America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston

(ethereal music) (bullet clacking) (propeller whirring) - I've traveled America, coast to coast, set foot in all the lower 48 states, except one.

Arkansas.

It's my personal last frontier.

An often overlooked landscape, filled with people who know they're sitting on a hidden gem, and don't want it to be hidden anymore.

Why has it been such a secret?

What if so many of us been missing out on all this time?

I'm gonna find out, and I may even try some things I never thought I would.

Take a deep breath, (inhales deeply) center my focus, aim, and take a shot.

(gentle ethereal music fading out) (gentle music) My name is Baratunde Thurston.

Yo!

I'm a writer, activist, sometimes comedian, and I'm all about telling a better story of us.

Wow!

This country is wild.

And its natural landscapes are as diverse as its people.

- Hey!

(bright uplifting music) - [Baratunde] How does our relationship with the outdoors define us as individuals and as a nation?

(gentle music) Arkansans have a secret.

Their state is an outdoor lover's paradise.

(gentle music) Full of adventures for those who know how to find them.

(gentle music) All right.

Another one.

Many places claim a deep connection to nature, but Arkansas is the only state whose motto is "The Natural State."

(bright inspirational music) (wind whirring) Whoo-hoo-hoo!

This is my first time in Arkansas, and it looks like they rolled out the green carpet.

So I'm ready to get out there and hit the road less traveled.

(car engine rumbling) (playful adventurous music) I'm in the Northwest Arkansas backcountry, and I get the feeling I've already come across one of those less travel roads.

Ooh, big dip.

Bumpty bump.

(car engine rumbling) I'm headed to a private airstrip, but nothing about this is like driving to an airport.

No signs, no security, no people.

Yes, yes.

That's all you got?

Honestly, though, that was a little close.

That was honestly a little close.

I should have moved faster over that one.

But this dirt road is just the beginning of today's journey.

I'm about to get my first real taste of Arkansas with longtime pilot, Chip Gibbons, a fourth generation Arkansas native.

In 2017, he helped form Fly Oz, a network of pilots flying small planes into wilderness airstrips.

And by wilderness airstrip, I mean a field.

It's just a field.

(bright uplifting music) Hot damn!

(bright uplifting music) What's up?

- Baratunde!

Good to see you.

- Good to see you too.

- Welcome.

- Thank you for having me.

Yeah, nice job with the parking.

- Thanks.

(Chip laughs) So we're at John Harris airstrip right now, and we're gonna fly to a place called Richland Creek, which is just gorgeous.

It's beautiful and you're gonna really love it.

And we're gonna show you some of the Boston Mountains when we go over.

- The Boston Mountains?

- Yes, part of the Ozark.

It's beautiful.

It's gonna be a great day.

You're gonna really enjoy it.

- All right, and you've flown before?

- Once, I got here.

I flew here.

(Baratunde laughs) - All right, man.

Well, I'm in your capable hands, let's go out.

- I'll take good care of you.

- We'll have a little picnic.

- Sounds great.

- All right.

All right.

- And of course this is my yoke.

And if you need to grab something, don't grab this.

You can grab me, but just don't grab this, all right?

- I won't grab anything.

- Okay.

- If we're in a situation where I need to grab this- - Yeah.

- There's other things wrong.

(Chip and Baratunde laughing) - We'll be in good shape.

- Good, all right.

- Close it.

(propeller whirring) So this is clearly not asphalt, and so it'll be a little bumpy, all right?

Prepare for that.

(adventurous music) - [Baratunde] Oh, that pulls fast.

- Flying, about the time we get into it.

- It just occurred to me, we're gonna fly.

- [Chip] Yeah, we are.

(Baratunde cheering) (Chip laughs) (bright uplifting music) (Baratunde exclaims) - Oh!

(bright uplifting music) Below us is the Arkansas River, flowing through the Arkansas River Valley.

An area nestled between two distinct mountain ranges, the Ouachitas and the Ozarks, which is where we're headed.

(lively music) These hills are rich in minerals like limestone and zinc, which explains why the river looks kind of different.

Not sure I've seen water that color before.

Ooh, the river is so weirdly blue.

That's not toxic, is it?

- [Chip] Not at all.

That is the result of all of the limestone.

It leeches out in that turquoise color.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- That's really common for the Buffalo, for the Mulberry, all these rivers up here don't have that much federal or state land.

Most of this is private.

- [Baratunde] Did you catch that?

Most of this, practically all of this, is private.

In fact, nearly 90% of the state is privately owned, which may explain why a lot of its natural beauty is a bit of a secret.

But locals like Chip have found that opening up this land for visitors is often as simple as asking.

- What we have to do is talk to the landowners.

- [Chip] Okay.

- And see if they'll let us come in and hang out.

By and large, they're really open to it, and we'll wind up flying someplace, and the owner shows up with cookies and lemonade, and I'm not making that up.

That has happened, so.

- Okay.

- [Chip] Yeah.

You know, we, all the pilots, seem to recognize how fortunate we are to be able to do this.

