#82 - What Grizzlies & Wilderness Can Teach Us w/ Dave Stalling

I this episode, I interview Dave Stalling, writer and wildlife advocate based in Missoula, Montana. Dave recounts his time serving in Marine Corps Force Recon, struggling for years with self-acceptance, and finding his footing by spending long periods alone in remote Montana wildlands, influenced by Doug Peacock’s Grizzly Years and writers like Edward Abbey and Jack Turner. Dave explains his deep connection to grizzlies as teachers of humility, and critiques how modern hunting culture, commercialization, and hunter-dominated agencies use “science” to justify politically driven predator killing and maximizing harvest of game animals. Dave argues wildlife management should include all citizens, discusses ballot initiatives, and shares how hiking with his son Cory, who has a muscular disease, taught him to slow down, notice small details, and practice “forest bathing.”https://substack.com/@davidstallingDoug Peacock’s Grizzly YearsJack Turner’s The Abstract Wild01:47 Meet David Stalling03:27 Gray Hair Hypocrisy05:21 Force Recon Self Acceptance08:32 Father Roots in Wild12:53 Grizzlies Teach Humility16:43 Hunting Culture Critique17:32 Anti Hunter Who Hunts25:20 Science Versus Politics27:03 Elk Bears Misused Science34:59 Commercialized Hunting Takeover37:51 Conservation Groups Letdown38:51 Reforming Wildlife Management40:33 Ballot Initiatives vs Science45:31 Calling Out Hunter Culture47:54 How Dave Learned to Write53:05 Lessons From Cory58:18 Rethinking Wild Places01:03:56 Forest Bathing and Healing01:07:17 Public Lands Are Everything Get full access to Our Public Lands Podcast at ourpubliclandspodcast.substack.com/subscribe