Delta Waterfowl Magazine Names New Editor (February 27, 2003)

The Delta Waterfowl Magazine will be getting a facelift beginning with the spring issue. Minnesota outdoor writer Dan Nelson has taken over as editor of the magazine and plans to make numerous changes, including brighter graphics and more reader - friendly content.

“Our goal is to make DWR more like a consumer magazine and less like a scientific journal,” Nelson says. “The change is necessary because Delta’s membership has been growing so dramatically. We need more editorial that appeals to the average sportsman.”

Nelson says the spring issue of the magazine will contain a number of new features including a retriever column, a shooting column and an outdoor cooking column. The front of the magazine will contain a section called “The Bulletin Board”, which will include short pieces on a variety of waterfowl - related topics.

The “back page” will be devoted to humor and/or nostalgia, and each issue will contain at least one hunting feature.

“Conservation will continue to be the backbone of the magazine,” Nelson says, “because that’s why most people joined the organization in the first place. But we’ll change the way our scientific reports are presented to make them easier to read and comprehend.”

Nelson spent the last five years working with Babe Winkelman on a nationally syndicated outdoor newspaper column that reached over 12 million readers weekly. He also worked with Babe’s wife Kris on a cooking column that reached 5 million newspaper readers weekly and wrote a game and fish cookbook for the Winkelmans.

A former newspaper writer/editor, Nelson spent 10 years as a freelance outdoor writer and later became an outdoor television producer. In the mid-1990s he produced Winkelman’s Good Fishing and Outdoor Secrets television shows, winning numerous national awards in the process. A piece on Teddy Roosevelt, which aired on Outdoor Secrets, captured a slew of awards, including the prestigious North American Film/Video Award and the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America’s best-of-the-best award.

Since that time he’s worked on a variety of projects, including producing several videotapes and working on communications projects for Delta Waterfowl.

Nelson is a South Dakota native who lived in North Dakota 20 years - 15 of those in Bismarck - before moving to Minnesota in 1988.

“Minnesota is a beautiful state, but I’m a prairie boy at heart,” Nelson says. “I’m thrilled to be coming home to Bismarck and to be going to work for Delta. I’ve never been around such a passionate, dedicated, group of individuals. Their enthusiasm and energy are contagious.

“I can’t think of a better job for someone who loves ducks."