dollar question right there, right.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It is for us. We have sister agencies that provide
some of those other opportunities that we may not be
centrally focused on. I mean, obviously we provide lots of
opportunities that are hunting, but we have a sister agency
whose only goal is to manage wildlife and wildlife species.
So what we typically do is we look at and
(13:50):
take comments on what people think we should be doing
or not doing, and then we try to parse it
out by understanding what our budget is and what our
manpower is. And I think we do it. Again, I'm biased, obviously,
but I think we do a great job of trying
to meet what we call those multiple use goals with
all these constituents who are owners of that of that
(14:11):
land that's the State of Indiana owns. So we never
make everybody happy, but we try to make most people happy.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
How many owned acres in forest management do you does
Indiana have? Right now?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Just a little over one hundred and sixty thousands of
state forest land.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
That is quite a monumental task, I'm sure for you.
How did you end up getting in this business of
being the Indiana's state forester? Heh, boy, be careful what
you ask for, right, Well, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You know, it's always different from the outside than it
is on the inside, so you know you always this
to me from the outside, it was a dream job
to have. You sort of set policy, you help people
meet their goals, whether they're on their private lands or
our public land. And it just sort of looked good
to me and interesting. I'd watched the folks my predecessors,
(15:06):
and I knew most of them here and what they did,
and I thought, you know, that'd be a nice job
to have. If I could actually fill the fill those
shoes of those my predecessors, would be great.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I mean, did you start out in college and forest
management and kind of take the course or was it
something that you came to later.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Well, I actually grew up in the big city, not Indianapolis,
a different city, and at that time, I mean I
was outdoor person all along and actually was interested more
in wildlife at the time, and then went to school
and migrated to the forest management side, had a little
bit of capitalism in me at that time, and kind
of evolved into the forest management side and spent almost
(15:47):
twenty years in research and an extension at Pretty University
before I came to the DNR and forestry.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Wow, Jack, it's never a dull moment with you in
forestry and management of our state resources is one of
the most important I think, because it is so everything
kind of flows downstream. If you have healthy forests, you're
gonna have healthy wildlife, you're gonna have clean water, you're
gonna have good habitat everybody is happy. But man, getting
(16:16):
to that point can sometimes be challenging. Where can people
go if they want to learn more about these open
houses that are going to be scheduled here in October.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
They can go to our website, or if they if
there's a forest close to them, just give them a
call and we'll give you all the details.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
And I know that you can. That's a great example.
Just pick up the phone and call or get online
and check out the open house schedules and if go
to a forest near you. As we say, Jack, it's
always great to visit with you. You're one of my favorite people,
and you're one of the hardest working guys you ever
think about. I've had enough of the trees and it's
(16:56):
time to go do something else.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Now, Not yet, I still got a few more goals
that want accomplish.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well, we're going to be here with you hopefully to
bring those to fruition. And I know you're always one
that invites public input and to participate, and these open
houses are a great opportunity to do that, to visit,
hands on, make your voices known, and I know you
listen to them all. You do a great job and
we appreciate you here at Indiana Outdoors. We look forward
to talking to you, hopefully not as long as it's
(17:23):
been since the last time, but keep up the great
work this fall.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I appreciate your kindness and the opportunity to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Be good.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
My friend Jack Seaffert, our state Forester, are always great
to visit with him. I your host, Brian Pointer, brought
to you by Indiana Donor Network. Don't go anywhere. We're
going to go to the ducks now. We're going to
find out what's happening and look forward to our waterfowl season.
Ducks Unlimited and also our state biologist Adam Phelps, when
we returned right after this and Indiana Outdoors rolls on.
(18:10):
What a beautiful fall. We have actually had a beautiful
fall for a change here in the state of Indiana.
And early October no better time to get out and
the great Indiana Outdoors everything comes together. Great fishing, hunting
seasons are upon us, the waterfowl are out and about,
and people taking the field and forest. It's always great. We're,
of course brought to you by our friends at Indiana
(18:31):
Donor Network driven two Save Lives dot org. I your host,
Brian Pointer. Indiana Outdoors always great to visit with our
biologists here and none better than Adam Phelps, Indiana's waterfowl biologist. Adam,
it's that time of the year where people are starting
to get their waiters out and thinking about migratory waterfowl.
(18:52):
We had early seasons already in Indiana, but just throw
it to you. How have you been, What are you
thinking about? How are things looking for the state and
this up becoming waterfowl season.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, I'm doing pretty well. I'm thinking mostly about that
cold front we got on Tuesday and the map showed
a large slug of birds coming down from eastern Canada
throughout the central part of the country. So hopefully there'll
be birds out there for the youth weekends that are
coming up.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I love it. That's interesting. So do you have, like,
do you have some special technology that shows that big
wad of birds? That's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Now, it's not anything special, it's it's a public website
that basically maps bird migration via radar. It's called bird
Cast and they do it not quite in real time.
It's about a day behind. And I just looked at
the one from Tuesday when that when it got cool,
and man, it just turns bright yellow overnight, all these
(19:51):
birds moving through. They're picking them up on radar. It's
really neat the way they're using that technology.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love it. So as our state waterfowl biologists, you know,
it's all year long, but this kind of becomes the
highlight of the season, so to speak. And leading up
to this on a day to day basis, what does
the waterfowl biologists do when you're not in a hunting season.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Well, I mean, my busiest time of the year honestly
is in the spring when we're getting ready to set
the seasons for the fall. By the time we get
round to the hunting season, most of what I do
for the hunting season has been done for a while.
So we just had our Mississippi Flyway meeting in September.
That was a big deal. That's setting looking at what
the seasons will be like for next year, the twenty
(20:34):
seven seasons. So that's just wrapping up and that's starting
to go through the federal process to get those rules
published for the following season. So we work a year ahead.
This year's surveys will inform next year is the seasons,
which allows us to set our seasons earlier than we
(20:56):
used to. You know, when I first started, I've been
here twenty years now. When I first started, we set
the seasons in July basically just before they would open.
