Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 395 is a conversation with Aurelia Skipwith, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who oversaw the opening of more than four million acres for hunting and fishing access during her term. She shares how an Indianapolis city kid was introduced to the outdoors through family in rural Mississippi, how degrees in molecular biology and law led her to wildlife policy, and why she sees hunters and anglers as the true engine of American conservation.
▶ Watch on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
Aurelia Skipwith served as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Born and raised in Indianapolis with family roots in rural Mississippi, she holds a degree in molecular biology and a law degree, and she was appointed to lead the agency, where she focused on expanding hunting and fishing access and supporting conservation.
During her time leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than four million acres were opened for hunting and fishing access. Expanding sportsmen's access across the refuge system was one of the central priorities of her term.
Aurelia describes herself as a city girl, born and raised in Indianapolis, but her family hailed from rural Mississippi. Summers spent with her grandfather, cousins, aunts, and uncles down south, helping with chores that felt like fun to her, made a lasting impression and set the foundation for a career in the outdoors and wildlife.
Aurelia credits hunters as the true stewards of conservation, the ones whose dollars and participation allow the country to protect wildlife even for species that are never hunted. She points to honoring hunters on the federal duck stamp as one way the agency acknowledges their central role in sustaining wildlife.
Aurelia holds a degree in molecular biology and a law degree, a combination of science and policy training that shaped her approach to leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and working at the intersection of wildlife science and federal law.
Aurelia emphasizes partnership: hunters and fishermen working alongside the agency to protect and expand access and to support conservation of the species they care about. She frames sportsmen not as outsiders to be managed but as essential partners in sustaining wildlife and the lands and waters they depend on.
It is not every day you get the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the line, and Aurelia has a genuinely compelling story. A city kid from Indianapolis who found the outdoors through family, then earned a biology degree and a law degree, then ended up running the agency and opening millions of acres to hunters and anglers. I wanted to hear how she got there and what she thinks the relationship between sportsmen and conservation should look like. Press play in the YouTube player above.
Aurelia is candid that she is a city girl from Indianapolis, not someone who grew up in the field. What changed her was summers in rural Mississippi with her grandfather and extended family, where outdoor chores felt like play and left a lasting mark. She traces the line from those summers to molecular biology, to law school, to leading a federal wildlife agency. Listen to how that path came together in the episode.
More than four million acres were opened to hunting and fishing access during Aurelia's term, and she explains why expanding access across the refuge system mattered so much to her. For anyone who has ever run into a locked gate or a shrinking place to hunt, this is the policy that pushes the other direction. She lays out the thinking behind it. Hear the details in the player above.
Aurelia makes the case that hunters are the foundation of conservation funding, the people whose participation lets the country protect wildlife even for species that are never hunted. She points to honoring hunters on the federal duck stamp as a deliberate acknowledgment of that role. It is a clear, well-argued version of a point sportsmen know in their bones. Listen to her make it in the episode.
Rather than treating hunters and anglers as a constituency to manage, Aurelia frames them as essential partners, working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect and expand access and to conserve the species everyone cares about. She talks about what that partnership looks like in practice and where it can go. Press play to hear her vision for it.
▶ Watch on YouTube · 🎧 Listen now
What I took away from talking with Aurelia is how naturally the science, the law, and the love of the outdoors fit together in the way she leads. The four-million-acre number is the headline, but the deeper point is her view of hunters and anglers as partners rather than problems.
For anyone who cares about access and conservation, this is a conversation worth your time. Listen to the whole thing.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Aurelia Skipwith served as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where she oversaw the opening of more than four million acres for hunting and fishing access. Born and raised in Indianapolis with family roots in rural Mississippi, she was introduced to the outdoors through summers with family in the South and went on to earn a degree in molecular biology and a law degree. As director she focused on expanding sportsmen's access and on conservation built around the central role of hunters and anglers.
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