Hello, and good morning, Carlton. How are you doing today? Hey,
Arrow, I'm doing great. How about yourself? Doing fantastic. I'm
so proud of you with this book. And the reason being is I'm here
in the Carolinas and we have the we have panthers as well, and and
but you have taken the extra step in your life to say, you know
what, I'm going to document this and we're going to protect these panthers even
more. Thank you. Yeah. My goal is that you have female panthers
in the Carolinas and a breeding population once again, and that we can protect
a wildlife corridor that keeps the panthers and the everglades connected all the way up
to the appellations. You know what's really interesting about this book is I never
made the connection between the Everglades and the panther I mean cats and water but
at the same but but it's so fascinating to go into these pages and study
the pictures. It's not something you think about. And it's not that they
necessarily love water. It's that we as we as Americans who came in to
the eastern United States, had conflict with panthers and we hunted them out of
existence everywhere east of the Mississippi River other than the remote swamps of the southern
tip of Florida. And it's because, in my opinion, it's because those
swamps were so inhospitable that no people wanted to live there, right, And
that's why the Seminole and the Miccosuki people persevered. Is the only unconquered tribes
in America, and it's why the Florida panther survived through decades of persecution to
make it to be a protected species in the nineteen seventies. You know,
it's so funny that when when you said Florida Panthers, because right away,
I'm thinking of our football team, the Carolina Panthers, and the and the
Jaguars and the Panthers both went on at the same time. I'm shocked that
the Jaguars were at the Panthers from the very beginning, because that state of
Florida loves their Panthers. That's true. Jaguars are cool. Not taking these
any away from him, but yeah, that we have, we have an
original Florida story. And right now the hockey team, the Florida Panthers,
are doing pretty well. Yeah, yeah, So do you feel like John
Lawson in the way that you have trecked the lands, you have documented the
stories and captured the pictures. Oh gosh, well, I think some of
the people I've documented are like that. Um. There's there's a man in
the book carry Lightzy who's a multigenerational rancher who you know, is a gun
toting conservative protector of the land, who also told me that the panther's going
to help us save Florida. And there are characters and heroes that I've encountered
and helped to share their stories that I think really give a lot of hope
for the idea. They were all in this together, and in many ways,
the Florida rancher and the Florida panther are both endangered species in the face
of ever present developed that is pressuring the land that they both need for their
long term survival. I study Native American spirituality, and as a totem animal,
the panther helps us navigate within and without transforming doubt into strength. It's
so true because the panther really is a very powerful totem animal. That's so
cool. I want to learn more about it from a broader perspective. I
know that the native tribes here in Florida, the make Asuki and the Seminoles,
hold the panther very high in their culture. The panther clan is the
largest clan and it's where the medicine men all lives. And it embodies an
idea of coexistence and sharing the land of the panther and seeing the panther as
the guardian yes of places that i think has been lost on the Western mindset
and I'm hoping we can adapt more of that coexistence and that guardianship that the
native groups hold. Is that part of the reason why you say that with
the panther we sustained balance, because without the panther, things aren't going to
go right. Yeah, that's I think that's a good point. I mean,
it's mainly that the panther is showing us what we need to do to
save land for ourselves. If we do what we need to do for the
panther, that's going to mean saving vast connected green space that sure benefits panther
is another wildlife, but it's where our water comes from, it's where our
resilience comes from, it's where we get our food. It's what's going to
give the next generations of humans a planet that's in balance, and we can
look to the panther to show us how to do that. Now the book
itself, it also features other animals from Florida, which which I found very
fascinating because it was more than I Candy. I became the student and then
I became the conversationalist while while going through your book. That's one of my
favorite things about this process is learning how many different animals share the same trails
as the panther, and it really makes the point if you would protect the
path for the panther, you're saving the home for so many other species,
hundreds of species, including the Florida black bear, and otters and bobcats and
alligators. One of the pictures in the book, there's an alligator walking through
the swamp on a dry trail with a huge salamander hanging out of its mouth,
and it's just the wildness and the beauty that's happening in these places,
all in land that is protected by the biggest home range of the Florida panther.
Do you feel like you were called to write this book in the way
of saying, this book right here is for the present, but it's also
for that reader that's going to find it in ten to fifteen, twenty years.
I was definitely called into the cause that the book represents. You know.
I founded the Florida Wildlife Corridor Project in twenty ten to try to use
storytelling to elevate this opportunity to protect a connected network of land through the state
of Florida. And that led me to cattle ranchers, to the story of
the Florida black Bear, and then ultimately to the story of the Florida Panther,
which I believe is the ultimate ambassador in emblem of saving these big wild
places. So this book, and there's also a brand new film called Path
of the Panther streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu under the National Geographic Kyle.
Both of these publications give us a great chance to share this story of wider
audiences and continue to grow the movement not just to save the wildlife quarter or
in Florida, but to inspire protecting a balance of conservation, land and development
throughout the rest of the country. Speaking of protecting, a book like this
serves as an invitation that can be sent all around the world. Are there
rules in Florida that will keep the masses away from these panthers in their natural
surroundings. In Florida, we have lots of conservation land, ten million acres
of public lands that are increasingly pressured by development, and we also have millions
of acres of cattle ranch and timberlands and forests and orange groves. And there's
some new laws that went in place in twenty twenty one, the Florida Wildlife
Corridor Act recognizes the importance of a connected network of habitat that includes the public
and private lands working together as a whole. And it's all voluntary, incentive
based. But the state leaders have invested nearly two billion dollars in their budgeting
across the past three legislative sessions to do new habitat protections, to pay for
conservationism as to give ranchers and farmers alternatives to development. And that sort of
investment is hugely helpful for striking that balance and it's going to give the panthers
a path to continuing their recovery. Wow, I'm just so proud of you.
Where can someone go to find out more about you? Carlton? And
doubt about this whole entire project because they're hearing the conversation. Now they want
to learn more about the journey. Start with paths of the Panther dot com.
There's some great calls to action links to the book and the film.
If you want to connect with me on social media, it's just my name
at Carlton Ward on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. But yeah, please
help spread the word and share the story. My hope is that we're going
to have a connected green space from the Everglades all the way up into the
Appellations and the Carolinas where this can all be reconnected once again. Oh,
I love your view. Please come back to the show anytime in the future.
The door is always going to be open for you. Thank you.
Looking forward to staying in touch. Let me know how you liked the film
if you get a chance to watch it. Oh, I'll be there.
I'll be there because I've got Disney Plus so I'm going awesome. Thanks so
much, Ero, have a great afternoon, great day.