And now we're able to do that a year ahead
of time to get people a lot more heads up
in terms of what the seats are going to look
like in the fall.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Adam Phelps is our guests today at Indian Outdoors. He
is our state waterfowl biologist, and you know, you and
I have talked over the years of Indian Outdoors about
how the seasons are set and how the sausage is made.
Some people might agree, some people not. But I would
tell you that, in my humble opinion, in the last
ten years, Indiana has become more and more of a
(21:36):
place of waterfowl destination. I'm not suggesting anything magnanimous, but
there's a lot of great hunting opportunities here in the fall,
all contingent on weather, of course, because you know, wait
ten minutes and it could be ten below. But I mean,
would you agree with that assessment. Indiana is a decent place,
and Indiana has had quite a heritage of hunting opportunities
(21:57):
here that have only gotten better.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I think it's really interesting actually, because Indiana, you know,
we tend to compare ourselves to the other states of
the Mississippi Flyway, and when you're in the same flyway
as Minnesota and Arkansas and Louisiana, it's easy to see
us as a pretty small player in terms of harvest
and hunting opportunity. But in the last especially five or
six years, I mean, the one thing that stands out
(22:21):
to me the most is the number of white fronted
geese that we see in Indiana. That's really brand new.
That opportunity has gone from from minimal in certain parts
of the states to becoming you know, almost sought after
by a lot of goose hunters that are actually changing
their tactics to more target white fronts than Canada's, which
are of course abundant in the state throughout the season.
(22:43):
So that influx of white fronts that we're seeing now
is they hit the Mississippi Delta and then bounce back
north earlier and earlier each year. Is a really neat
opportunity for Indiana hunters that is only going to increase.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I couldn't agree with you more. We rely a lot.
I know you do, and a lot of the professionals
and biologists look at the surveys in the prairie Potholes
and up in Canada, and there was some drought for
quite an extended period time up in Canada. Is that
relieved itself a little bit of the birds kind of
gone back to their natural nesting places.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So this year the conditions in the May surveys were
worse than last year, but there was a lot of
midsummer rain that probably provided a lot of good brood
rearing habitat for those birds that were able to find
nesting places early, and also for those late nesting ducks
like Gadwalls that nest a little bit later, So there's
(23:41):
a lot of hope that that late rain actually will
provide better at hunting this year, more ducks than we
had in last season.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Adam Phelps, our guest state waterfowl biologists, Anything that you
would like for people to know this year. We have
a new license system in Indiana that people need to
probably get on and pay attention to before the last minute.
But other than the nuts and bolts, anything good news,
any sort of what's on the front of your mind,
(24:11):
as our state biologists for hunters to be thinking about
this fall.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I guess the big thing for me right now is
there's a fair bit of chatter out there about how
the surveys are run and the numbers of ducks and
whether or not we should be continuing a liberal season
with essentially flat Mallard numbers over the last three years.
And I just want to point out that we've been
in a liberal season now for thirty years, which is
(24:36):
hard to believe, and we are nowhere near the bottom
of where we've been in mallard or palm counts in
that amount of time. So ducks are very resilient. They're
very flashy. When the water comes back, the populations tend
to explode. I think we're in a very sustainable place.
I think we should have a decent season and I'm
hopeful that the rain that started in the prairies this
(24:58):
summer continues and we have a good snowfall.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
This winner well.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Adam, thanks for all the work that you do. Is
one of Indiana's a great biologists. Waterfowl is a great tradition.
A lot of folks taking to that. Over the last
few years We've seen a wildly explosive People love their
their outdoors and waterfowl season is a great way to
do that. We're going to be visiting with our friends
at Ducks Unlimited a little bit later on. I know
(25:21):
they have enjoyed record numbers as well, so a lot
of interest in this in Indiana. We appreciate all that
you do. Keep up the great work and always an
open phone here for you, my friend, anytime you need it.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Thanks Brian, take care.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Talk to you soon. It is the Indiana Outdoor Show.
Great to visit with Adam Phelps, one of Indiana's great
wildlife or waterfowl biologists. And when we return As I mentioned,
Ducks and Limited, we're gonna find out what they're up
to this fall. It is the Indian Outdoor Show back
right after this And did we have any more fun
(26:06):
on the Indiana Outdoor Show. What a day. This is
always made better by the fact we've actually had a
fall here in the state of Indiana. It is none
better than experiencing an Indiana fall. Fishing is great, hunting
is great, the weather has been great, my gosh, and
of course the Outdoor Show is great. And we have
(26:26):
great guests like our friend Adam Phelps, our state waterfowl biologist,
And now we switch to our good friends at Ducks
Unlimited and new guest. We always like new guests, but
we've had many from Ducks Unlimited over the years.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
R J.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sutton is the new development director here for the State
of Indiana, and I figured it was time RJ that
you and I got to know each other a little
bit and to spend a little time on Indiana Outdoors
talking about the Ducks and Ducks Unlimited and the great
work that you guys do across Indiana. So welcome to
your new position and welcomed Indiana Outdoors.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Thanks for having me a honor to be here and
look forward.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
To this well it is. You're not a stranger, of course,
you were a long time volunteer as was I, for
my gosh, twenty plus years in chapter work and planning
banquets and then getting involved with statewide stuff. It is,
and ultimately putting my money where my mouth is, which
(27:23):
is a firm believer in the work that Ducks Unlimited
does as a life sponsor for Ducks and that means
a lot to me because I know the great work
that you do. So why don't you tell us a
little bit about how you ended up as the new
development director and what you've done for Ducks un Limited.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
I originally started as a volunteer years ago. Also attended
events all the way back to when I was a
younger child with friends and family, and enjoyed attending those events.
