Marcia Pradines: Leading on the ground
By: Sydney Giuliano
Tags: Outdoor Recreation, Our People, Women Hunters, Leadership, Conservation

Marcia Pradines holds up huge striped bass during sunset after a fishing trip.

Marcia Pradines is an outdoorswoman on a mission: to break down barriers to sports like hunting and fishing for women and other underrepresented groups.

From 2012 to 2016, Pradines served as Chief of Visitor Services and Communications at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s headquarters, managing large-scale projects to inspire the American public to head outdoors. Working in the nation’s capital has its drawbacks, however, and Pradines missed enjoying the outdoors herself.

In 2016, she became project leader at Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Maryland. In this role, Pradines continues to inspire, passing on her enthusiastic passion for hunting and fishing.

At the refuge complex, Pradines organizes events like the first-shot mentored hunt program that introduces hunters from all backgrounds to the sport. She is a hands-on leader, grounded in reality, and unafraid to get her hands dirty. What she loves most about her job is guiding a team that makes conservation happen in the field in ways people can see, hear, feel, and connect with.

“When I hear the geese in the fields on my walk into the office,” she said, “I am reminded why we do this.”

Pradines feels most connected to wildlife when surrounded by it. One of her most memorable wilderness experiences was cage diving among great white sharks off the coast of Australia.

This desire to immerse herself in an ecosystem drives her enthusiasm for fishing and hunting. Pradines took up hunting as a training opportunity for her dogs and has been hooked ever since. Now she hunts, fishes, and kayaks alongside her fiancé Bob, camping in the mountains of Pennsylvania and exploring the refuge.

She recognizes that hunting has a bad reputation in some circles, especially in conjunction with refuges. People have a hard time getting past the connotation of “refuge” as a sanctuary.

“They don’t realize that most hunters have a really strong conservation ethic,” she said. “They hunt because they want to be part of nature, putting in a lot of days and hours in harsh conditions.”

Pradines, like most hunters, is picky about what she chooses to take. By being particular, she feels the reward is greater when she successfully takes game. Her most treasured moment as a hunter came last January, when after four years of failed hunts, she got her first sika stag on the refuge.

Pradines would probably count all the hunts before that day as successful as well, despite the outcomes. For her, hunting is less about the take and more about the moments spent waiting.

“It’s in those moments I witness things I would never have seen before, whether watching a sharp-shinned hawk grab a songbird out of the tree in front of me, or hearing sika bugle over the marsh during sunrise,” she said. “What some might not understand is that hunting is about being out in nature — on its terms, not yours — and not about the shooting as much as the experience.”

Her relationship with wildlife and respect for the will of nature guides her work. She is constantly amazed by the resilience and adaptability of the natural world.

Pradines has the opportunity to witness this strength when working on projects like a marsh restoration at Blackwater Refuge using sediment dredged from the Blackwater River. With help from the Service and partners, the marsh was able to re-build its elevation.

A significant source of pride for Pradines is the acquisition of the 2,600-acre Peter’s Neck parcel at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year. The land includes a key marsh migration corridor and archeologically significant sites. Her team is developing plans for interpretive trails and recreation opportunities there. The project requires a significant amount of communication between the refuge and the community, something Pradines is happy to lead.

She notes, “I am usually not the one to do these things [efforts on the ground], but it’s my job to smooth the way for my staff and partners. We accomplish more as a team than any one of us could individually.”

Pradines supports her team so they can continue to make positive and tangible change for both the wildlife around them and the people who enjoy it.