Artemis Conservation Leadership Camps: Building Community and Leadership Among Women in the Outdoors

By: Annita Lucchesi

“For anyone who doesn’t know what Artemis Sportswomen is, it is a branch of the National Wildlife Federation to empower women who enjoy the outdoors through hunting and fishing. But it’s more. It is a beautiful community of women with vast diversities of knowledge and experience from around the US…This program was more than fishing and hunting, it was creating a family and a community of women who can share knowledge and experience the outdoors together.” – CLC 2026 participant

If you’ve seen the current social media trend called “girl grip,” you know women can hold an extraordinary amount of things. In these videos, women carry keys, phones, water bottles, self-care and hygiene items, cups of coffee, sunglasses, bags – you name it – and make it look easy to do it with one hand. Google describes “girl grip” as holding an “impractical” amount of items; as a woman, I’d describe it as a highly practical skill developed over a lifetime of wearing clothes designed without pockets. 

Women hunters and anglers are expected to practice metaphoric “girl grip” as conservation leaders, too. We hold our experiences and goals as hunters and anglers, our hopes for future generations, our frustrations with stereotypes and glass ceilings (and sometimes brick walls), our concern for rapidly changing environmental conditions in the places we love, the triage work we do to sustain the places and practices that make us who we are, and all of our other varied responsibilities as women in our careers, households, families, and communities. All while wearing gear usually not designed for our bodies (and sometimes, still, without pockets!). Just like the generations of fashion designers that have neglected women’s pockets, the conservation and sporting worlds have, for too long, not equipped women with the resources we need to carry all that needs carrying sustainably. 

That’s where Artemis comes in. Artemis developed our Conservation Leadership Camp (CLC) program to help women hunters and anglers develop and strengthen this metaphoric “girl grip” as conservation leaders, while also asking, what would it look like if we empowered more of us to help carry all this? How can we share our collective knowledge, expertise, and passion to build collective strength to carry it all? And why invest in a community of women hunter-angler conservation leaders? 

“Have been thinking so much about everything that was discussed this weekend. Just know [all of the women that attended camp are] amazing, badass, intelligent AF and so brave! I’ll be riding the emotional high for a while. Meeting [everyone] has made me a better human.” – CLC 2026 participant

“It was an absolute privilege to be surrounded by smart, capable, fun and funny women.” – CLC 2026 participant

“There were so many incredible speakers at this event that have left me inspired and proud to be in their presence. I met so many cool women from across the country who helped me grow in many ways.” – CLC 2026 participant 

In short, because, as our participants say – being around other like-hearted women is nourishing. Mentally, emotionally, physically, professionally. We know women (especially hunters and anglers) are strong, capable, carry tremendous weight, and demonstrate leadership in their communities on a daily basis – but we also know women are stronger with mentorship and support from one another, and in deep connection to land and water. For those reasons, the Artemis CLC program exists as an opportunity for women to get their boots in the field and on the water by learning or developing a hunting/angling skill, while also learning leadership skills and connecting to a like-hearted community. We believe Artemis can best develop women hunter-angler leadership by helping women build confidence to mobilize the leadership skills and callings they already have, giving women opportunities to learn conservation issues in a hands-on place-based curriculum, and connecting women with supportive communities of women also finding and utilizing their power. 

“I was nervous when I first got accepted to this program being a late onset hunter/angler and knowing I’d be surrounded by so many badass women. However, I knew this was a space I wanted to grow in; and I knew I wanted to learn and advance my knowledge from women, because up until this point I’ve really only hunted with my boyfriend who I love, but I also want to feel confident and comfortable on my own…Within a matter of hours of getting to camp I knew this experience was nothing to be anxious about, the mentors and women in this program were the most welcoming and supporting women I could’ve encountered. I am so grateful to have been a part of it, and I cannot wait for the next one.” – CLC 2026 participant

This year, we held our CLC in Driggs, Idaho. Nestled in the Teton Valley, Driggs was the perfect starting point for fly fishing and forest (ruffed/blue) grouse hunting, as well as wildlife viewing. We all were continuously humbled by the moose we frequently encountered, as well as the myriad raptors we observed hunting in the agricultural fields near our camp. The area strengthened a deep love for wildlife and public lands among all our participants – early mornings in mountain fall foliage and sunsets casting lines out on the Teton River are hard to beat. We were very fortunate to be able to hunt in a roadless area within the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, and to witness firsthand why roadless areas are critically important for hunters and wildlife alike. 

