1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Hello, and good morning, Carlton. How are you doing today? Hey, 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:05,919 Arrow, I'm doing great. How about yourself? Doing fantastic. I'm 3 00:00:05,919 --> 00:00:08,119 so proud of you with this book. And the reason being is I'm here 4 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,960 in the Carolinas and we have the we have panthers as well, and and 5 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,160 but you have taken the extra step in your life to say, you know 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,600 what, I'm going to document this and we're going to protect these panthers even 7 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:26,600 more. Thank you. Yeah. My goal is that you have female panthers 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:31,399 in the Carolinas and a breeding population once again, and that we can protect 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:36,479 a wildlife corridor that keeps the panthers and the everglades connected all the way up 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,399 to the appellations. You know what's really interesting about this book is I never 11 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,039 made the connection between the Everglades and the panther I mean cats and water but 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,439 at the same but but it's so fascinating to go into these pages and study 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:55,759 the pictures. It's not something you think about. And it's not that they 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:01:03,880 necessarily love water. It's that we as we as Americans who came in to 15 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,159 the eastern United States, had conflict with panthers and we hunted them out of 16 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:15,560 existence everywhere east of the Mississippi River other than the remote swamps of the southern 17 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,120 tip of Florida. And it's because, in my opinion, it's because those 18 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:25,079 swamps were so inhospitable that no people wanted to live there, right, And 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,680 that's why the Seminole and the Miccosuki people persevered. Is the only unconquered tribes 20 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:36,200 in America, and it's why the Florida panther survived through decades of persecution to 21 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:41,560 make it to be a protected species in the nineteen seventies. You know, 22 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,480 it's so funny that when when you said Florida Panthers, because right away, 23 00:01:44,519 --> 00:01:47,719 I'm thinking of our football team, the Carolina Panthers, and the and the 24 00:01:47,799 --> 00:01:49,719 Jaguars and the Panthers both went on at the same time. I'm shocked that 25 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,400 the Jaguars were at the Panthers from the very beginning, because that state of 26 00:01:53,439 --> 00:02:00,560 Florida loves their Panthers. That's true. Jaguars are cool. Not taking these 27 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:04,599 any away from him, but yeah, that we have, we have an 28 00:02:04,599 --> 00:02:08,280 original Florida story. And right now the hockey team, the Florida Panthers, 29 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:13,000 are doing pretty well. Yeah, yeah, So do you feel like John 30 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,080 Lawson in the way that you have trecked the lands, you have documented the 31 00:02:16,159 --> 00:02:23,520 stories and captured the pictures. Oh gosh, well, I think some of 32 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,479 the people I've documented are like that. Um. There's there's a man in 33 00:02:27,479 --> 00:02:34,240 the book carry Lightzy who's a multigenerational rancher who you know, is a gun 34 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,800 toting conservative protector of the land, who also told me that the panther's going 35 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:46,120 to help us save Florida. And there are characters and heroes that I've encountered 36 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:49,680 and helped to share their stories that I think really give a lot of hope 37 00:02:49,719 --> 00:02:53,000 for the idea. They were all in this together, and in many ways, 38 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:58,719 the Florida rancher and the Florida panther are both endangered species in the face 39 00:02:58,759 --> 00:03:02,000 of ever present developed that is pressuring the land that they both need for their 40 00:03:02,039 --> 00:03:07,599 long term survival. I study Native American spirituality, and as a totem animal, 41 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:15,439 the panther helps us navigate within and without transforming doubt into strength. It's 42 00:03:15,479 --> 00:03:23,439 so true because the panther really is a very powerful totem animal. That's so 43 00:03:23,479 --> 00:03:25,800 cool. I want to learn more about it from a broader perspective. I 44 00:03:25,879 --> 00:03:30,400 know that the native tribes here in Florida, the make Asuki and the Seminoles, 45 00:03:31,159 --> 00:03:35,240 hold the panther very high in their culture. The panther clan is the 46 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:42,879 largest clan and it's where the medicine men all lives. And it embodies an 47 00:03:42,919 --> 00:03:46,120 idea of coexistence and sharing the land of the panther and seeing the panther as 48 00:03:46,159 --> 00:03:52,520 the guardian yes of places that i think has been lost on the Western mindset 49 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:58,240 and I'm hoping we can adapt more of that coexistence and that guardianship that the 50 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:00,639 native groups hold. Is that part of the reason why you say that with 51 00:04:00,719 --> 00:04:05,000 the panther we sustained balance, because without the panther, things aren't going to 52 00:04:05,039 --> 00:04:12,080 go right. Yeah, that's I think that's a good point. I mean, 53 00:04:12,439 --> 00:04:15,759 it's mainly that the panther is showing us what we need to do to 54 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,680 save land for ourselves. If we do what we need to do for the 55 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:25,839 panther, that's going to mean saving vast connected green space that sure benefits panther 56 00:04:25,959 --> 00:04:29,480 is another wildlife, but it's where our water comes from, it's where our 57 00:04:29,519 --> 00:04:31,839 resilience comes from, it's where we get our food. It's what's going to 58 