- [Baratunde] Chip is in a unique position.

With his plane, he can access land most people can only dream about.

Few people get the opportunity to do a trip like this.

- I started flying when I was 16 years old.

- Tell me about that.

How did you, your first flight?

- My dad was a private pilot and I went up with him when I was really, really, really young.

I don't even know, probably five or six years old.

- [Baratunde] Okay.

- [Chip] And I just always loved it.

(gentle music) - You need me to steer it for you?

- You can, please.

Please do.

- [Baratunde] I was nervous to fly in this thing as a passenger.

Now I'm actually piloting it?

Ah, okay, I'm cool.

- [Chip] Are you all right, you good?

- [Baratunde] Yeah, I think I am actually.

- [Chip] All right.

Pull back, just a little low.

There you go.

- Goes up slow.

- [Chip] There you go.

Look at you go.

I should have you doing this one.

(Baratunde laughs) (airplane engine rumbling) All right, pull back just a little bit low, to the left.

- All right, let me hand this back to you.

- Okay, I got it.

- Thank you.

- Yeah, that's awesome.

- [Baratunde] You're giving me one step closer to Tom Cruise status.

(Chip laughs) (gentle music) Okay, okay, Chip.

- [Chip] Yeah, I got you.

- [Baratunde] Uh-huh.

- [Chip] Don't you worry, I got you.

- [Baratunde] Just watch your air speed, okay, buddy?

- [Chip] All right.

(Baratunde cheering) - [Baratunde] Could've been a little smoother on the touchdown.

- [Chip] All right, let's go again.

(both laughing) - [Baratunde] Straight up!

- [Chip] Welcome to Richland Creek.

Just a beautiful spot.

- [Baratunde] Yes!

That was... That was great.

Most of the time, Chip flies out with hikers, climbers, or even fly fishers, looking to get lost for a few hours or days.

- [Jordyn] Hey!

- Let me introduce you to Baratunde.

- [Baratunde] Chip invited his colleagues, Jordyn Haught and Chad Cox- - Hi.

- To meet us here at Richland Creek.

They're also Arkansas natives, well-versed in the state's outdoor culture.

So I wanna know what the natural state means to them.

Are there any unique traits or characteristics of the way your fellow Arkansans interact with the outdoors?

- Everything about our culture and identity is tied up with the Ozark Mountains.

So I think we identify most strongly.

That's our culture, you know, we're hillbillies.

We're folks in the Ozarks.

- You said, "We're hillbillies."

Tell me about- - Affectionately.

- How do you contend with that image, the reality you live, and maybe the space in between those?

- So, I grew up here.

The first 60, 70% of my life, it was like almost an embarrassment, you know.

The way people felt about Arkansas, the way people talked about it.

- [Baratunde] A hillbilly is considered a derogatory term for folks who have deep roots in the Appalachians and the Ozarks.

Arkansans have lived with that stigma for decades, and know that it's one reason the state might be so overlooked.

But the origin of the word itself, no one knows for certain.

Some think it goes back to the 17th century Billy Boys, supporters of King William III of England.

Or that it derives from the Scottish term Billy, meaning friend, as in friend from the hills.

But wherever it came from, it's not generally considered a positive term.

- I think my mother would bristle at the use of the word hillbilly.

She would probably say hill folk, which is the preferred term.

Every season, there's a different kind of beauty in Arkansas and hill folk are very attuned to that.

There is like a rootedness to our culture here.

And so it is kind of naturally already connected to the outdoors.

- Yeah.

- I think we all kind of want to be outside.

It's just, I mean, and have our shoes off.

(Baratunde laughs) I'm happy to embody that stereotype.

- Yeah, yeah.

Do you wanna take your shoes off right now?

- I really do!

I seriously considered it.

- So much has happened in the last 10 or 15 years here.

And that image really has started to change, and a lot of it has to do with people coming here.

- Yeah.

- And seeing what we really have here.

And so yeah, that stigma I hope will go away over time.

I think we're headed that way.

- What's the most surprising thing that you've come across on this trip?

- The color of the water was surprising.

That turquoisey blue, that was magical.

Like, this is my little secret.

- Uh-huh.

- I love, Baratunde saw it in the airplane, and said, "Is that toxic?"

(all laughing) - Do any of you ever swim here?

- Oh, yeah.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, I did, and it was cold.

- I so want to do that.

Like many modern Arkansans, Chip, Jordyn, and Chad are embracing a heritage that values being attuned to the land, and an outdoor way of life that they're proud of.

(gentle music) - Yeah, just sit right on that.

- I'm trying.

I just, you know, if I miss, it's a real problem.

(gentle music) My very first day in Arkansas.

(Baratunde sighs) I got to fly a plane!

Okay.

And I think I controlled that plane a bit better than this hammock.

Ah!

Now this blue water, I think I just heard it whisper nap time.

(gentle music) (plane engine rumbling) Not everyone can afford to fly deep into the wilderness, but Arkansas is the natural state for a reason.