Eventually becoming head a local chairman for the Fort Lane,
Indiana Chapter and then the state chairman, a volunteer position
(28:07):
for Indiana, and then a state campaign chairman. This position
came open, I was fortunate enough to be able to
finish a lifelong career in law enforcement with the four
Land Police Department, and a very pleasing career at that
and be able to start a new career in the
development section with Ducks Unlimited, which is also close to
(28:29):
my heart obviously with all my years of involvement as
a volunteer.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
You know, I can remember as a young person, very young,
couldn't tell you the age, but I was. My dad
took me to one of the chapters and I remember
the speaker that day. I remember the book that I got,
which I still have. It was a beautiful coffee table
book about ducks, and it struck me as something that
(28:56):
I wanted to do. And then later as I was
able to kind of manage my own and volunteer here
and there, this became one of those places, and Ducks Unlimited,
especially here in Indiana, has had a very special place.
I've always enjoyed the amount that goes back into Indiana
from the money that's raised here. A very very efficient organization,
good stewards of the money they raised. But Indiana has
(29:18):
been the beneficiary of some great Ducks and Limited projects
over the years. Not to throw you into the fire
right now, but you've worked on a lot of those,
and I think you would agree with me that Indiana
is in a great place right now, and hopefully the
momentum continues for what you do to provide more back
resources back to the state and hunters and conservationists in
anybody that likes clean water and healthy, healthy animals and critters.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Yeah, Indiana's been very fortunate over the years. There are
some priority areas, especially up in the northeast corner and
down the southwest corners of the state, but that's unlimited
has been very good to Indiana and making sure that
projects happen all over the state. We've been lucky that
dollars raised in Indiana has always been fairly close to
(30:06):
the amount of dollars that are spent in Indiana. Not
all of them go to Indiana, but as you know,
ducks fly south for the winter and back north in
the spring, and there are definitely other priority areas that
are funds in Indiana go to. So we've been very
lucky that our donors have been able to see the
(30:28):
dollars go into the ground along with those funds that
come from those Indiana license plates for ducks Unlimited, those
particular funds go definitely into the ground in Indiana every year.
We highly encourage that as well.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
R J Suffin is our guest, the new Director of
Development for the State of Indiana for Ducks Unlimited, and
we can talk about all the specific work and things
that go into Ducks Unlimited, but ultimately, it's always been
impressive to me that Indiana has a disproportionate amount of
(31:06):
federal duck stamps that people purchase here versus the fact
that you know, we're not in Arkansas, We're not considered
the mecha of duck hunting. But it's a very good
testimony to the stewardship that people feel of protecting and
to buying federal duck stamps. And we've had at least
two national Presidents of Ducks Unlimited from Indiana, at least
(31:28):
in my tenure over the last twenty almost thirty years
of Indiana outdoors here. That's a rare occurrence, but it
tells you about the people of Indiana and the commitment
to ducks and Limited in great leadership here.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
I think, yes, John tom Key and Don Rollins, both
former presidents of the U still both involved heavily with
du to this day. And you know, when we talk
about those federal duck stamps, many people who buy those
stamps by multiple stamps. They don't need to, but they
do because they know where the money goes. And that's
(32:00):
kind of what my job does is, you know, I'm
here to try to find those big dollars corporations and
philanthropy that people want to give to great things where
people steward the money. Well, I just read an email
this morning where we're currently sitting at about eighty seven
cents on the dollar given to du going back into
(32:23):
the ground.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
That is a staggering number in the world of charity
and especially in conservation. I am proud of that number,
and I'm glad to know that that is the updated number,
which I will be sure to get out and around.
This is the season, you know, the banquet season, which
I know you're a part of tangentially, but a lot
(32:45):
of folks going to be planning and executing as they
do throughout the year, events where money is raised, and
they're always so much fun. They're always very very well
attended with a loyal group of folks. But I always
encourage people that might be listening today, this is a
great opportunity to meet people and to come to these
(33:05):
events that people are welcoming and get involved. Put your
money where your mouth is just come and enjoy and
meet some new people. It's one of the best environments
that I've found. And it doesn't matter if you're a duck,
a deer, a turkey, in elka, a pheasant. They all
have organizations, but they all end up providing what we want,
which is good game habitat, good conservation efforts, clean water, etc.
(33:30):
And that's something I know Ducks is very proud of.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Yeah, I'm always amazed when I attend an event and
somebody walks up to me and says I want to
do more. They basically raise their hands. Whether that raising
the hand is being a volunteer or giving more money.
You know, do you as a volunteer organization all the
way to the top volunteer lead And it just amazes
me how much people want to help when the organization
(33:56):
does great things, just like Duck Unlimited does.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I am glad we have this intro conversation. The next
time we'll start hitting you with the good stuff, which
we're not hitting you with any good stuff. It's all
lighthearted chitchat here on Indian Outdoors, but we do always
like to make people aware of those that are doing
great work the time, talent and treasure that goes into
these conservation organizations. As I mentioned the litany of all
those that have them. Doesn't matter. Join something, get a
(34:22):
part of it. But if you want to be part
of a great organization, Ducks and Women is certainly one
of them. Always an open phone here. We wish you
well as you start your new venture, and I'm sure
we'll have you back on quite regularly from time to times.
Thanks for being a part of Indian Outdoors today. Thank you, Brian,
my pleasure. What a show, what a great opportunity. I
(34:44):
have so much more to say, so don't even think
about leaving. It's the Indiana Outdoor Show, and I'm your host,
Brian Pointer. If you could be exhausted by having so
(35:10):
much fun, that's what I am. I love the fact
you can get all these great guests on Indiana Outdoors,
like our state forester Jack Seyffert. What a job he
has done in Indiana. Nobody really likes to know how
the sausage is made, but forest management. You heard him say,
one hundred and sixty thousand acres of public forest that
(35:33):
has to be managed, and you kind of heard some
of the science behind it. It's fascinating. Always fascinating to
me to have him on. I've been the beneficiary of
multiple times where he has lectured and given presentations and
you just can't help but respect the great work that
our forestry does here in Indiana. You know what here
I just started yep, and I didn't tell you who
(35:54):
I am. I'm Brian Pointer. It's the Indiana Outdoor Show.
