2024 Tony Houseman Conservation Legacy Award Winner Announced

Higher Calling Wildlife® is proud to announce the winner of the Tony Houseman Conservation Legacy Award is Grayson Highfield, age 27,  from Cody, WY.

She was presented the award by Higher Calling Wildlife founder Chester Moore at the 2024 Hunt-Fish Podcast Summit at the Warren Ranch Sat. March 23.

“Tony Houseman was a president of the Houston Safari Club Foundation and was an early mentor of mine-the earliest in fact. He saw something in me when I had no real media resume to speak of and helped fuel the early part of my career, “Moore said.

Highfield is a graduate of the 2023 Women Hunt® program of the Wild Sheep Foundation and has worked with the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and done everything from fire control to interpretive work.

“She’s a real go-getter and has miles and miles of heart. She also has a unique story and a high level of writing talent which she has been using to raise awareness of wildlife conservation, fishing and hunting. If Tony were still alive he would be proud of her,” Moore said.

Moore has stayed in touch with Houseman’s wife Gisela who has supported two Higher Calling Wildlife Expeditions through her philanthropic works.

Highfield said it was a huge honor to be chosen as the 2024 recipient of the Tony Houseman Conservation Legacy Award.

“Chester has become an amazing friend and support system in the short time I’ve known him, and I’m so grateful that he sees within me a drive for the passions we share: writing, the outdoors, wildlife, and stewardship.”

“I’m looking forward to where my future takes me, and excited to discover new opportunities in which I can give back to the Women Hunt program, conservation, and the hunting and angling fields.”

Highfeild noted that Chester’s story of one of Houseman’s last hunts (a green hunt for a rhinoceros) has inspired her.

“This story has allowed me to begin re-defining what it means to be a hunter in my own mind while I simultaneously shape my personal code of hunting ethics (as a very new hunter) and I am so excited to explore new avenues that meet at the dynamic intersection of hunting and conservation,” she said.

Higher Calling Wildlife helps mentor teens facing special challenges such as critical illness, parent loss and other issues to become wildlife conservationists through conservation-centric expeditions.

The 2022 and 2023 expeditions to Colorado were funded in part by grants from the Houston Safari Club Foundation. Reports on these expeditions were published in their Hunter’s Horn magazine.

They are currently raising funds and seeking sponsors for expeditions in Colorado and in the Yellowstone region.

You can email chester@chestermoore.com if you would like to help or make a tax-deductible donation here.

You can subscribe to the Higher Calling Wildlife podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and IHeartradio and subscribe to the blog at www.highercalling.net.