For many, nature's right outside their doorstep.

And new trails built on old railroad tracks are making access to nature even easier.

I'm near the Mississippi River in the eastern most part of the state to check out one of those rails to trails transformations, the Delta Heritage Trail.

And I'll be exploring on a form of transportation that's more of my speed.

Along this trail is a city that's still reconciling with some pretty dark and upsetting history.

Happily, I've got some guides.

I'm meeting up with BikePOC, a group that was formed by women of color on a mission to share the joy, peace, and freedom that the outdoors have to offer.

BikePOC is led by avid cyclist, Bea Apple and Kim Seay.

Being with them reminds me of growing up, when my sister taught me how to ride a bike.

That bike introduced me to a whole new world and maybe an injury or two.

And while riding alone felt like ultimate freedom, riding with friends, that felt like ultimate joy.

- We're here!

- We're here!

- We're here, what's up?

I was hoping you'd do one of them skid stops.

- I can do it the next time.

- Kick the dust up in my face.

(all laughing) What's up y'all?

BikePOC.

- Yes.

- That's like my whole thing, yeah.

So I'd love to just start by understanding, what is BikePOC?

- So BikePOC is a hybrid of the word Bike and BIPOC, and Kim and I founded it in 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd to create kind of a mini group for us to be able to talk about what was happening in the world and to create more intentional spaces for people of color to ride bikes, create opportunity for joy and healing with our community.

- Why biking?

What did that mean for you before?

What did that mean to you in that moment?

- Yeah, I've been biking since I was a little girl, and I just loved biking.

It just brought me such a sense of freedom and independence, even at a young age, and so much happiness.

And so I continued to do it as much as I could.

But really, I was finding out that there wasn't a lot of people that looked like me out on the bikes.

And so, you know, the purpose was really just to help bring that joy, and independence, and freedom to others.

- So you start with a protest moment, but we're not in that moment anymore.

Where is BikePOC now?

- We've done a lot of bike rides 'cause that's an important part.

But what we've really focused on is education around how we got to built environment that we have right now.

Why do some places have bike trails and why do some not?

- Yeah.

- How do redline neighborhoods have good infrastructure and why they think- - Y'all are like a sneaky Trojan horse.

- [Kim] Oh yes.

- You come in all happy with your bright T-shirts.

(cyclists laugh) We are just here to bike, also history, boom!

- Yeah.

(all laughing) - So tell me where we are right now.

- We're in Elaine, Arkansas.

We're so excited to be here.

This is our first time here.

And Elaine, Arkansas has so much history, that we're here to better understand and learn about it.

- Shall we go in?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Some of the surrounding area of Elaine is still cotton country.

And 100 years ago, much of it was farmed by black sharecroppers.

In 1919, a traumatic event unfolded here that our country has largely ignored.

And riding through here now, it feels like Elaine still carries the weight of that history.

The city's first black and first female mayor, Lisa Hicks-Gilbert and local pastor George Gibson are joining us to talk about the past, what it means to Elaine today, and the significance of the city being included in the Delta Heritage Trail.

They both love to ride, so they fit right in.

That's how the mayor, thanks for welcoming me and and the whole BikePOC crew.

- Absolutely.

- So what should we know about this amazing town and it's story, mayor?

(Lisa sighs) - Pastor, you've been here the longest.

(all laughing) - [George] Been here all my life.

- [Baratunde] Born and raised here.

- Born and raised here.

- Yeah.

- And I look at what you guys are seeing now, that these streets, there was a time when they were filled with people and all of these buildings were filled with businesses and that was running.

And now, you see what it is.

But like we said, we are still hopeful.

- Elaine is a beautiful community and it is that way because of the people here.

- Yeah.

- A resilient people.

- Resilience is usually in response to trauma.

- Yes, mm-hmm.

- Exactly.

- So what is the trauma here?

- The trauma stems from one of the worst racial massacres in the history of this country, the Elaine massacre of 1919.

The Elaine massacre was just one of many massacres of racial violence, disturbances that happened in the summer of 1919.

- And who was perpetrating these massacres?

- Who was the perpetrators?

- Yeah.

- Led primarily by plantation owners, wealthy business owners who owned most of the plantations and farms here in Elaine and Woodruff, Phillips County.

Those were the primary perpetrators.

(gentle melancholy music) - [Baratunde] The summer of 1919, known as the red summer, saw dozens of violent attacks against black communities and cities across the country.

That September, black sharecroppers in Elaine held a union meeting at a local church.

They wanted fair wages, payments for their labor and crops, and a chance to buy their own land.

Intent on disrupting the meeting and the sharecropper's efforts, intruders stormed the church, violence ensued, and one white man died in an exchange of gunfire.

In retaliation for his death, white mobs joined by law enforcement and eventually federal troops slaughtered members of the black community.

The number of the dead has been suppressed, but it's believed hundreds of black people were massacred in just a few days.

And it all started because sharecroppers dared to seek fair pay.

