Paul A. Smith is a Wisconsin native who has covered the outdoors for daily newspapers in the state since 1994, including since 2008 as outdoors editor for the Journal Sentinel. He has hunted, fished, paddled, hiked and camped throughout Wisconsin for more than 40 years. He holds a B.A. from Carthage College in biology, natural science and conservation and also studied photojournalism at Marquette University. He has served as president of the Wisconsin Outdoor Communicators Association and on the board of directors of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoors Writers and Outdoor Writers Association of America, as well on a hunting safety task force of the National Wild Turkey Federation.