We had a great one today and when we got
but all through with our good friends in forest Or,
we switched over to the Ducks. Why not. It's a
beautiful time of the year. Waterfowl season on the mind
of many, and Adam Phelps is our longtime waterfowl biologists
by all accounts great work. Indiana has certainly turned a
(36:16):
corner of hunting opportunities and we are so fortunate to
have Adam. And that was followed by Ducks Unlimited, brand
new development director in the state of Indiana. Why is
that important because we have raised through their efforts, Ducks
have raised millions and hitting new goals and landmarks. Just
(36:37):
showing the fortitude and the common sense of a lot
of conservationists out there knowing that the Ducks Unlimited organization
puts a lot of great resources for good use back
in Indiana, and we are so fortunate to have them.
So that being said, I don't want you to go
anywhere except to Great Indiana Outdoors. Experienced something fun this
beautiful fall weekend. I am your host. We are going
(36:58):
to be back next weekend with another big one. I
will see you outside somewhere. Have a good one.
What do you say we party hardy here? Huh it's
Indian Outdoor show Man. Am I glad to be in here?
There is no better time to be on the Indiana
Outdoor Yeah, any place the outdoor playground that is in
the fall. We have a beautiful fall finally in the
state of Indiana, and so many things happening this time
(00:52):
of the year. People are getting rid of they're already
deer hunting with archery. Firearm season starts real soon. Waterfowl
fishing is just off the hook. You heard from our
good correspondent friend Jay Anglin. No better time, but my gosh,
we've had a beautiful early changing of the leaves. I
am excited, So why not celebrate with Indiana Outdoors. Of course,
(01:12):
I'm your host, Brian Pointer Indiana Outdoors. We're brought to
you by our good friends at Indiana Donor Network Driven
to Save Lives dot org. I know we've been talking
that tagline now for years, but making progress getting people
off that donor waiting list, give the gift of life
and heal dozens with that gift and save many lives.
(01:37):
And we appreciate that of course. Now making it easy
to buy when you buy your hunting and fishing license
to sign up to be that organ and tissue donor.
Because there is so much going on, it's really one
of my favorite times of the year looking at Indiana
outdoors and scheduling because we have so much diversity getting
into the field and forest. We're going to kick things
(01:59):
off with, speaking of forest, our state Forester Jack Seaffert.
Jack is a long time two plus decade I believe,
leader of Indiana forests and many many times a thankless job,
but by all accounts, forest management Indiana's certainly rivaled amongst
(02:19):
many of the neighboring states, and that's because of Jack
and all of his team's leadership. Forestry is so very,
very important. They have some open houses coming up. We're
going to find out from Jack what people can expect
to see and what they should be prepared for. Plus
a little update on the forest health, if you will,
always good to get that. Plus in the litany of
(02:42):
all the great things going on this time of the year,
waterfowl season. We have the youth waterfowl season coming up,
and the seasons are set. Obviously the weather is changing,
so we're going to get a good update from our
state waterfowl biologist Adam Phelps. He's one of my favorites.
(03:02):
Always good to visit with him. And that's going to
be followed with our friends at Ducks Unlimited. We have
a brand new development director in the state of Indiana
and great. We've had so much positive energy and we're
on a roll here in Indiana and it's going to
be our Jay's job to keep that up and we're
going to visit with him find out what led him
(03:23):
to Ducks Unlimited. As you can see, it is a
great start to the Indiana Outdoor Show and I couldn't
be more happy to be here with you. And there
is a new license system. Remember go in and check
out how to do that before it's too late. I
always give that as a mention. But don't you worry.
We're coming back and joining me our state forester mister
(03:45):
Seffert right after this and Indiana Outdoors on a Saturday
in the fall in October. Couldn't get any better. Probably could,
(04:08):
But this is pretty darn good to me. I your host,
Brian Pointer. It is the Indiana Outdoor Show, and we
do appreciate all of you who listen throughout the year,
and we especially thank those that carry this station and
have for all these twenty five six seven. I don't
even know how many years we've been doing it, but
we've been having fun for all that time. And because
(04:28):
of our good sponsor, like our friends at Indiana Donor
Network driven two SaveLives dot org. That's the number two.
Sign up to be that organ and tissue donor, give
the gift of life, heal many save lives. And you
know it couldn't be any easier. When you go buy
your hunting and fishing license, you can sign up to
(04:49):
be that organ and tissue donor. Speaking of licenses, new system.
We keep reminding people go in early, don't wait till
the last minute. There's a new system that's going to
be so much better and efficient for the folks. But
it's a little different than what they may have been
used to in the past. So there's my reminder. As
I mentioned at the top of the hour, it's always
my distinct honor and privilege to have the conversation with
(05:12):
our state Forester, our Director of Forestry and Indiana, Jack Seyffert.
Long time, Well you've been how long have you been
the forester? Jack? This is quite a land of years
twenty twenty one. All right, so you came just a
little bit after we started Indiana Outdoors, and it seems
(05:33):
like that makes sense because as long as we've been
doing this, you've been our go to and forestry has
certainly been. It's so important to the state, and we
have such beautiful assets here in the state in our forestry,
and a lot of good comes out of that forest
management for local communities and other things. But I saw
(05:54):
recently that, as has been your tradition in forestry, there's
going to be some open houses for the public, and
just thought would kind of get a brief update from you.
What is the condition, What is the state of Indiana's
forest management process right now? How are things going?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Excuse me, Actually, they're going pretty good, both on the
private and public side. The only issue of concern right
now is the economy a little bit slow, so that's
reflected in when people try to sell a standing timber.
