A quick chat with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers’ Ryan Callaghan

Ryan Callaghan is best known for being a content creator for MeatEater, a company that provides content related to hunting, fishing and conservation through its website, podcasts and other media.

Called “Cal” by many, he recently was named president and CEO of Missoula, Montana-based Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a non-profit advocacy organization that works to conserve wild public lands, waters and wildlife in North America.

He will take the reins of the organization that boasts 40,000 members in chapters across 48 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces in January, at a time when public lands are vulnerable to sale, development and eroding protections.

We recently visited with Cal at his home near Bozeman, Montana, to learn about how he plans to handle his dual BHA-MeatEater role, calling on his unique experience and skillset of being the ultimate muddy boots sportsman, self-described conservation policy wonk, hunting and fishing guide, lobbyist, podcaster and video producer – all rolled into one.

Outdoor News: Being a content creator for MeatEater – with a very popular podcast titled “Cal of the Wild” – is viewed by many of our readers as a “dream job.” How did you get there?

Callaghan: I often used to joke that in Montana, you’re either going to be a guide, a lawyer or a real estate agent – or all three.

And I never really knew what the heck I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to be outside.

I did a little bit of everything over the years – guiding clients for black and grizzly bears, mountain goats, antelope, mule deer and elk, and lots of fly-fishing guiding. I had a good run for a decade as a full-time guide, while also putting in plenty of hours doing other seasonal jobs.

Then I got hooked up with the First Lite high-performance hunting apparel brand, and then met Steve Rinella, MeatEater founder, eventually becoming director of conservation for the company. I started working full-time for MeatEater seven years ago.

The way I see content creation is it’s a platform where I can promote the value, the stewardship and the responsible use of our public lands.

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Outdoor News: You mentioned in a recent podcast that you just turned 43 and for the first time in your life you feel like you are doing what you were meant to do. Were you referring to the combined role of leading BHA and continuing to create content for MeatEater?

Callaghan: Yes. When I was working on the First Light clothing side of things, we used our brand voice and for-profit position to say, “access to public lands, public wildlife and public water is vital.“ Same thing with MeatEater – and now I can take all that experience over to the nonprofit side and use it effectively there as well.

I know from serving on the group’s board for many years that the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers community is just so amazing that I really couldn’t say “no” to the opportunity to jump in and grow it – especially at this time, because I’m so passionate about the outdoors and it has given me so much.

I firmly believe that America is what it is today because of these freedoms that we have, and we’re at a kind of inflection point where folks need to be reminded of these amazing places and opportunities. And if we’re not demanding that we keep them, they can go away.

Outdoor News: Leading Backcountry Hunters and Anglers right now is a weighty proposition. What are your leadership philosophy and goals?

Callaghan: BHA will continue to be up on the hill, talking to our lawmakers and telling them about the needs and wants of our constituency, why we’re here and why these places are important. The reality is, Washington, D.C. is a long way from our public lands in the West.

Too often, public land issues are only discussed at the theory level in a lot of the offices at the capital, not at the practical level, and BHA brings that practical knowledge to those places. We have people who have dirt underneath their fingernails, and they can effectively say, “this is what these areas provide for the American people, and this is why they’re important.” Respectfully, this is the tact we need to take.

One of the keys to keeping BHA members motivated is leveraging content to turn abstract political debates into tangible “backyard issues” that help rally hunters and anglers to contact politicians, spread the word, and fight for public lands.

Outdoor News: In a podcast recently, you said you think we are “on the verge of a big win” related to public lands. Were you referring to one issue or a number of issues?

Callaghan: A number of issues, and I do feel like we’re on the verge of a big win. We just saw the way the public lands community rallied to shut down Sen. Mike Lee’s land-sale bill earlier this year.

Rank-and-file Americans along with a list of celebrity actors came together and supported our public lands and said, “not one acre … we don’t want it sold off in the budget-reconciliation process.”

That was an awakening moment, and we need to seize that momentum and point out the power of unification across diverse groups and coalitions and set ourselves up for long term, sustainable, responsible resource management – pragmatic conservation.

I get the warm and fuzzies when I hear from people all across the age spectrum who tell me, “Oh, my God, I just called my state senator,” or “I just called my federal representative for the first time,” or “I testified in committee for the first time.”

Getting the outdoor community engaged in the democratic process is critical – and it can be wholly selfish – but you must fight for what you love. We can have it all – we can have our national security. We can have our guns. We can have our access to wild places and public wildlife, so long as we demand it. But we get told all the time that that’s not possible, and that’s something we have got to push back on.

Outdoor News: In the past, when asked what you want to do, you have said, “be outside more.” But recently you said you “gotta put away a little bit of this outside time and fix this real quick,” leading BHA. How long do you see this chief lobbyist role lasting?

Callaghan: I think that there’s a certain power in remaining naive to some of this, and there’s a huge part of me that still just wants to be outside. But the reason that I got sucked into BHA when I did was because they wanted to hear from people who worked in wilderness areas and worked on public lands –and I was one of them.

I could tell my story of watching people who had no experience in these wild places who have unbelievable experiences and come away zealots and so appreciative of the place that they had just been.

And whether they slapped a tag on a bull or a buck or not, they now would die to protect those places. Being in wilderness just changes people.

That narrative is authentic and really powerful. It’s what we need to bring to our politicians. It doesn’t have to just be me – we have a lot of people who can do it – but I don’t mind leading the effort for a while.

So, I guess the short answer is that I want to be done as fast as I can.

Hear more from Ryan Callaghan via the Minnesota Outdoor News Radio podcast, episodes 569 and 570.