How the Land Shapes Us: Ben Moyer Reflects on Writing and Place

“It’s hard to see and notice at the speed with which we move.”

Our host, Marci Mowery, sits down with Ben Moyer, who is an author and longtime outdoor journalist from the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania. They chat about a life spent paying close attention to the natural world and inviting others to do the same.

Ben’s connection to nature began early, shaped by his father, who took him fishing at Dunbar Creek, where the pull of a trout on the line left an impression that never faded.

Those formative experiences, rooted in the traditional pursuits of hunting and fishing, became the lens through which he eventually found his voice as a writer. High school English teachers who recognized something in him helped point the way. Thoreau’s Walden and Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac confirmed it.

Over decades of writing (including 559 consecutive columns for Pennsylvania Outdoor News and a monthly column called “The Wild Around” in Pennsylvania Game News), Ben has argued, quietly and persistently, that wonder doesn’t require travel to exotic places.

It lives in your backyard, in a squirrel’s improvisational genius, in the dusk flight of a woodcock over a boggy meadow in spring.

He navigates the grimmer realities of environmental change all with the same philosophy. That is, acknowledge the losses honestly, but never lose sight of what remains.

Finally, Ben talks about the opening of Laurel Caverns as Pennsylvania’s 125th state park, a moment both men salute as proof that patient, principled stewardship can still win.

Key Topics:

From Fishing Rods to the Written Word (01:15)
Thoreau, Leopold, and the Books That Shaped Him (06:05)
Writing for Readers Who Don’t Think of Themselves as Outdoor People (10:16)
Writing About Environmental Loss Without Losing Hope (13:29)
Conservation Partners Worth Mentioning (20:49)
What Does a Meaningful Outdoor Experience Look Like? (27:01)
Favorite Places: Grandfather’s Farm and Dunbar Creek (31:41)
Wild Foods, Ramps, and Seasonal Rituals (32:14)
Laurel Caverns: Pennsylvania’s 125th State Park (40:31)

Resources:

🎧 Listen to the Think Outside Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite app while on the go! New episodes drop bi-weekly on Mondays, and you may occasionally find a bonus episode, as well!

The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation inspires stewardship of YOUR state parks and forests through volunteerism, education, recreation, and philanthropy.

How the Land Shapes Us: Ben Moyer Reflects on Writing and Place

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How the Land Shapes Us: Ben Moyer Reflects on Writing and Place