But we're moving forward on species actives management. So yeah,
it's all pretty good.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
So you mentioned the public and the private side, and
I've been the beneficiary at another time long ago, where
I was a landowner in the state and utilized the
private side of what you just reference. But for those
that may not be familiar, people are obviously know what
our state forests are and they know that they are
(06:54):
opportunities for recreation, but it's also a renewable resource that
does go into the economy. On the private side, explain that.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, I say, the private side. Most of the forest
land in Indiana is actually held by private landowners voters
of the state of Indiana. There's literally hundreds of thousands
of them across the state, obviously more in the south
centers and than ours, and they provide lots of assets,
not only on the timber side, but on the recreation side,
(07:25):
of the environmental side, and the wildlife side.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So that is a longstanding practice. And as I said,
I think people are familiar with the public side, but
I don't want to take that for granted. This is
an opportunity for you and those assets that aren't in
public hands and private hands. You have the public management
of our state forests and always always a challenge to
balance everyone's interests. But how are things on the public side.
(07:52):
I've never seen our forests look better and healthier, and
certainly I know that's a testimony to a lot of work,
but how do you characterize things on the public side.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Actually, on the public side that we're doing pretty good.
Our biggest concern probably going forward is that if you
think back at the inception and after the inception of
the States of Indiana, that a lot of the forests
were cleared and then those forests are come back, and
they've come back extremely well, but they're what we call
(08:27):
they're becoming older, and that means that they're kind of
like you and me. They do have a life cycle
an extent, and we're seeing lots of trees die, and
that's not all bad because they do provide other opportunities
for insect disease and birds who feed on those insects.
So we're just trying to look at how you motivate
(08:51):
the public to understand as well as public and private lands,
that forest management is actually a good thing because it
renews the forest right what we call age class distribution,
meaning that we need young forests, we need medium age forests,
and we need older force and right now most of
the forests and Indiana are trending towards older forests.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Is that a bad thing or is it neutral? Or
what do you do with an old forest?
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Well, it's not necessarily all bad or all good. It's
just that the trend is moving towards older forest, so
the lack of younger forest, like you know, renewing the family,
so to speak with children. You have to renew the
forests with ceilings. And when you don't create and don't
harvest and don't create those habitats, you don't get a
renewal of new species and new young ceilings. So that's
(09:44):
that's a concern, and it's just not it's a slow
process because you really don't see it when you go
to the forest as a novice, so to speak, with
the data, the science has clearly been telling us for
the last twenty thirty years. We've got to change our
thought processes and motivate and convince folks that we do
need to do more active forest management.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
That makes sense. You know, it's always a conundrum, right
to kind of balance that public perception with the mother
nature reality that forest management is a requirement, and sometimes
that means cutting trees. But I know the Governor's initiative,
the previous governor Holcom the million Tree initiative was wildly
(10:30):
ahead of schedule and a lot of trees were planted.
Is that help or is that just something on the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well, that actually helped because we added about a little
over one thousand acres of what we call young forests.
So we talk about a young forest, we're talking about
something that's zero to twenty years of age. And yeah,
there's always small ceilings in the forest, but chances are
of those small ceilings and the understory of breaching maturity
(10:58):
without a large natural disturbance or a harvest is very low.
So you literally have to go in and sort of
manipulate it through active management.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
And that's the same for every one of our biologists
who whether it's deer or turkeys or anything else, managing
that for the sustainability into the future is no different
than what I hear you saying, and we appreciate all
that effort for what you do. So when you look
ahead some of these open houses, who comes to those
(11:33):
who I know it's open to everyone, but what interest
do those bring?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Excuse? Typically they're the people who live adjoining us, who
are the ones that normally show up. We do a card,
we send a good neighbor invitation to everybody who joins us,
and then we do a public pr program with releases
for folks who may not be a joining land owners,
(12:00):
but typically those people who show up, special interest groups
like hiking groups, hunting groups will show up and we'll
typically have thirty to forty people attend an open house,
and our tend the open houses to be completely open
with people what we plan to do in the next
(12:20):
year or two years, whether it's a recreation activity, whether
it's building a building or rehabit a building, or upgrading
a trail, or active forest management. So we believe in
open houses and the public knowing what we're doing before
we do it.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Jack Seyfford is our guest. He's two decades of superior
leadership and forest management and doing great work that, as
you mentioned, doesn't oftentimes get the visible light of day.
It's like putting in new sewer lines that need to
be replaced into a hotel and it doesn't do anything
(12:57):
to the lobby, right, you know, But it's if you
don't have the sewer line and you're in trouble this
in this instance, I can understand completely how you have
to manage that and public, private and everybody in between.
It's a balancing act and how do you do that?
How do you weigh all of the interests between those
that want to recreate and those that want to cut
(13:17):
the forest and get some cash back into their local economies, etc.
How do you do that? That's not really that's a
million dollar question right there, right.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It is for us. We have sister agencies that provide
some of those other opportunities that we may not be
centrally focused on. I mean, obviously we provide lots of
opportunities that are hunting, but we have a sister agency
whose only goal is to manage wildlife and wildlife species.
So what we typically do is we look at and
(13:50):
take comments on what people think we should be doing
or not doing, and then we try to parse it
out by understanding what our budget is and what our
manpower is. And I think we do it. Again, I'm biased, obviously,
but I think we do a great job of trying
to meet what we call those multiple use goals with
all these constituents who are owners of that of that
(14:11):
land that's the State of Indiana owns. So we never
make everybody happy, but we try to make most people happy.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
How many owned acres in forest management do you does
Indiana have? Right now?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Just a little over one hundred and sixty thousands of
state forest land.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
That is quite a monumental task, I'm sure for you.
