Paul Schullery

Paul Schullery, fly-fishing’s preeminent historian, has been a pioneer of the study of the cultural foundations of our sport and the values upon which it depends. As a lifelong professional conservationist, he has effectively championed the scientific management of a host of natural resources, all of which relate to the protection of the fly fisher’s world. As a writer he has published path-breaking literary and scholarly explorations of the richness of the fly-fishing experience.

Schullery began his career in history, conservation, and fly fishing as a ranger-naturalist in Yellowstone National Park. From 1977 to 1982, he served as the first executive director of the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont, and was the editor of the museum’s quarterly magazine, The American Fly Fisher, from 1978 to 1983.

Schullery went on to write eight books on the history, culture, lore, and natural history of fly fishing, and co-wrote several others. He has published in dozens of magazines and technical journals, ranging from The New York Times to BioScience to Outdoor Life, and including most of the fly-fishing magazines. He has been regularly honored as an influential writer and thinker on natural resource management and national parks, and has served on many advisory boards for conservation and educational groups.

Schullery is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books about Yellowstone National Park. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious literary and professional awards, including honorary doctorates from Montana State University and Ohio University; the Wallace Stegner Award from the University of Colorado Center of the American West; and the Roderick Haig-Brown Award from the Federation of Fly Fishers. He has spoken on conservation issues in the national media, including the Today Show, PBS, World Monitor News, the History Channel, NPR, and others. He wrote and narrated the award-winning 2002 PBS/ABC feature film, Yellowstone: America’s Sacred Wilderness. He served on the advisory board for the Ken Burns 2009 PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, and appeared frequently in the film. Since 2009, he has served as Scholar in Residence at the Montana State University Library in Bozeman, Montana.