In this sixth episode of the Modern Carnivore Podcast I sit down with Tom Landwehr who is the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This is a position that is appointed by the Governor of Minnesota. Tom has been in this position for eight years, overseeing the management of wildlife and habitat across the state. I caught up with the Commissioner at the 2017 Minnesota Governor's Deer Hunting Opener to talk about the culture of deer camp and the work his agency does in the state of Minnesota. In early 2019 he is ending his tour of duty as the Commissioner, so while I'm very delayed in getting this post out I felt it was important to share this conversation with a true conservation leader.   Why Listen to The Modern Carnivore Podcast? With all the podcasts out there why would you want to listen to this one? Well, if you're looking for a new adventure in the outdoors we've got some very interesting guests talking about topics related to honest food and wild adventures. Get ready to be entertained and enlightened on topics related to hunting, fishing, foraging...and more. Here are a couple other podcasts you may be interested in: Episode 5: Howard Vincent, The CEO of Pheasants Forever which is one of the leading hunting conservation organizations in the U.S. Episode 4: Daniel Galhardo is the Founder and CEO of Tenkara USA. Listen to the story about how he brought the unique Japanese style of fly fishing called Tenkara to the US. Do you have a question that you'd like answered on the podcast, or an idea for an episode? Shoot us a note at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Modern Carnivore Podast on iTunes and/or Stitcher. Please support the podcast by giving us honest feedback on iTunes or wherever you listen to the podcast. And if you do like it, don't forget to tell your friends about it! Transcript Of Podcast Intro: 00:09 Welcome to the Modern Carnivore Podcast, a guide for those interested in hearing more about hunting, fishing, and other paths to eating more responsibly. Now, here's your host, Mark Norquist. Mark: 00:22 Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Modern Carnivore podcast. Today I'm joined by Tom Landwehr and this is actually a recording from back in 2017 at the Minnesota Governor's deer hunting opener event, and this is an event that's gone on for many years here in Minnesota and I think is a great reflection of the importance of deer camp culture and the deer hunting season to our state, that the Governor would put an event like this together. Commissioner Landwehr is now ending his tour here as the as the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources in early 2019, and so I thought it was appropriate to get this podcast recording out as the commissioner of the DNR. He is appointed by the governor to really enforce hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation laws, and also manage much of the public land that exists within the state of Minnesota. There are also federal and county lands, but they're much of it is managed by the state, which is then managed by this organization, the Department of Natural Resources for both recreation as well as industry like timber and mining. They also deal with threats to the land and water like invasive species in diseases like chronic wasting disease, that's starting to affect the deer herd in different areas of the country. Stepping back for a moment, if you look at the North American model for conservation, one of the tenants of it calls for scientific management of wildlife and habitats and state agencies are a big part of that management model. In Minnesota it's called the department of natural resources or the DNR. In other states it's called game and fish or the department of fish and wildlife or the department o...