“How do I write what’s in my heart, when my heart is exploding with fullness. The Tetons. The moose. The warmth of encouragement that only women give each other. The hospitality of the Shoshone-Bannock people. The buffalo. The wild horses. Bitch Creek. Thank you Teton Valley. Thank you Artemis and Annita and Karly and the others who curated a conservation leadership development experience that was as emotionally rigorous as it was intellectually stimulating and physically challenging.” – CLC 2026 participant

As with all Artemis events, CLC’s are mentored and beginner-friendly. We had hunters and anglers of all skill levels attend – including women who had never picked up a fly rod or gone on a hunt before. Our first full day began with a Fly Fishing 101 class and casting clinic, covering topics like entomology and matching the hatch, how to read the water, fish ecology and behavior, and safe fish handling. We then took all our hunters to a mandatory bear safety class and clay shooting session at the range, ensuring that everyone had the same base-level understanding of bear and gun safety before going into the woods. The day concluded with a Wade Well session led by Lindsay Kocka, an overview of small game hunting 101 and hunting with dogs (ambassador Manda Michaelis, who served as one of our hunting instructors, brought her hunting dogs), and a fireside chat about what it means to harvest as a hunter-angler on Indigenous lands as a visiting guest. 

The following days included blocks of time for hunting and angling led by Artemis ambassador instructors, more fireside chats and informal peer learning sessions (want to learn to preserve your grouse tail fan? There’s a friend who will show you), and learning sessions on topics like women’s leadership in regenerative agriculture, storytelling and outdoors media, policy advocacy, career building, and threats to regional wildlife and how to get involved. The intentions behind the curriculum are: 

1. Give women as many entry points as possible to connect their passions as hunters/anglers to conservation issues;
2. Show women there are many ways to embody leadership and help them identify what theirs might be;
3. Give participants chances to learn from one another as experts;
4. Foster a conservation and sporting environment that values curiosity, continued learning, peer expertise, collaboration, cultural humility, and place-based learning. 

In the spirit of place-based learning and cultural humility, we also included an opportunity for participants to learn tribal histories and cultures of the area through a tour of the Fort Hall reservation, led by Shoshone-Bannock tribal member Randy’L Teton. Each participant received a signed copy of Randy’L’s graphic novel telling the Shoshone story of Sacagawea (Randy’L was the model that posed for the official Sacagawea coin!), and tour participants visited the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum, historic sites (including the former Indian boarding school and site of the original Fort Hall), and the Bottoms – an incredibly beautiful testament to Shoshone-Bannock care for the land. The Bottoms is an area conserved by the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and is home to the Tribes’ bison herd, as well as wild horse herds, thriving trout populations, and all sorts of wildlife. At a time when the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are actively fighting to protect their communities from increased toxic waste pollution, it meant a great deal for us to be welcomed to their homelands and to see their stewardship firsthand. 

“I’m not an emotional woman. Years of abuse and trauma have systematically shut down the feels. I’m not mad about it; I’m a survivor. But there were moments where I felt my heart crack open – if just briefly – in both grief and gratitude. The girls get it. I have so much to learn and so much to give this beautiful wild world.” – CLC 2026 participant

Programs like Artemis CLC’s are the pockets women hunter-angler conservation leaders need. While they won’t fix the conservation and sporting worlds overnight, they do help women carry the load collectively, build our strength, and free up a hand to be able to fill up our cups and continue forward. In the sporting world, we often talk of R3 (recruit, reactivate, retain hunters and anglers); Artemis CLC’s aren’t just R3 for sporting, they’re R3 for women in conservation more broadly. Developing conservation leaders is more than providing practical or technical skills – it’s building the muscles for continued learning and growth, and providing the support infrastructure and community that make leadership possible and sustainable. 

“If there’s any ladies out there that have ever wanted to try hunting or fishing and don’t know where to start or who to ask, please see if Artemis has a chapter near you. Let me know and I can try to help you find one. Even if you’ve never touched a fishing pole or a gun in your life I promise there’s probably women hunters and anglers in your area that are dying to meet other women to hunt and fish with. And they would love to teach you!” – CLC 2026 participant

If you’ve never experienced the pure joy of 27 women cheering on a woman that got her first trout on a fly line, or the collective satisfaction of sitting around a campfire eating grilled bacon-wrapped grouse nuggets alongside the 8 women that pooled their harvests together to feed everyone…come to camp next year. As one participant commented on a social media post about the 2026 CLC: “That weekend is what dreams are made of.” 

Note: Artemis would like to give a special thanks to The Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, for investing in our CLC program and supporting our last two camps. Thank you to all the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s customers who choose to donate to The Outdoor Fund while making their purchases – you helped make all this happen! Please continue to support The Outdoor Fund, or if you’d like to donate to Artemis directly, you may do so here.