The following magazines pay from $100 and up for articles about outdoor activities (hunting and fishing, sport and recreation), environmental issues, and nature. Study guidelines carefully because some publications accept only finished manuscripts, and some accept only articles accompanied by quality photos. Make sure that you understand what rights you are selling: if guidelines do not mention what rights editors buy, contact editors to clarify this issue. — Tatiana Claudy

The Boundary Waters Journal(BWJ) is a full-color quarterly magazine. Its content includes articles about conservation, nature, and wilderness recreation within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), Quetico Provincial Park, and Superior National Forest. Editors look for “informative, entertaining and inspiring” articles about fishing and hiking trips, natural resource issues and history, canoe trip journals and wilderness essays, camping advice and profiles of interesting local residents.
Payment is $200-$500 for features (2,000-5,000 words). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.boundarywatersjournal.com/resources/writers-photographers-guidelines

Earth Island Journal is a quarterly magazine with an international audience. Its content includes material on a wide range of environmental issues: land and wildlife conservation, animal rights and public health, environmental justice and cultural survival, climate and energy. Editors stated in their guidelines, “We want stories that will surprise, provoke, and entertain our readers and that explore new territory overlooked by other publications.” New writers have better chances to break into this publication by writing online reports.
Payment is $0.25 per word for features (about $750-$1000 for a 4,000-word feature) and $50-$100 for online reports. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/guidelines/.

Quality Whitetails is a bimonthly magazine providing timely, practical information on Quality Deer Management (QDM). Its content includes habitat management, deer research, population management, and deer hunting related to QDM. Editors encourage writers to use an informal style (including humor and anecdotes). Editors stated in their guidelines that they want “to enhance the community feel of QDMA with stories that reflect the efforts, struggles and successes of our readers.”

Editors buy First North American serial rights.

Payment is $150-$450+ for features (1,200-3,000-plus words). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.qdma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2018-QW-Writers-Kit.pdf.

Adventure Kayakis a magazine published three times annually: in February (Spring), May (Early Summer), and August (Summer/Fall). Its content includes all aspects of kayak touring: environmental dilemmas, cultural adventures, and personality profiles on important historic or contemporary paddlers. Editors look for articles that have “depth, emotional impact and take-away value for the reader, complemented by striking photos.”

Payment is $0.20 per word for features (up to 2,000 words) and departments (350-550 words). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.rapidmedia.com/contribute/455.

Rapidis a magazine published three times annually: in February (Spring), May (Early Summer), and August (Summer/Fall).Rapid has an international audience which includes all levels of boating enthusiast who “share the desire to learn, explore and experience the whitewater paddling world.” Editors look for well-crafted articles (with take-away values) that are complimented by quality photos.

Payment is $0.20 per word for features (up to 2,000 words) and departments (400-550 words). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.rapidmedia.com/rapid/categories/454.

Kayak Angler is a quarterly magazine. Its content covers “the intersection of fishing and paddlesports,” and its scope includes North America and regional fisheries (the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Gulf). Editors look for articles on “the latest news in conservation and fishing tackle, and accounts of incredible catches or pioneering trips.” These well-written articles must be accompanied by quality photos and contain practical advice and take-away value for readers.

Payment is $0.20 per word for features (1,000-1,500 words) and departments (400-600 words). To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.rapidmedia.com/contribute/456.

Australian Shooter (monthly),Australian Hunter (quarterly),Australian & New Zealand Handgun (annual) magazines and The Junior Shooter newsletter are published by the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia (SSAA). The SSAA looks for articles promoting the shooting sports.

Contributors are paid for first-use publication; but they will not be paid for subsequent use of their work. Editors ask that stories submitted to the SSAA not be submitted to other Australian shooting or hunting publications.

Payment is 20 cents a word for 1,500-word basic articles and 2,000-word feature articles.

To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://ssaa.org.au/publications/writing-for-us/.

https://ssaa.org.au/assets/publications/New-Writer-Package-2016.pdf

Wonderful West Virginia is a monthly magazine published by the Division of Natural Resources. Its content includes articles on a wide spectrum of topics: wildlife and nature, state history and cultural heritage, special places and tourist attractions, and profiles of interesting people. Editors prefer to receive queries, but also assign stories to writers.

Payment is $150 for 1,500-word features. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines:

http://www.wonderfulwv.com/Guidelines/Pages/default.aspx.

Conservationist is a bimonthly non-profit magazine published by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Its content includes fishing and hunting, outdoor recreation, nature observation and natural history. Although Conservationist is not a scientific journal and aimed at a lay audience, its readers expect information to be scientifically accurate.  Editors do not consider submissions that do not follow their guidelines.

Conservationist retains all rights to published material.

Payment is $100 for 1,500- 2,000-word articles and $50 for articles of fewer than 1,500 words. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/24061.html.

Gripped magazine is a bimonthly Canadian publication for climbing professionals and enthusiasts. Its features, mostly written in the third person and active voice (with Canadian grammar and spelling), “explore the issues, people and places of climbing today.” Departments include Area Profiles (descriptions of the world best climbing places) and Northern Faces (“profiles of the personalities at the heart of Canadian climbing”).

Payment is $250 for 1,500-2,500-word features and $150 for 500-1,000-word Departments’ pieces. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://gripped.com/contact/editorial/.

Hang Gliding & Paragliding is a monthly magazine published by US Hand Gliding and Paragliding Association (USPHA). Its content includes information about the association activities and articles covering all issues related to free flight. The magazine’s readers are knowledgeable and active participants of the hang gliding and paragliding, and articles must be well-researched and well-written. All article submissions must include photographs or illustrations, or information about where editors can find supporting photography/artwork.

Editors buy first-time publishing rights; they do not consider simultaneous submissions.

Payment is $35-$150 for 100-2,500-word articles. To find out about payment rates, click on “Contributor Rates” at the bottom of Editorial Guidelines. To learn more, read writers’ guidelines: https://www.ushpa.org/page/editorial-guidelines.