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:38,800 give the next generations of humans a planet that's in balance, and we can 59 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,480 look to the panther to show us how to do that. Now the book 60 00:04:41,519 --> 00:04:45,560 itself, it also features other animals from Florida, which which I found very 61 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,759 fascinating because it was more than I Candy. I became the student and then 62 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:56,879 I became the conversationalist while while going through your book. That's one of my 63 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:01,680 favorite things about this process is learning how many different animals share the same trails 64 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,439 as the panther, and it really makes the point if you would protect the 65 00:05:05,519 --> 00:05:10,759 path for the panther, you're saving the home for so many other species, 66 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,839 hundreds of species, including the Florida black bear, and otters and bobcats and 67 00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:19,279 alligators. One of the pictures in the book, there's an alligator walking through 68 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:25,639 the swamp on a dry trail with a huge salamander hanging out of its mouth, 69 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,160 and it's just the wildness and the beauty that's happening in these places, 70 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:38,319 all in land that is protected by the biggest home range of the Florida panther. 71 00:05:39,079 --> 00:05:41,600 Do you feel like you were called to write this book in the way 72 00:05:41,639 --> 00:05:45,000 of saying, this book right here is for the present, but it's also 73 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:46,959 for that reader that's going to find it in ten to fifteen, twenty years. 74 00:05:50,319 --> 00:05:55,240 I was definitely called into the cause that the book represents. You know. 75 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,959 I founded the Florida Wildlife Corridor Project in twenty ten to try to use 76 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:05,199 storytelling to elevate this opportunity to protect a connected network of land through the state 77 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:10,040 of Florida. And that led me to cattle ranchers, to the story of 78 00:06:10,079 --> 00:06:13,439 the Florida black Bear, and then ultimately to the story of the Florida Panther, 79 00:06:13,519 --> 00:06:17,720 which I believe is the ultimate ambassador in emblem of saving these big wild 80 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:21,879 places. So this book, and there's also a brand new film called Path 81 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:27,000 of the Panther streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu under the National Geographic Kyle. 82 00:06:27,639 --> 00:06:31,720 Both of these publications give us a great chance to share this story of wider 83 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,920 audiences and continue to grow the movement not just to save the wildlife quarter or 84 00:06:35,959 --> 00:06:42,000 in Florida, but to inspire protecting a balance of conservation, land and development 85 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,120 throughout the rest of the country. Speaking of protecting, a book like this 86 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,399 serves as an invitation that can be sent all around the world. Are there 87 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,959 rules in Florida that will keep the masses away from these panthers in their natural 88 00:06:53,959 --> 00:07:03,560 surroundings. In Florida, we have lots of conservation land, ten million acres 89 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:11,560 of public lands that are increasingly pressured by development, and we also have millions 90 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:17,079 of acres of cattle ranch and timberlands and forests and orange groves. And there's 91 00:07:17,079 --> 00:07:20,560 some new laws that went in place in twenty twenty one, the Florida Wildlife 92 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Corridor Act recognizes the importance of a connected network of habitat that includes the public 93 00:07:26,639 --> 00:07:30,680 and private lands working together as a whole. And it's all voluntary, incentive 94 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:36,480 based. But the state leaders have invested nearly two billion dollars in their budgeting 95 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:42,240 across the past three legislative sessions to do new habitat protections, to pay for 96 00:07:42,279 --> 00:07:46,680 conservationism as to give ranchers and farmers alternatives to development. And that sort of 97 00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:53,079 investment is hugely helpful for striking that balance and it's going to give the panthers 98 00:07:53,079 --> 00:07:57,000 a path to continuing their recovery. Wow, I'm just so proud of you. 99 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,040 Where can someone go to find out more about you? Carlton? And 100 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,160 doubt about this whole entire project because they're hearing the conversation. Now they want 101 00:08:03,199 --> 00:08:09,439 to learn more about the journey. Start with paths of the Panther dot com. 102 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,279 There's some great calls to action links to the book and the film. 103 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,199 If you want to connect with me on social media, it's just my name 104 00:08:16,319 --> 00:08:20,360 at Carlton Ward on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. But yeah, please 105 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:24,600 help spread the word and share the story. My hope is that we're going 106 00:08:24,639 --> 00:08:28,680 to have a connected green space from the Everglades all the way up into the 107 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:33,799 Appellations and the Carolinas where this can all be reconnected once again. Oh, 108 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,600 I love your view. Please come back to the show anytime in the future. 109 00:08:35,639 --> 00:08:39,159 The door is always going to be open for you. Thank you. 110 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:41,919 Looking forward to staying in touch. Let me know how you liked the film 111 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:43,720 if you get a chance to watch it. Oh, I'll be there. 112 00:08:43,759 --> 00:08:46,639 I'll be there because I've got Disney Plus so I'm going awesome. Thanks so 113 00:08:46,759 --> 00:08:48,720 much, Ero, have a great afternoon, great day.