Paul Smith is the senior outdoors editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, specializing in environmental policy and wildlife management. With deep roots in Wisconsin’s conservation community, his reporting bridges ecological science and legislative action.
“Good conservation reporting requires understanding both ecosystems and the people who depend on them.” – Paul Smith, 2024
Paul Smith has established himself as a trusted voice in outdoor journalism, blending policy analysis with environmental stewardship. Over his 15-year career, he’s progressed from covering local hunting regulations to shaping statewide conversations about wildlife conservation.
This 2024 investigation revealed the complexities of implementing Wisconsin’s Wolf Management Plan, blending interviews with ranchers, ecologists, and tribal representatives. Smith’s analysis of the 23-member committee’s selection criteria highlighted tensions between agricultural interests and conservation goals. The piece became a benchmark for discussions about participatory governance in wildlife management.
Smith’s coverage of this contentious legislative proposal demonstrated his ability to navigate polarized debates. By contrasting farmer testimonials about crop damage with conservationists’ population data, he created a nuanced portrait of human-wildlife coexistence challenges. The article’s impact metrics showed a 300% increase in reader engagement compared to average policy pieces.
While outside Smith’s primary beat, this opinion piece for Brig Newspaper showcased his analytical versatility. He applied statistical models used in wildlife population studies to evaluate voting systems, arguing for proportional representation’s potential to reduce political polarization. The interdisciplinary approach attracted attention from political science circles.
Smith consistently explores how environmental policies affect small-town economies. A successful pitch might examine how renewable energy projects impact hunting tourism revenues, mirroring his 2023 series on wind farms and deer migration patterns. Provide localized data from Wisconsin’s Department of Tourism or USDA reports to align with his evidence-based approach.
His coverage of the Wolf Advisory Committee demonstrates interest in collaborative governance models. Pitches should emphasize unique alliances – for example, tech startups partnering with DNR on poaching detection systems. Reference his 2022 article about IBM’s AI-powered trail cameras to show understanding of his tech-conservation crossover interests.
While Smith acknowledges climate change, his work focuses on practical land management over abstract sustainability goals. A pitch about Milwaukee’s carbon reduction initiatives would need to explicitly connect to rural outcomes, perhaps through watershed protection programs affecting both cities and farmlands.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Outdoors, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
