What does conservation really mean, and when does protecting nature become removing people from it?

Filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Montana rancher, horseman, and Life in the West creator Trinity Vandenacre to discuss conservation versus preservation, wildlife management, hunting, ranching, predators, wildfire, and forestry.

The conversation also turns to the emerging financialization of nature, including carbon and biodiversity credits and whether putting a monetary value on ecosystems could ultimately change who controls natural resources.

Are we managing nature for abundance, or simply trying to keep people out of it?

Ep 56 - Trinity Vandenacre, Content Creator, Life in the West

In the final chapter of this 3-episode series, filmmaker Tom Opre talks to Allan about putting it all together, all the lessons of his life and research, and where this planet is headed. They talk about Allan's memoir, his life's work, and the big thing that everyone, from scientists to world leaders, keeps missing.

Ep 55 - Allan Savory, Founder of THe Savory Institute Part 3

In the second part of this 3-part series, filmmaker Tom Opre talks to a world-renowned scientist and speaker about growing up in a Rhodesia divided by civil war, forays into the military and parliament, and how tracking animals and enemies informed his attitudes and philosophies on nature and humankind's ultimate survival.

Ep 54 - Allan Savory, Founder of The Savory Institute, Part 2

Allan Savory is the Godfather of regenerative agriculture. In the first part of this three-part series, filmmaker Tom Opre talks to Allan about what brought him to wildlife, wild places, and the wise use of natural resources. They'll discuss his start, the cultural climate in Africa during the mid-19th century, during the demise of colonialism, and the trials and tribulations of trying to convince the world that we've been doing it wrong all this time.

Episode 53 - Allan Savory, Founder of the Savory Institute, Part 1

In this episode of the Shepherds of the Wild Podcast, Tom goes in-depth with Roland Norton of Makasa Safaris. As documented in Tom's film "Killing the Shepherd", over a decade ago, at the behest of the area's chieftainess, Roland and Makasa Safaris moved into the lower Luano Valley in Zambia to help restore wildlife numbers. After a decade spent fighting poaching, and engaged in community projects, the people of the lower Luano, and the wildlife are starting to rebound in a big way. But a few vital, endemic species have not returned. So the next step is Project Return of the Wild. Tom and Roland discuss the problems, the solutions, and the best way to get involved.

Ep 52 _ Roland Norton, Makasa Safaris, Wildlife Conservator and Safari Operator

In this episode of the Shepherds of the Wild podcast, filmmaker Tom Opre has a frank discussion with Pete Geddes. Pete is the Chief External Relations Officer for American Prairie, a non-profit dedicated to "restoring" a large swath of Montana to its previous state, before Lewis and Clark's Discovery of the Great Montana Plains. They'll discuss bison, land acquisition, the area's current residents, as well as the overall impact on the environment, the economy, and the people.

Ep 51 - Pete Geddes, Chief External Relations Officer, American Prairie

In this episode of Shepherds of the Wild, filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Garrett Budds, Chief Conservation Officer of American Prairie, for a direct and wide-ranging conversation about one of the most ambitious conservation projects in North America. Budds explains American Prairie's vision to assemble a large, functioning prairie ecosystem in north-central Montana and addresses hard questions around land acquisition, grazing allotments, bison reintroduction, predator expansion, water rights, public access, and hunting. This episode explores what "rewilding" really means on the ground—and how conservation, agriculture, wildlife management, and rural communities collide in the modern American West.

Ep 50 - Garrett Budds, Chief Conservation Officer, American Prairie

In this episode, conservationist and filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Mark Sather, a longtime Montana sportsman and employee of the Sieben Livestock Company, to unpack one of the most volatile and misunderstood issues in Western conservation: access, entitlement, and responsibility.

Raised hunting the Gates of the Mountains and the Bob Marshall, Sather brings a generational sportsman's perspective shaped by years working inside a large, wildlife-rich cattle operation. He speaks candidly about what happens when public wildlife, private land, federal agencies, state managers, and modern hunting technology collide—sometimes literally—with helicopters, drones, and rising tensions in the field.

The conversation moves deep into block management, helicopter access to landlocked public ground, changing hunter behavior, and the real-world consequences ranchers face when gates are left open, cattle are displaced, and trust breaks down. Sather also explains how proactive management—cow elk harvests, hazing with drones, and collaboration with Fish & Game—can reduce conflict while still putting meat in freezers.

This is not a theoretical discussion. It's a ground-level look at how conservation actually works—or fails—when emotion, politics, and entitlement replace humility, stewardship, and dialogue.

If you care about hunting, public land, private land, and the future of wildlife in the American West, this is a conversation you need to hear.

Ep 49 - Mark Sather, Sportsman and Sieben Livestock Employee

In this episode of Shepherds of the Wild, filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Montana rancher and outfitter Matt Wickens to talk about the hard truths facing rural America. From razor-thin ranching margins to the rise of the American Prairie Reserve and the loss of working lands, Wickens lays bare the challenges of keeping family operations alive in a changing landscape. The two discuss the economics of local beef, the value of outfitting to small towns like Winifred, and what "rewilding" really means for those who live on the land.

Ep 48 - Matt Wickens, Montana Rancher and Outfitter

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, filmmaker Tom Opre sits down with Montana cattle rancher Trina Jo Bradley, who runs a multigenerational ranch on the edge of the Rocky Mountain Front, bordering the Blackfeet Reservation. Bradley offers an unvarnished look into the beauty and brutality of ranch life — raising cattle amid drought, brutal winters, fluctuating markets, and the constant threat of predators.

Ep 46 - Trina Jo Bradley, Mt Cattle Rancher

Host and filmmaker Tom Opre discusses dynamic topics with some of the most well-known and recognized experts on wildlife and habitat conservation.￼￼￼￼￼ It’s a no holds barred, reality-based conversati

Shepherds of the Wild Podcast · Zencastr

Shepherds of the Wild Podcast

Host and filmmaker Tom Opre discusses dynamic topics with some of the most well-known and recognized experts on wildlife and habitat conservation.￼￼￼￼￼ It’s a no holds barred, reality-based conversation about all the things Wild under man’s ever increasing shadow.