How did you end up getting in this business of
being the Indiana's state forester? Heh, boy, be careful what
you ask for, right, Well, yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You know, it's always different from the outside than it
is on the inside, so you know you always this
to me from the outside, it was a dream job
to have. You sort of set policy, you help people
meet their goals, whether they're on their private lands or
our public land. And it just sort of looked good
to me and interesting. I'd watched the folks my predecessors,
(15:06):
and I knew most of them here and what they did,
and I thought, you know, that'd be a nice job
to have. If I could actually fill the fill those
shoes of those my predecessors, would be great.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
I mean, did you start out in college and forest
management and kind of take the course or was it
something that you came to later.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Well, I actually grew up in the big city, not Indianapolis,
a different city, and at that time, I mean I
was outdoor person all along and actually was interested more
in wildlife at the time, and then went to school
and migrated to the forest management side, had a little
bit of capitalism in me at that time, and kind
of evolved into the forest management side and spent almost
(15:47):
twenty years in research and an extension at Pretty University
before I came to the DNR and forestry.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Wow, Jack, it's never a dull moment with you in
forestry and management of our state resources is one of
the most important I think, because it is so everything
kind of flows downstream. If you have healthy forests, you're
gonna have healthy wildlife, you're gonna have clean water, you're
gonna have good habitat everybody is happy. But man, getting
(16:16):
to that point can sometimes be challenging. Where can people
go if they want to learn more about these open
houses that are going to be scheduled here in October.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
They can go to our website, or if they if
there's a forest close to them, just give them a
call and we'll give you all the details.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
And I know that you can. That's a great example.
Just pick up the phone and call or get online
and check out the open house schedules and if go
to a forest near you. As we say, Jack, it's
always great to visit with you. You're one of my favorite people,
and you're one of the hardest working guys you ever
think about. I've had enough of the trees and it's
(16:56):
time to go do something else.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Now, Not yet, I still got a few more goals
that want accomplish.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well, we're going to be here with you hopefully to
bring those to fruition. And I know you're always one
that invites public input and to participate, and these open
houses are a great opportunity to do that, to visit,
hands on, make your voices known, and I know you
listen to them all. You do a great job and
we appreciate you here at Indiana Outdoors. We look forward
to talking to you, hopefully not as long as it's
(17:23):
been since the last time, but keep up the great
work this fall.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I appreciate your kindness and the opportunity to talk to you.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Be good.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
My friend Jack Seaffert, our state Forester, are always great
to visit with him. I your host, Brian Pointer, brought
to you by Indiana Donor Network. Don't go anywhere. We're
going to go to the ducks now. We're going to
find out what's happening and look forward to our waterfowl season.
Ducks Unlimited and also our state biologist Adam Phelps, when
we returned right after this and Indiana Outdoors rolls on.
(18:10):
What a beautiful fall. We have actually had a beautiful
fall for a change here in the state of Indiana.
And early October no better time to get out and
the great Indiana Outdoors everything comes together. Great fishing, hunting
seasons are upon us, the waterfowl are out and about,
and people taking the field and forest. It's always great. We're,
of course brought to you by our friends at Indiana
(18:31):
Donor Network driven two Save Lives dot org. I your host,
Brian Pointer. Indiana Outdoors always great to visit with our
biologists here and none better than Adam Phelps, Indiana's waterfowl biologist. Adam,
it's that time of the year where people are starting
to get their waiters out and thinking about migratory waterfowl.
(18:52):
We had early seasons already in Indiana, but just throw
it to you. How have you been, What are you
thinking about? How are things looking for the state and
this up becoming waterfowl season.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Well, I'm doing pretty well. I'm thinking mostly about that
cold front we got on Tuesday and the map showed
a large slug of birds coming down from eastern Canada
throughout the central part of the country. So hopefully there'll
be birds out there for the youth weekends that are
coming up.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
I love it. That's interesting. So do you have, like,
do you have some special technology that shows that big
wad of birds? That's kind of interesting.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Now, it's not anything special, it's it's a public website
that basically maps bird migration via radar. It's called bird
Cast and they do it not quite in real time.
It's about a day behind. And I just looked at
the one from Tuesday when that when it got cool,
and man, it just turns bright yellow overnight, all these
(19:51):
birds moving through. They're picking them up on radar. It's
really neat the way they're using that technology.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I love it. So as our state waterfowl biologists, you know,
it's all year long, but this kind of becomes the
highlight of the season, so to speak. And leading up
to this on a day to day basis, what does
the waterfowl biologists do when you're not in a hunting season.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Well, I mean, my busiest time of the year honestly
is in the spring when we're getting ready to set
the seasons for the fall. By the time we get
round to the hunting season, most of what I do
for the hunting season has been done for a while.
So we just had our Mississippi Flyway meeting in September.
That was a big deal. That's setting looking at what
the seasons will be like for next year, the twenty
(20:34):
seven seasons. So that's just wrapping up and that's starting
to go through the federal process to get those rules
published for the following season. So we work a year ahead.
This year's surveys will inform next year is the seasons,
which allows us to set our seasons earlier than we
(20:56):
used to. You know, when I first started, I've been
here twenty years now. When I first started, we set
the seasons in July basically just before they would open.
And now we're able to do that a year ahead
of time to get people a lot more heads up
in terms of what the seats are going to look
like in the fall.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Adam Phelps is our guests today at Indian Outdoors. He
is our state waterfowl biologist, and you know, you and
I have talked over the years of Indian Outdoors about
how the seasons are set and how the sausage is made.
Some people might agree, some people not. But I would
tell you that, in my humble opinion, in the last
ten years, Indiana has become more and more of a
(21:36):
place of waterfowl destination. I'm not suggesting anything magnanimous, but
there's a lot of great hunting opportunities here in the fall,
all contingent on weather, of course, because you know, wait
ten minutes and it could be ten below. But I mean,
would you agree with that assessment. Indiana is a decent place,
and Indiana has had quite a heritage of hunting opportunities
(21:57):
here that have only gotten better.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
I think it's really interesting actually, because Indiana, you know,
we tend to compare ourselves to the other states of
the Mississippi Flyway, and when you're in the same flyway
as Minnesota and Arkansas and Louisiana, it's easy to see
us as a pretty small player in terms of harvest
and hunting opportunity. But in the last especially five or
six years, I mean, the one thing that stands out
(22:21):
to me the most is the number of white fronted
geese that we see in Indiana. That's really brand new.
