Lincoln, Neb.(Oct. 14, 2025) — The Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW) presented its prestigious Golden Glow Award in the Organization Category to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The honor recognizes diverse and wide-reaching accomplishments in the field of outdoor communication.
The ceremony was part of the AGLOW annual conference, staged this year at the Metropolis Resort in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The NSSF was recognized for being a promoter and defender of shooting sports and our national right to keep and bear arms. The NSSF has been a leader in supporting science-based wildlife management and has promoted and defended public access to public lands. They have championed the Pittman-Robertson Act by celebrating the over 17 billion dollars in federal excise taxes that firearm and ammunition manufacturers have contributed to wildlife conservation. The NSSF has taken the lead on scholastic hunting, archery, and shooting sports programming and proudly supported the House of Representatives Resolution 5110, the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act, which passed into law in 2023 and authorizes the use of elementary and secondary education funds to purchase and use firearms and weapons for purposes of providing students with educational instruction or enrichment activities like archery, hunting, shooting sports, or wild game culinary instruction.
The NSSF has led on R3 (Recruit, Retain, Reactivate) efforts, providing $100,000 in annual grants through the Hunting Heritage Trust Grants to support work to expand participation in hunting and the shooting sports. Their Plus-One Movement seeks to encourage recreational target shooters and hunters to develop peer-to-peer mentoring programs that grow new hunters and recreational shooters.
AGLOW Past President Ken Perrotte noted how the NSSF understands and acts upon its relationship with the outdoor media, striving daily to help anyone better understand and accurately report on issues related to shooting sports. “The NSSF’s list of activities and accomplishments is exhaustive,” Perrotte proclaimed. “This is representative of an organization that readily engages across wide-ranging spheres of influence, whether in the halls of legislative power or the corridors of mass communications. Mark Oliva and his communication team at NSSF are always prepared to give whatever time is needed to outdoor media so that we might thoroughly understand and cover issues. We, as outdoor communicators, are fortunate to have such professionals affiliated with AGLOW.”
Mark Oliva, Managing Director of Public Affairs for NSSF, accepted the award.
“AGLOW’s recognition of NSSF’s efforts to advance hunting, recreational shooting, and exercising Second Amendment rights is humbling as it is invigorating,” Oliva remarked. “AGLOW has been a critical voice for sportsmen and women to understand how America’s firearm and ammunition manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are working to ensure they pass along their hunting and shooting traditions to the next generation. To know NSSF is worthy of this award, and to be included in the company of those AGLOW has previously recognized, underscores the importance of the work and the mission of NSSF to promote, protect, and preserve hunting and the shooting sports and inspires us to rededicate ourselves to ensuring we continue to see our valued traditions continue for generations to come.”
For more information about AGLOW and its many opportunities, visit http://aglowoutdoors.com/
About AGLOW:
Founded in 1956, the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW) is a dynamic organization of writers, editors, publishers, broadcasters, authors, lecturers, photographers, artists, electronic media specialists, outdoor industry representatives, and tourism professionals, working together to promote the conservation and responsible use of our outdoor resources. As individual outdoor communicators, we educate and inform the public through the written and spoken word. As an organization, we foster an unmatched fellowship among our members and provide amazing networking, educational and craft improvement opportunities.