In the end, dozens of black people were charged with inciting violence and murder.

No white residents were charged for any crime.

- I only learned about it 15 years ago.

And I only learned about it when researching a lot, and came home and asked my grandmother about it.

And she confirmed the stories were true.

And I spent the next five to six years getting those stories out of her about the Elaine Massacre.

- Why didn't she tell you of her own accord?

- Transgenerational trauma, transgenerational fear.

They were silent for all of those, you know, generations.

They were silent.

(gentle music) - Children of the ones that lived during that time, you know, they're still reluctant to talk about it.

- The history of the Elaine Massacre and the red summer of 1919 are rarely taught in schools.

The whitewashing of the atrocities that occurred that summer still persist today.

As people come to this state or people within the state explore it, explore this heritage in the Delta, and they come to Elaine, what do you want them to see?

What do you want them to know?

- We know our history.

We're gonna educate about our history.

But more important, we need to learn from that history.

- Yeah.

One thing I've learned on this journey across America is that exploring the outdoors can bring us face to face with some of the darkest moments of our past.

The Delta Heritage Trail gives us the chance to confront parts of America's history that often get left out.

- They're working to expand it all the way to Arkansas City.

So that'll give us an opportunity to bike down through places that we've known and grown up in all our lives.

- And to see nature.

- And see nature.

Oh my goodness, I know.

- Like you saw a bobcat.

Just right up here.

- Oh yeah, I was walking, and yeah.

- You don't sound as excited about that one, mayor.

That's a city resident, right?

That's a constituent.

- It was a bobcat and I stopped.

He looked up and I'm like, "Okay, how hungry is he?"

So yeah.

- Y'all ready to ride?

- [Lisa] I'm ready to ride.

- Me too.

(gentle music) I'm honored to be in Elaine with the mayor and BikePOC.

They exemplify that word, resilience, using the outdoors to reclaim their history, heal, and spread joy.

- [Kim] I always wanted to get out.

I just wanted to get outside and ride my bike and be free.

Outside is where I feel most comfortable, most at home, most at peace.

- [Bea] I truly love it.

And I'm doing this for me, and I'm doing this for kids like me.

We've seen how biking can empower communities and economic mobility.

And I think there's a lot more work to be done.

(gentle music) - A lot more work to be done, indeed.

(gentle music fading out) (gentle melancholy music) It's been a very emotional day.

Elaine is the site of one of the deadliest racial massacres in US history.

The white mob didn't just kill black people, they killed possibilities and generations of economic opportunity.

And the train tracks that delivered mass death over a century ago, that's now the Delta Heritage Trail.

America has started to address the destruction of other black communities like Tulsa and Black Wall Street.

But Elaine has not gotten that same attention.

Even the people who live here aren't fully aware of the extent of this massacre.

I had never heard about this.

You probably hadn't either.

People who grew up here wouldn't talk about it out of fear that lasted for generations.

But today, a different story is emerging because we can take these old paths and write new stories with them, creating more possibility in a future far superior and more inclusive than what we came out of.

(gentle playful music) (water sloshing) - Arkansas is the natural state, and all you have to do is look around and you will see nature everywhere.

- The weather, the smells, the experiences.

- I love the water.

I love the creeks here and the lakes, and I spend a lot of time there.

- Just the scenery, the hillside of beautiful views here in the state.

- We're pretty open to share that with anybody who would like to enjoy it as well.

- I grew up coming up here on this river.

So the outdoors to me, it's a sanctuary.

- Just healing, it's a healing space.

- It keeps me healthy and happy, and it just makes me a better person.

My favorite Arkansas slang, I mean, just "y'all."

- Thank, y'all.

- Y'all wanna see something?

- Are y'all playing a trick on me?

- I don't know if it's exclusive to Arkansas, but you know, "Y'all."

- Y'all or make it plural, y'alls.

That's probably my favorite.

- You can always tell someone's from Arkansas when they say, "How 'bout them hogs?"

Whoo-phee-zooey!

(speaker laughs) Scared the dog.

(speaker laughs) (adventurous music) - [Baratunde] The rivers and mountains of Arkansas are more than just a playground for people.

They're also a habitat for wild creatures.

Migrating birds pass through here by the tens of thousands, and some need help to survive that journey.

The lucky ones end up in the hands of Rodney Paul, a raptor rehabilitator.

Try saying that five times fast.

With Arkansas in the path of the Mississippi flyway migration route, his center is frequented by injured guests.

- I can get, especially this time of year, I can get five or six calls a day.

- [Baratunde] Many of those injuries are caused by humans, due to things like electrocution, lead poisoning, and collision.

Rodney has seen it all.

And his connection with the birds goes back to his childhood and an inspiring preacher.

- [Rodney] Growing up in church, the minister in church was a huge songbird enthusiast.

So we'd go in church outings, you know, identify the songbirds.

And so that kind of struck the match for me.

It's very rewarding.

All these birds have their place in nature.

- What roles do raptors play in the greater ecosystem?

