Two veteran journalists who have shared a lot of days afield to hunt, fish, photograph, canoe, swap stories and combine their talents in the conservation of natural resources have been named Conservation Communicator of the Year for 2012 in Missouri and Kansas.

Two veteran journalists who have shared a lot of days afield to hunt, fish, photograph, canoe, swap stories and combine their talents in the conservation of natural resources have been named Conservation Communicator of the Year for 2012 in Missouri and Kansas.

Bob Whitehead of Mansfield, MO received the honor on Feb. 22 at the annual meeting and awards banquet of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, at Jefferson City, while Thayne Smith, Claremore, OK was awarded the same recognition by the Kansas Wildlife Federation, at its Emporia, KS annual meeting, on Feb. 23.

For more than 20 years, Whitehead, 59, has served as managing editor and co-publisher of the popular Outdoor Guide magazine and the outdoor pages of the St. Louis Labor Tribune. Among many accolades, he was cited as “the man responsible for getting a vital conservation message to more than 150,000 Missouri outdoor enthusiasts through the magazines”.

“As the ‘man behind the curtain’ Bob has his hands firmly on controls that keep open the pipeline of conservation communication in Missouri.  His passion to step up and do the tough work of an editor rather than filling the magazine with canned fluff exemplifies Bob’s commitment to meaningful conservation communication,” was cited by nominators. “His commitment is also reflected by involvement as past president of the Missouri Outdoor Communicators (MOC) and AGLOW (in 2000) as well as activity in several other professional conservation organizations.

A graduate of the University of Missouri, Whitehead is also a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), Southeast Outdoor Press Association (SEOPA), Midwest Travel Writers Association (MTWA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA).

Since 1950, Smith, 84, a native of Kansas, has been an award-winning newspaper man, freelance writer, photographer and public relations professional with emphasis on Kansas and Midwest activities involving outdoor recreation and conservation issues.

He attended Wichita State University, majoring in journalism, then served for 10 years as a reporter and editor on daily newspapers at Newton, Garden City and Salina, KS. With a syndicated column, his freelance writing continued while he held public relations posts with the Kansas Highway Commission (now KDOT), the Kansas Fish and Game Commission (now Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism), the Coleman Company at Wichita, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) at Chantilly, VA and Zebco and Lowrance Electronics in Tulsa, OK.

The KWF Award for 2012 was the second for Smith. He was the first recipient of the honor in 1967 while serving as Information-Education Chief of the Kansas Fish and Game Commission. He is the only surviving charter member of the Outdoor Writers of Kansas (OWK) founded in 1962, and served as its president in 1970.

Smith was president of AGLOW in 1987. In addition, he served as president of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) in 1987-88 and the Great Rivers Outdoor Writers (GROW), a four-state association of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, in 1973. He is an honorary life member of MOC and the Texas Outdoor Writers Association, holds Heritage membership in POMA and is a member of SEOPA.