I'm a Sportsman and a Conservationist
Travis Thompson is passing on a tradition of hunting and conservation to his son, Will.
Meet Travis Thompson: A Fishing & Waterfowl Guide, Writer, Radio Host and Voice for Conservation
To understand why I care so much about conservation, you need a little background.
I’m a 5th generation Floridian, born into a family that camped, hunted, and fished every single weekend. Growing up, we never went on vacation out of state, because leaving Florida seemed insane … the winters were at deer camp in Citrus County; the springs chasing Osceola turkeys around the Green Swamp; the summers tangling every mangrove in Charlotte Harbor while trying to best our last snook; the falls spent in duck blinds and deer stands and dove fields all over the state.
There was no moment for me where I became a sportsman. It just was. It just is.
When I end up at a party or a wedding or a dinner, invariably, my end of the table will end up talking about hunting, or fishing, or the outdoors. It’s in my nature, like breathing.
That may seem like a strange set up to discuss conservation, but hang with me.
Travis out on a Florida lake fishing with his grandfather.
A family tradition
For many sportsmen and women, their goal when they arrived in the woods was food on the table, and that’s not a bad thing. We love wild game, and it’s still a big part of my family’s regularly scheduled feedings. But, for my dad, being in the wild was about that: being in the wild.
There was no gray area in our adventures … you didn’t kill a snake, you didn’t needlessly take too many fish, you didn’t attempt a shot on an animal that you weren’t sure of. The land was everyone’s, and we were its stewards, a point we were reminded of on every hunt, every fishing trip, and at every campfire.
My sister and I nicknamed these “the lectures” in good natured fun, and we’d roll our eyes and eat another powdered donut — a 12 year old’s best attempt at a non-verbal “whatever, Dad.”
But, somewhere along the way, that conversation changed. It stopped being a lecture and became more of a discussion. And that led to more questions, and answers, and an ethos was born — Florida is special.
There was no moment for me where I became a conservationist. It just was. It just is.
There’s only one Florida. We cram our state full of cookie cutter developments, a race to the finish, office buildings and strip malls full of folks dreaming of the weekend, of palmettos and palm trees and the places we grew up. The pursuits we held so dear.
This is why conservation matters so much to me.
Travis and Will share a high-five moment on a fishing trip.
I want to have places I can take my kids and someday my grandkids. I want to sit in the same woods where I spent a Saturday with my grandfather. Generations spanning across centuries, sharing the common threads of a last name and a wild place, is why this matters.
Conservation isn’t a magic box. It doesn’t simply happen … It takes teamwork, an effort that’s larger than one stakeholder group … It’s ranchers, it’s sportsmen, it’s the environmentally conscious … It requires that we all play the role of the steward, and that we push for the right things for these places we love.
Floridians love to talk about water in conservation, but land is the starting point. Aldo Leopold once said “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
As a sportsman, a Floridian, a father, the land is a community I belong to. I take from it, in game, but I am part of it, and it is a part of me … there’s no compartmentalization, no discernible differences …
Without organizations like Conservation Florida, the wild places will be lost forever. Our corridors will be broken, and our habitat lost, our ecology compromised, and our community destroyed. It’s why I stand next to this program and support the work being done … ensuring wild Florida exists for generations to come, a legacy of conservation that, as a hunter, I’m proud to be part of.
Travis and his wife, Emily, pose with a snook they caught in Florida’s waters.
About Conservation Florida’s ‘Voices for Conservation’ Series
From the sandhills to the swamps, Floridians don’t always agree, but we do find common ground in the land we share. Conservation connects us. It’s part of our ethos, our Floridian ethic. In it, there is hope for Florida’s conservation future.
Conservation Florida created Voices for Conservation to amplify the importance of protecting our native plants and wildlife, fresh water, family farms and ranches, and wild places.
The series of blogs and videos will feature Florida conservationists from all walks of life speaking up for a common goal – Saving land. For nature. For people. Forever. Every voice offers a unique perspective, but at the heart of each story is the same powerful message. Protecting land is necessary to keep our state, its people, and its wildlife healthy and thriving.