- You've got the owls eating the rodents.

You've got some of the raptors are actual insect eaters as well.

- Okay.

- The bald eagle and the vulture come to the top of my head, you know, pretty importantly, I call 'em nature's garbage men.

- The cleanup crew.

- The cleanup crew.

- Yeah.

- Exactly.

So they're really important to us.

- [Baratunde] Raptors control the rodent and insect populations.

And without them, the whole ecosystem could be overrun.

The birds keep the system in balance, which makes Rodney's work essential.

He tries to return every injured bird to the wild.

But some of the raptors that come to the center are too injured, or they arrive as babies and imprint on humans.

Rodney gives these birds a safe home for life and uses them to educate people about their importance.

I'm about to meet the teacher's pet, Gandalf, a black vulture Rodney raised from birth.

Whoa!

- Skipper, step, step, step.

- [Baratunde] You love vultures?

- I absolutely do.

They're very intelligent to an extent.

- Okay.

- And they're extremely important to our environment.

'cause they clean up the dead stuff.

Okay, imagine the potential diseases we could have amongst us if it weren't for these guys.

- [Baratunde] Yeah.

- Would you like to have a black vulture on your arm?

- Would I like to have a black vulture on my arm?

- Yes.

- Okay, I would.

I'll follow your cue.

Should I put the gloves on?

- Put the gloves on.

Hold your left arm out.

- Hold my arm out.

- Step.

- I've definitely never just had a dead mouse on my arm and then the bird come eat it.

This is a unique situation.

I understand that vultures are vital to the ecosystem, but that was a little too real for me.

I'd rather let the camera crew handle Gandalf and his merry mice.

He seems kind of obsessed with them.

(playful music) (Baratunde laughs) This bird is just like digging in on his shins and the boots.

Clearly, he could still eat some more.

- [Rodney] There's Fredo checking us out.

- [Baratunde] Oh, so another one.

How many birds have you rescued?

- Probably in the neighborhood of 6 to 7,000 birds over 20 years.

- Wow.

- Like I said, we've released close to 3,000.

- But then you get some really interesting friends in your life.

I know I was a little on the fence about Gandalf and his dietary choices, but this next bird might help me understand what hooked Rodney in the first place.

Whoa!

- This is Bogart, our non-releaseable great horned owl.

(Baratunde laughs) Step.

- [Baratunde] Bogart was brought to Rodney's facility 13 years ago.

She had been rejected by her mother for being born blind and would never have been able to survive in the wild, so Rodney took her in and gave her a home.

- Would you like to hold her?

- I'd love to, yeah.

(Bogart chirping) - Put gestures underneath the thumb just like I've got.

She'll settle down.

- Yeah.

- Step.

Take some slack out of there.

- Hi.

(gentle calming music) These birds are hypnotic.

I find myself just kind of falling into the eyes.

Do you still feel the sense of wonder from the first time you were handling these birds?

- Oh, absolutely.

And especially when it comes to releases.

If we do a public release, I usually pick somebody from the audience to have that joy of releasing that bird back out in the wild.

- [Baratunde] And what's that experience like for them?

What do you see?

- If I pick out a teenager, for example, the preacher that inspired me at a young age, maybe we're inspiring that youth at a young age.

They may grow up to be a rehaber, whether it's mammals, reptiles, or birds.

Maybe that will light their fire.

(gentle music) Obviously wildlife can't speak for themselves, so we have to speak for them.

But that's the importance of our education programs and the importance of us releasing birds back out in the wild.

We brought the bald eagle almost to extinction through our ignorance.

So it's really important that we have these in our ecosystem, very, very important to us.

- [Baratunde] Nearly 3,000 raptors in the wild owe their lives to Rodney.

If I look up, maybe I'll see one along the way.

(gentle music) For some, Arkansas's hidden gems are its wildlife and natural scenery.

For others, they mean it literally.

I'm headed toward the Ouachita Mountains to a place called the Quartz Belt, where a little bit of digging can unearth a whole lot of bounty.

Arkansas has some of the highest quality quartz crystals in the world.

And one man here is inviting anyone interested to come find them.

Richard Wegner was drawn to this land when he visited 40 years ago.

So he bought some for himself and started mining.

In time, he was able to build a successful commercial business, and now welcomes tourists from all over the world to dig for their own treasure.

(gentle music) - [Richard] Hey, you made it!

- Yes, I did.

What's up, Richard?

- Welcome.

Hey, Baratunde.

Ah, this is a little piece of sandstone with crystals on it.

My gift.

- It's like a whole crystal city.

- Crystal city.

(Baratunde laughs) Exactly.

- The last time I was around these many crystals, I was at a gem show with my mother.

- Awesome.

- She loved going to these things, but I've never been to a mine before.

So just tell me, what is the Wegner Crystal Mines?

- Oh, you know, basically there's a formation here that happened hundreds of million years ago.

- Okay.

- And we arrived just in time to enjoy it, so- - [Baratunde] So you timed it perfectly, hundreds of millions of years.