That opportunity has gone from from minimal in certain parts
of the states to becoming you know, almost sought after
by a lot of goose hunters that are actually changing
their tactics to more target white fronts than Canada's, which
are of course abundant in the state throughout the season.
(22:43):
So that influx of white fronts that we're seeing now
is they hit the Mississippi Delta and then bounce back
north earlier and earlier each year. Is a really neat
opportunity for Indiana hunters that is only going to increase.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
I couldn't agree with you more. We rely a lot.
I know you do, and a lot of the professionals
and biologists look at the surveys in the prairie Potholes
and up in Canada, and there was some drought for
quite an extended period time up in Canada. Is that
relieved itself a little bit of the birds kind of
gone back to their natural nesting places.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
So this year the conditions in the May surveys were
worse than last year, but there was a lot of
midsummer rain that probably provided a lot of good brood
rearing habitat for those birds that were able to find
nesting places early, and also for those late nesting ducks
like Gadwalls that nest a little bit later, So there's
(23:41):
a lot of hope that that late rain actually will
provide better at hunting this year, more ducks than we
had in last season.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Adam Phelps, our guest state waterfowl biologists, Anything that you
would like for people to know this year. We have
a new license system in Indiana that people need to
probably get on and pay attention to before the last minute.
But other than the nuts and bolts, anything good news,
any sort of what's on the front of your mind,
(24:11):
as our state biologists for hunters to be thinking about
this fall.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I guess the big thing for me right now is
there's a fair bit of chatter out there about how
the surveys are run and the numbers of ducks and
whether or not we should be continuing a liberal season
with essentially flat Mallard numbers over the last three years.
And I just want to point out that we've been
in a liberal season now for thirty years, which is
(24:36):
hard to believe, and we are nowhere near the bottom
of where we've been in mallard or palm counts in
that amount of time. So ducks are very resilient. They're
very flashy. When the water comes back, the populations tend
to explode. I think we're in a very sustainable place.
I think we should have a decent season and I'm
hopeful that the rain that started in the prairies this
(24:58):
summer continues and we have a good snowfall.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
This winner well.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Adam, thanks for all the work that you do. Is
one of Indiana's a great biologists. Waterfowl is a great tradition.
A lot of folks taking to that. Over the last
few years We've seen a wildly explosive People love their
their outdoors and waterfowl season is a great way to
do that. We're going to be visiting with our friends
at Ducks Unlimited a little bit later on. I know
(25:21):
they have enjoyed record numbers as well, so a lot
of interest in this in Indiana. We appreciate all that
you do. Keep up the great work and always an
open phone here for you, my friend, anytime you need it.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Thanks Brian, take care.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Talk to you soon. It is the Indiana Outdoor Show.
Great to visit with Adam Phelps, one of Indiana's great
wildlife or waterfowl biologists. And when we return As I mentioned,
Ducks and Limited, we're gonna find out what they're up
to this fall. It is the Indian Outdoor Show back
right after this And did we have any more fun
(26:06):
on the Indiana Outdoor Show. What a day. This is
always made better by the fact we've actually had a
fall here in the state of Indiana. It is none
better than experiencing an Indiana fall. Fishing is great, hunting
is great, the weather has been great, my gosh, and
of course the Outdoor Show is great. And we have
(26:26):
great guests like our friend Adam Phelps, our state waterfowl biologist,
And now we switch to our good friends at Ducks
Unlimited and new guest. We always like new guests, but
we've had many from Ducks Unlimited over the years.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
R J.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sutton is the new development director here for the State
of Indiana, and I figured it was time RJ that
you and I got to know each other a little
bit and to spend a little time on Indiana Outdoors
talking about the Ducks and Ducks Unlimited and the great
work that you guys do across Indiana. So welcome to
your new position and welcomed Indiana Outdoors.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Thanks for having me a honor to be here and
look forward.
Speaker 1 (27:03):
To this well it is. You're not a stranger, of course,
you were a long time volunteer as was I, for
my gosh, twenty plus years in chapter work and planning
banquets and then getting involved with statewide stuff. It is,
and ultimately putting my money where my mouth is, which
(27:23):
is a firm believer in the work that Ducks Unlimited
does as a life sponsor for Ducks and that means
a lot to me because I know the great work
that you do. So why don't you tell us a
little bit about how you ended up as the new
development director and what you've done for Ducks un Limited.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
I originally started as a volunteer years ago. Also attended
events all the way back to when I was a
younger child with friends and family, and enjoyed attending those events.
Eventually becoming head a local chairman for the Fort Lane,
Indiana Chapter and then the state chairman, a volunteer position
(28:07):
for Indiana, and then a state campaign chairman. This position
came open, I was fortunate enough to be able to
finish a lifelong career in law enforcement with the four
Land Police Department, and a very pleasing career at that
and be able to start a new career in the
development section with Ducks Unlimited, which is also close to
(28:29):
my heart obviously with all my years of involvement as
a volunteer.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
You know, I can remember as a young person, very young,
couldn't tell you the age, but I was. My dad
took me to one of the chapters and I remember
the speaker that day. I remember the book that I got,
which I still have. It was a beautiful coffee table
book about ducks, and it struck me as something that
(28:56):
I wanted to do. And then later as I was
able to kind of manage my own and volunteer here
and there, this became one of those places, and Ducks Unlimited,
especially here in Indiana, has had a very special place.
