Fitz Cahall - Going on the Offense for Public Lands

Fitz Cahall (0:00)

This is not a sprint, this is not a 5K, this is not a half marathon, this is a big, big race that you gotta settle in for. And there's times where you need to back off and realize, hey, I need to catch a little breath here, I need to sustain myself a little bit longer. And then there's moments where you press.

Ed Roberson (0:23)

This is the Mountain & Prairie Podcast, I'm Ed Roberson. My guest today is Fitz Cahall.

Fitz is the creator of the legendary outdoor podcast, The Dirtbag Diaries, co-founder of the creative agency, Duct Tape Then Beer, and author of the excellent book, States of Adventure. But most recently, he's gone from prolific creative mind to public lands advocate with the launch of Save Public Lands, a campaign that gives public land lovers of all stripes from climbers to hunters and everybody in between a way to go on the offense against the on-going attacks on our public lands.

The goal is a million signatures on a short letter with three clear demands. No more sell-offs, no more giveaways to foreign companies and billionaires, and no more backroom deals. Those signatures get delivered to DC and state houses around Public Lands Day on September 26th. Partners include the Outdoor Alliance, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, MeatEater, The Conservation Alliance, and The Wilderness Society. Fitz got his start in the early to mid-2000s, scraping by as a freelance journalist, a job he refers to as naked subsistence hunting. In 2007, he took a few stories that hadn't sold and turned them into a podcast. He emailed it to about 30 friends. The next day, 30 people would listen, then 300, then 3,000. Nearly 20 years later, he and his wife and creative partner, Becca, have built Duct Tape Then Beer into a story studio behind award-winning films and podcasts, all guided by one rule. The work has to strengthen people's connections to the natural world and to each other. In this episode, we talk about how Save Public Lands came together, why Fitz chose offense over defense, and how a coalition this politically diverse, hunters, climbers, skiers, veterans, and legacy conservation groups managed to find common ground and rally around a shared goal. Then we lightened it up a bit and got into his creative life, including why he treats creative work like a band rather than a solo act, how he and Becca avoided chasing money for its own sake, what he does when his enthusiasm dips, and why he believes doubt and optimism are far more powerful together than either one alone. It's worth noting that I consider Fitz a trailblazer and a role model in a lot of ways, and I don't think Mountain & Prairie would exist without his example. I've been listening to The Dirtbag Diaries since the days when you had to download podcasts onto your computer, then load them on an iPod, then plug the iPod into the tape deck in your truck to listen. That's exactly what I was doing back then, driving around trying to sell real estate, and those stories cracked open a whole new way of living and working that I did not know was available to me. So thank you Fitz for all of that. There's a link in the episode notes to sign the letter. It really takes about 20 seconds and there's no excuse not to do it. I really love this conversation and I think you will too. But before we get started, I want to thank the people and organizations that make Mountain and Prairie possible. Mountain and Prairie is listener supported via Patreon, which means that listeners like you can support the podcast and all of my various projects for as little as $2 per month. The podcast is also supported by a small number of values-aligned organizations on either an annual or quarterly basis. A huge thank you to the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust, the documentary Mirasole Looking at the Sun, Patagonia Books, and the Rye Resurgence Project for their generous support.

And since today's episode is all about protecting public lands, I want to take a minute to highlight Patagonia Books because there's no company out there that defends public lands more staunchly than Patagonia. If you've listened to many of my author episodes or you subscribed to my book recommendation email, then you know I'm a huge fan of everything Patagonia Books publishes and have been for many, many years. About this time last year, I interviewed Yvon Chouinard about Pheasant Tale Simplicity, the excellent fly fishing book he co-authored with Craig Matthews and Mauro Mazzo.

And you may remember my conversations with outdoor conservation and adventure legends like Doug Peacock and Rick Ridgway, who wrote Was It Worth It and Life Live Wild, respectively, two Patagonia published books that remain some of my all-time favorites. And then of course, there's the beautiful book Patagonia National Park, Chile, featuring living legend Christine Tompkins, who, along with her late husband Doug, has protected nearly 16 million acres and counting of new and expanded national parks in Chile and Argentina.