- I know, so we feel like the crystals are here to share.

(gentle music) - You don't sound like you have the Arkansas accent I've gotten used to.

- I'm from Chicago and I fell in love with Arkansas.

Met a guy at the cafe, he says, "I've got some land for sale, do you wanna see it?"

And came in this valley, and it's like bells and whistles went off.

I just knew it.

And afterwards, I found crystals on my land.

- [Baratunde] Richard also wanted his new mine to reflect indigenous ideas and values.

- And they came out and spent a weekend here on my land.

and did a blessing of the earth.

And when they did, they said, "You know, we're setting this intention that you're gonna do the right things and be a good caretaker of the environment, and then share it."

So we reclaim our mines.

- [Baratunde] What does it mean to reclaim the mine?

- Right, yeah, that's a good question.

Reclaiming means that you contour the land to prevent erosion.

You stabilize it with trees and so on, and then it goes right back to forest.

- [Baratunde] That is not the image when I think about mining.

- Right.

I think mines need to be held accountable to protect the environment while they're doing what they do, and coexist with nature.

- Coexist with nature.

Yeah, I mean the dog agrees.

- That's Hardy.

- Hardy looks like he's been around a while.

- Yep, 18 Years old.

Yep, he's an old timer.

- Yeah.

(gentle instrumental music) Mining is generally destructive to the land.

And quartz has been mined for profit in this region since the 1800s.

But I can see the efforts Richard has made to offset some of that damage.

And now that I've seen some of the treasures that have come from his mines, I'm ready to dig for my own.

- [Miner] Yee-haw.

- I can also see what's coming.

We're just cruising through, much deeper into the woods than I expected, on a very bumpy ride to find this mine.

Branches.

- If you're looking for sand, you've come to the right place.

All right, happy hunting, get to it.

We'll be around to help y'all get started.

(gentle music) - [Baratunde] Lance, a staff member who's been coming here since he was a kid, is gonna help me out.

- That's actually a pretty good example right here of what a dark spot is.

- Okay.

- Now dark spots, it's just kind of a term for when a crystal is partially buried in the ground.

It'll actually look black and glassy on the surface, rather than clear or white.

You can actually see- - Whoa!

- Now if you wanna go ahead and dig her up, since you're digging with metal, just kinda chisel in right about an inch away.

That way you're not too close to it.

Pry her up.

Nice.

(metal tapping) Turned out to be a little bit bigger than expected.

- Yeah, much bigger.

- Nice.

- Okay.

- Very nice.

- Look at that!

- [Lance] Way to go!

- [Baratunde] Thank you.

- Hey, that's all you.

- Lance, the mining coach.

- Right up here is the vein that we'll be going to.

- It got real quiet.

- It really did, it's nice and peaceful out here.

All right, so right here, we actually have a vein that's still in the sandstone.

A vein is these long-lined quarts that you see- - Ah!

- Right there in the sandstone.

- I see it now.

So there's, yeah, this white line kind of curving through, all the way down to there.

- [Lance] Exactly.

- [Baratunde] How many do you think are in here?

- You know the mine's been here for over 40 years.

- Yeah.

- People come just about every day.

I'm guessing there's a few million left.

(Baratunde laughs) - That's wild.

- Remember the old saying, leave no stone unturned.

- Right.

Whoa!

(metal scratching) - [Lance] So you got the bug?

- I've got the bug!

This one's very nice one.

Ah, ooh, look at this.

It's like someone with a high top haircut.

(playful instrumental music) What?

What?

- Wow, okay, you got a good one.

(Baratunde laughs) See if the tip's intact though.

- Come on, man.

- I would not throw that one in the bag.

That's definitely a pocket piece.

(Baratunde laughs) - This is the magic.

Man.

That's something else.

Well, I came here looking for hidden gems, and I'm leaving the mine with a pocket full.

(playful instrumental music) (gentle music) Living off the land is an old tradition in these parts.

And there's one way of harvesting from the wild that eclipses all others.

Hunting.

Arkansas is home to the duck hunting capital of the world.

And that means folks around here grow up with guns.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that it's also home to an Olympic silver medalist in trap shooting, Kayle Browning.

She runs the Cypress Creek Shooting Lodge about an hour north of Little Rock, where she teaches shooting and trains to return to the Olympics for that gold.

(rifle banging) - [Kayle] Nice!

- [Baratunde] Kayle and her friend, Anne Marie Doramus, Arkansas's first female game and fish commissioner, are gonna give me a lesson in trap shooting.

(rifle banging) If I'm going to experience the outdoor culture in Arkansas, I should experience the gun culture too.

But I admit that makes me uneasy.

Guns are a big part of outdoor life in America, there's no denying it.

But they're not a big part of my life, so I'm gonna need to keep an open mind.

- [Kayle] There he is!

- [Baratunde] Hello, hello.

- [Kayle] How are you?

- I'll try not to embarrass myself too much.

I have no experience with this.