I've always enjoyed the amount that goes back into Indiana
from the money that's raised here. A very very efficient organization,
good stewards of the money they raised. But Indiana has
(29:18):
been the beneficiary of some great Ducks and Limited projects
over the years. Not to throw you into the fire
right now, but you've worked on a lot of those,
and I think you would agree with me that Indiana
is in a great place right now, and hopefully the
momentum continues for what you do to provide more back
resources back to the state and hunters and conservationists in
anybody that likes clean water and healthy, healthy animals and critters.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
Yeah, Indiana's been very fortunate over the years. There are
some priority areas, especially up in the northeast corner and
down the southwest corners of the state, but that's unlimited
has been very good to Indiana and making sure that
projects happen all over the state. We've been lucky that
dollars raised in Indiana has always been fairly close to
(30:06):
the amount of dollars that are spent in Indiana. Not
all of them go to Indiana, but as you know,
ducks fly south for the winter and back north in
the spring, and there are definitely other priority areas that
are funds in Indiana go to. So we've been very
lucky that our donors have been able to see the
(30:28):
dollars go into the ground along with those funds that
come from those Indiana license plates for ducks Unlimited, those
particular funds go definitely into the ground in Indiana every year.
We highly encourage that as well.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
R J Suffin is our guest, the new Director of
Development for the State of Indiana for Ducks Unlimited, and
we can talk about all the specific work and things
that go into Ducks Unlimited, but ultimately, it's always been
impressive to me that Indiana has a disproportionate amount of
(31:06):
federal duck stamps that people purchase here versus the fact
that you know, we're not in Arkansas, We're not considered
the mecha of duck hunting. But it's a very good
testimony to the stewardship that people feel of protecting and
to buying federal duck stamps. And we've had at least
two national Presidents of Ducks Unlimited from Indiana, at least
(31:28):
in my tenure over the last twenty almost thirty years
of Indiana outdoors here. That's a rare occurrence, but it
tells you about the people of Indiana and the commitment
to ducks and Limited in great leadership here.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
I think, yes, John tom Key and Don Rollins, both
former presidents of the U still both involved heavily with
du to this day. And you know, when we talk
about those federal duck stamps, many people who buy those
stamps by multiple stamps. They don't need to, but they
do because they know where the money goes. And that's
(32:00):
kind of what my job does is, you know, I'm
here to try to find those big dollars corporations and
philanthropy that people want to give to great things where
people steward the money. Well, I just read an email
this morning where we're currently sitting at about eighty seven
cents on the dollar given to du going back into
(32:23):
the ground.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
That is a staggering number in the world of charity
and especially in conservation. I am proud of that number,
and I'm glad to know that that is the updated number,
which I will be sure to get out and around.
This is the season, you know, the banquet season, which
I know you're a part of tangentially, but a lot
(32:45):
of folks going to be planning and executing as they
do throughout the year, events where money is raised, and
they're always so much fun. They're always very very well
attended with a loyal group of folks. But I always
encourage people that might be listening today, this is a
great opportunity to meet people and to come to these
(33:05):
events that people are welcoming and get involved. Put your
money where your mouth is just come and enjoy and
meet some new people. It's one of the best environments
that I've found. And it doesn't matter if you're a duck,
a deer, a turkey, in elka, a pheasant. They all
have organizations, but they all end up providing what we want,
which is good game habitat, good conservation efforts, clean water, etc.
(33:30):
And that's something I know Ducks is very proud of.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Yeah, I'm always amazed when I attend an event and
somebody walks up to me and says I want to
do more. They basically raise their hands. Whether that raising
the hand is being a volunteer or giving more money.
You know, do you as a volunteer organization all the
way to the top volunteer lead And it just amazes
me how much people want to help when the organization
(33:56):
does great things, just like Duck Unlimited does.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
I am glad we have this intro conversation. The next
time we'll start hitting you with the good stuff, which
we're not hitting you with any good stuff. It's all
lighthearted chitchat here on Indian Outdoors, but we do always
like to make people aware of those that are doing
great work the time, talent and treasure that goes into
these conservation organizations. As I mentioned the litany of all
those that have them. Doesn't matter. Join something, get a
(34:22):
part of it. But if you want to be part
of a great organization, Ducks and Women is certainly one
of them. Always an open phone here. We wish you
well as you start your new venture, and I'm sure
we'll have you back on quite regularly from time to times.
Thanks for being a part of Indian Outdoors today. Thank you, Brian,
my pleasure. What a show, what a great opportunity. I
(34:44):
have so much more to say, so don't even think
about leaving. It's the Indiana Outdoor Show, and I'm your host,
Brian Pointer. If you could be exhausted by having so
(35:10):
much fun, that's what I am. I love the fact
you can get all these great guests on Indiana Outdoors,
like our state forester Jack Seyffert. What a job he
has done in Indiana. Nobody really likes to know how
the sausage is made, but forest management. You heard him say,
one hundred and sixty thousand acres of public forest that
(35:33):
has to be managed, and you kind of heard some
of the science behind it. It's fascinating. Always fascinating to
me to have him on. I've been the beneficiary of
multiple times where he has lectured and given presentations and
you just can't help but respect the great work that
our forestry does here in Indiana. You know what here
I just started yep, and I didn't tell you who
(35:54):
I am. I'm Brian Pointer. It's the Indiana Outdoor Show.
We had a great one today and when we got
but all through with our good friends in forest Or,
we switched over to the Ducks. Why not. It's a
beautiful time of the year. Waterfowl season on the mind
of many, and Adam Phelps is our longtime waterfowl biologists
by all accounts great work. Indiana has certainly turned a
(36:16):
corner of hunting opportunities and we are so fortunate to
have Adam. And that was followed by Ducks Unlimited, brand
new development director in the state of Indiana. Why is
that important because we have raised through their efforts, Ducks
have raised millions and hitting new goals and landmarks. Just
(36:37):
showing the fortitude and the common sense of a lot
of conservationists out there knowing that the Ducks Unlimited organization
puts a lot of great resources for good use back
in Indiana, and we are so fortunate to have them.
So that being said, I don't want you to go
anywhere except to Great Indiana Outdoors. Experienced something fun this
beautiful fall weekend. I am your host. We are going
(36:58):
to be back next weekend with another big one. I
will see you outside somewhere. Have a good one.
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