CONSERVATION HAWKS WRITER’S PRIZE
Conservation Hawks, in partnership with the Adelman—Rogers Family Fund, is pleased to announce that Arkansas writer Johnny Carrol Sain has received our inaugural CH Writer’s Prize. The Writer’s Prize is awarded to a writer (or filmmaker, or videographer) in support of his or her work to engage the American public — and specifically, anglers and hunters — in an accurate, thoughtful and robust discussion of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change.
The 2026 CH Writer’s Prize celebrates Johnny Carrol Sain’s recent piece, “A river of reckoning: What a warming world means for the Arkansas River,” which appeared in Hatch Magazine in early October.
At Conservation Hawks, we feel it’s vital to support the diverse and important voices in the sporting community who work tirelessly to protect our outdoor heritage for future generations. We congratulate Johnny Carrol Sain on his stellar story in Hatch, and we look forward to the day when America’s anglers and hunters speak with one effective voice on the single most important issue we face: human-caused climate change.
We’d also like to thank the Adelman—Rogers Family Fund for their leadership, their passion, their financial support and their strong conservation ethic. Without their help and their generosity, the CH Writer’s Prize would never have become a reality.
Johnny Carrol Sain writes from the River Valley and Boston Mountains of Arkansas, where he explores the relationships between people and place through thoughtful observation and active participation in the natural world. His essays, which blend lyrical storytelling with unflinching examination of environmental and cultural issues, have appeared in Outdoor Life, The Bitter Southerner, Sporting Classics, The Food & Environment Reporting Network, The Drake, Hatch Fly Fishing, MidCurrent Fly Fishing, and Strung Sporting Journal.
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The Adelman—Rogers Family Fund has a strong focus on wilderness preservation. Our conservation work is inspired by writers like Rachel Carson and Henry David Thoreau. We believe that those who write about the natural world — both its beauty and its fragility — play a crucial role in educating and inspiring America’s conservation efforts. In this most difficult period of American political and cultural life, we feel that nature can help bridge our differences and heal our society. We also believe that the Conservation Hawks Writer’s Prize will advance our work to preserve America’s wilderness and support a collaborative conservation community.
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