So what's the most important thing I need to know today?

- The most important thing outside of safety is we're gonna have a lot of fun.

- Okay.

- Yeah, and hopefully you learn a lot.

- I hope so too.

I think I will.

- The goal is for you to walk away having a great time and learning something.

- Yeah.

Well, let's do both those things.

- Let's do it.

Jump in here, no sunglasses now.

So have you ever shot a shotgun before?

- I have once.

Oh yeah, and I played Duck Hunt as a kid.

- Oh, Nintendo Duck Hunt!

Best ever!

- My friends had it.

- You'll be great then.

- [Baratunde] I'm pretty sure my ancient video game prowess has not prepared me for today.

- Shotgun shooting is all hand-eye coordination.

So if I'm mounting this gun, I'm gonna have my feet shoulder width apart.

- Okay.

- Okay.

When I mount the gun, I'm gonna try to get the butt of this gun in the pocket here of your shoulder.

And then when I go into it, I'm gonna go forward and in, yep.

Keeping my arms relaxed.

That way I have a good range of motion wherever I wanna move the gun.

- Got it.

- Yep.

- Okay.

- Yep.

- You wanna try one?

- Yes.

- Okay, all right.

Let's do it.

- All right.

- Gun down.

- I said I've got it, but honestly, I don't know if I've got it.

Whoo!

- You a little nervous?

- I am a little nervous.

- You've got it!

You've got it, you've got it!

So I'll help you with your mount again.

So we're gonna go put this right in here.

Okay, go ahead and hold it.

Good, get your hand here.

Okay, I am gonna turn your safety off, so you are ready to go.

You just call pull when you're ready.

- Okay.

So many things are running through my head right now, and I'm too nervous to remember what I'm supposed to do.

Mostly, I'm just hoping I don't miss too badly.

Pull.

- Okay, both eyes on it.

Touch the bottom.

(shotgun banging) Ooh, right over the top.

- [Anne Marie] You almost got it.

- You almost got it, though.

That's it.

- Whew!

- It would've been really cool.

- How does it feel?

- Powerful.

- Powerful?

- Yep.

- Okay, there's the recoil.

- Recoil.

- Okay.

- That smoke popping out at the end - So, what I want you to do in this next one.

- Yeah.

- You feel how most of your weight was kind of back here, like you were on your heels?

I want you to transition that forward a little bit.

That way when the recoil happens, you stay forward.

- Right.

- And it doesn't push you back.

- So I was high on that one.

- Yeah, you were high on it.

- Okay.

- Okay, do you wanna try again?

- Yes.

- Okay.

(shotgun clicking) - I think the key is actually to just clear my head.

(exhales sharply) Pull.

- Eyes on it, touch the bottom.

(shotgun bangs) - Yay, you did it!

(all laughing) How was that?

- Wow!

- Yeah, it's cool, right?

Good job!

- Okay, that deserves a moment.

- That deserves a moment.

- Yeah!

- You did not just break it, you busted it.

- You smoked it.

- Oh, that was so cool.

- Thank you, coaches.

- Yeah.

- It's a weird word to use meditative.

- Yeah.

- With the violence of like the explosion that's happening right here, but just like finding it, waiting- - Mm-hmm.

- And then- - And then you see your result.

Okay, do you wanna try it again?

- I would like to try it again.

- Okay, let's do it again.

We're going two in a row here.

Safety is off.

- Okay.

- You're ready to go.

- Pull.

- Okay, both eyes on it, touch the bottom.

(shotgun bangs) Nice!

Good job.

Two in a row.

- Whew!

- Two in a row.

Feeling good?

- I'm feeling great.

- Good, good.

- That's... - Here, I'll hold this while your arms rest.

- This is a profoundly, like psychological experience- - Yeah.

- I can feel my brain like trying to put all these pieces together.

Like the trees, the clear blue sky- - Mm-hmm.

- The birds, and so that's a natural if I let it in.

it's very soothing.

The explosive sound is a bit contradictory to like the bird chirping.

- Sure.

- But it helps calm everything.

- You're one with nature.

- Yeah.

- [Kayle] This is as pure as it gets.

- Yeah.

I feel like I'm in therapy right now.

- Pull.

(shotgun bangs) This is not my trick shooting gun.

(shotgun bangs) - [Baratunde] While I don't think I'll be joining Kayle in the 2024 Olympic games, I'm definitely getting the hang of this.

(shotgun banging) - Nice.

- Yeah!

- Baratunde!

- Yeah, that was a great shot!

Great shot, that was awesome.

Profound.

- Professional, man.

Pull.

- One thing has been nagging at me since I got here.

My perception of firearms is completely different from Kayle and Anne Marie's.

(shotgun banging) Everyone's experiences with the outdoors is shaped, at least in part by where they're from.

For me, growing up in Washington DC, gunshots were something to fear.

So that's a feeling I associate with these weapons.

I'm curious to learn.

How did growing up in Arkansas form Kayle and Anne Marie's relationship with guns?

