Minnesota Conservation Volunteer editor helped tell the state's wild stories

A woman who has shared the best of Minnesota's outdoors with hundreds of thousands of readers will retire soon from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Kathleen Weflen, editor of Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine, will close her fifth-floor office door for the last time Wednesday. That will end 30 years of editing perhaps Minnesota's most-beloved magazine.

"Some readers affectionately call the Volunteer the Minnesota Geographic because it serves as a guide to our state's wild things and places," Weflen said.

A willowy woman with youthful looks, Weflen, 67, rose from associate editor to editor in chief 1989. Immediately, she began to leave her mark on a magazine first published in 1940. She reached out to the best writers, photographers and illustrators. She searched within the DNR for the best stories to tell. And she listened to readers. It all worked. The magazine has amassed so many state and national publishing awards that Weflen's walls long ago lacked space to display them.

The magazine's subscriber list has grown from 5,000 to about 115,000. This makes the Volunteer significantly larger than many popular national outdoor magazines, including Fly Fisherman, Gray's Sporting Journal, Gun Dog and Wildfowl. The Volunteer is among the nation's largest state-published outdoors magazines, said Martin Rosinky, president of Infonet Systems, a Florida firm that provides consulting services to state agencies. Age-wise, the Volunteer is likely older than 95 percent of American magazines, according to Rebecca Sterner, a Twin Cities magazine consultant.

So who is Kathleen Weflen? Here are excerpts from a conversation:

Academically, I have an atypical past. I attended Bemidji State, the University of Oregon, St. Paul's Macalester College and nearby St. Catherine University, where I ultimately earned degrees in journalism and communications. Once I got into the business, I attended writing workshops and conferences. I remember visiting Sigurd Olson's writing shack and being so moved because inside were several copies of the Volunteer.

Freelance writers, photographers and illustrators provide much of the content. Our editorial staff and DNR experts also write, and DNR photographer Deb Rose goes on assignment. The magazine has been fortunate to publish so many amazing people. Sigurd Olson, Florence Jaques and Charles Kuralt, for example, were well-known voices from the past. So was John Moyle, one of the agency's most-noted biologists. In the 1990s, the late Paul Gruchow was a powerful and passionate voice. Today, we feature equally great contributors. I often wonder if readers truly know how talented they are. The images of Minnesota photographers Layne Kennedy and Jim Brandenburg, for example, appear in National Geographic.

We try hard to connect our readers to all the special places, people and nature in Minnesota. I love shedding light on little-known corners of the state that are both familiar yet strange. These are the stories that celebrate our home; these are the stories that Minnesotans look forward to reading. You could explore this state for a lifetime and still not know it … there's no shortage of tales to tell.

I love to edit. I really do. I love to read stories, help polish them and sometimes even reconstruct them. My staff and I are vigorous fact-checkers. Opinions vary, but truth is what we publish. We pride ourselves on solid reporting and clear explanations.

When the magazine was first launched, it quickly became the agency's flagship publication. It still is. The mission hasn't changed, either. The essence of our work is to encourage Minnesotans to protect, enjoy and carefully use the state's natural resources. I think we succeed in that. Many readers share their magazines because they believe in conservation and want to inspire others.

We haven't done a reader survey recently, but the last time we did, we learned readership largely matched the demographics of the state except that more readers were male and more readers lived outside the metro area. Nearly all fished, the majority were bird-watchers and half hunted. We also know some readers are incredibly loyal. It's not unusual for readers to send us $50 for this 64-page magazine published six times a year. Some readers have even left us money in their wills. In fact, a large bequest is how we fund Volunteer subscriptions for all the state's schools and public libraries, as well as a pioneering middle school project in Cass Lake.

We have twice considered increasing the dimensions of the magazine since I have been editor. There's logic to making it bigger because, among other things, you can really showcase the photographs. Yet the first time we surveyed readers they said, "No." The second time we discovered our current size is the most environmentally friendly because it results in the least amount of paper waste from trimming. So, the decision to stay the same was easy.

I've edited 170 issues, authored 156 columns and written at least 100,000 words, which is more than most novels. I am perhaps most proud of a climate change piece I researched in 2000 and published in 2001. That story was cutting edge at the time. It got the conversation going, and that was very satisfying. I also take pride in the fact that since 1980, readers have voluntarily supported the magazine with donations. Since 2003 the magazine has run its entire operation with donations from readers.

I never completely debunked the myth that there is a waiting list to become a Volunteer subscriber. Yes, that was true 20-some years ago but not today. Anyone who wants the magazine can just go the DNR website and sign up, or they can send an e-mail to our circulation manager at david.lent@state.mn.us. We love having new readers.

I look forward to kayaking, hiking and going to places I've never been to before with my binoculars and pocket magnifying lens. Anytime I can go outdoors and enjoy birds and plants I am happy, and I intend to do a lot of that.

C.B. Bylander is a freelance writer. He lives near Baxter, Minn.