How did you get started with shooting?

- So my dad got me into it.

- Okay.

- He was a competitive shooter and I grew up on a shooting range.

I grew up going to shoots with him, with my mom.

- I grew up hunting and fishing, similar to Kayle with my dad.

- Yeah.

- [Anne Marie] And with my brothers.

- So, Anne Marie, how do you think about if there's any tension or contradiction, just the relationship between hunting and this kind of sport activity, but also preserving the environment where that can even happen?

- Well, of course, preservation of the environment is incredibly important.

And if it were at risk, then we wouldn't have a hunting season for certain species.

Arkansas is the only state that I know of where you have the opportunity to hunt an alligator as well as an elk.

(gentle music) - [Baratunde] The connection between conservation and hunting is new to me, but not to the country.

In the 1930s, Congress passed the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act, and the Pitman Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act.

These laws directed taxes from hunting licenses and firearm sales, to wildlife management and protection.

- My family, we don't go to the store, and buy chicken or beef.

We eat everything that we harvest.

We keep in the freezer and we eat it all year long.

- In Arkansas, conservation, hunting, fishing is a lifestyle and a means of living.

- Yeah.

(gentle music) Kayle and Anne Marie have opened me up to a whole new sport and connected me to this land in an unexpected way.

(shotgun banging) At least unexpected to me.

(gentle music) But there are layers here that I've had to unpack with this experience.

My own history with guns is profoundly different from that of the friends I made here in Arkansas.

I want to talk about guns.

It's a whole thing in America, and the story I have of guns is not a positive one.

My father was shot and killed when I was a young kid.

I'm all too familiar with the statistics around gun deaths, homicides, suicides, domestic violence, mass shootings, you know that story.

But here in Arkansas, I experienced a different story, one based on family, tradition, survival, sport, and a deep love of the outdoors.

I respect their respect for the power of these weapons, their insistence on safety and education.

And I know we are not gonna agree on everything with guns.

I'm just grateful I had the chance to share a little of my story, to hear a little of theirs, and that the outdoors brought us for at least a moment, to some common ground.

(birds chirping) (gentle calming music) (water sloshing) (fishers chattering) - So put the big end through, about that deep.

- [Baratunde] If my time in Arkansas has taught me anything, it's that there's no point in learning all its secrets if you don't pass them on.

(people indistinctly conversing) - So I'm ending my trip with the Mayfly Project, where mentors share the healing power of fly fishing with foster kids.

(gentle calming music) Z, what did you think?

- I think that was real good.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- What do you think of fly fishing?

- I think it's fun.

Very relaxing.

Nice to get to know everybody out here.

- [Baratunde] Do you remember the very first time you went fly fishing?

- I think the first time we went, it was here at this spot and I just caught a crawdad But it was still nice and fun to come out and fish.

- What does it feel like to be back at that same spot today?

- Just, I can't really explain it.

I guess it's just the feel of it.

Remembering what I felt like that first time.

- Yeah.

You think you're pretty good at catching fish?

- Well, I would hope so.

(all laughing) - So humble.

I would hope so.

- That's right.

- Flex.

- That's good.

That's good, Z.

(gentle relaxing music) - [Baratunde] Fly fishing with these kids exemplifies what this trip has been about.

I didn't just discover the things you can do and see outdoors in Arkansas, but how those interactions with nature can make you feel.

(mentor cheering) Now, that's a fish!

- [Mentor] Yeah, Z, whoo-hoo!

- Good job, man.

Good job, bravo.

(gentle calming music) (Baratunde hollers) (mentor cheering) - They can inspire joy and triumph.

Hi, buddy.

Uncover history and truth.

Take you out of your comfort zone.

And in the case of fly fishing, offer solace and peace, and that little boost of confidence.

(gentle music) Arkansas is easy to overlook.

I managed to my entire life until now.

But I had a chance to drop in, and from a low flying altitude, appreciate the beauty of these hills, these waterways, and these trees.

I got to learn from people who love flying.

What's your favorite thing about flying?

- I like everything about flying.

- And those who love fly fishing.

What's the most fish you've ever caught in a day?

- 22.

- I'm sorry, what?

(all laughing) From people who love to hunt animals, to those who've dedicated their lives to rescuing them, I found that the people here are much closer to the land.

- You can actually see.

- Whoa!

- [Baratunde] And closer to each other.

(all laughing) - That's happening.

That is so happening.

- They invite you to see things from a different perspective.

When you do, you find that railroad tracks can become bike paths, that trauma can become resilience, and that resilience can become possibility.

It may take the patience of a fly fisher.

Now that's a fish!

- [Mentor] Yeah, Z, woo-hoo!

- The eyes of a trap shooter or the balance of a cyclist, or the determination of a quartz miner.

But here, when you dig just a little deeper, you find there are gems everywhere.

(Baratunde laughs) - What it really feels like to just be in nature and the quiet and the peace, and just watching the water ripple across the rocks.

I just want everybody to have that, also that feeling.

(uplifting music)