After a lengthy career of 53 years, Art Lander bids farewell to his role of documenting Kentucky's natural beauties
Retired: Art Lander, Legendary Kentucky Outdoors Writer, Hangs Up His Pen After 53 Years
After a remarkable 53-year career, Art Lander, a renowned outdoors writer, has announced his retirement. Lander brought international notoriety to the Kentucky Reel, a handmade casting reel produced in Central Kentucky from about 1820 to the 1940s.
Throughout his extensive career, Lander has written more than 550 articles, covering a wide range of topics related to Kentucky’s natural environment. His work has been published in Kentucky Forward, The our website, and Clabes family publications since 2013.
Lander’s articles have focused on major reservoir and small lake profiles, including marinas, boat ramps, and fish species, with an emphasis on how and where to catch them. He has been blessed with a varied and challenging career, writing about the outdoors in Kentucky for five decades.
During his tenure, Lander has written about notable Kentuckians in history, such as explorer and early settler Squire Boone and James A. Henshall, known for introducing America to black bass. He spent 23 years as the outdoors staff writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper.
Lander’s work encompassed Kentucky’s diverse fish and wildlife species and their habitats, native trees, snakes, turtles, and nesting birds. He also covered invasive and non-native species, the state's heritage of quality fishing and hunting, natural resource management efforts, forest management practices benefiting wildlife, and seasonal mowing and planting forage crops for white-tailed deer, wild turkey, and other wildlife.
Lander’s articles delved into outbreaks of diseases affecting deer herds, such as Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). He provided annual pre-season and post-season hunting data and trends for deer and wild turkeys, and discussed hunting tactics and gear, including ground blinds, treestands, archery equipment, deer rifles, flintlock longrifles, and turkey shotguns.
Lander spent time as a staff information specialist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. He thanks the department’s biologists for providing valuable information and insight, as well as his loyal readers. Lander has also written three books and was a contributor to several other books.
Despite advancing age and arthritis making it more difficult for him to hunt and fish, Lander appreciates the opportunity to continue writing online articles. His retirement announcement came in August 2025, marking the end of over five decades of contribution to Kentucky outdoor journalism.
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- As he retires, Art Lander, the legendary outdoors writer, will be missed by many in the northern Kentucky and Cincinnati region, as his articles often highlighted the outdoor-living lifestyle and beautiful home-and-garden scenery of the area.
- During his time with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, Art Lander also enjoyed spending time outdoors, participating in various sports like fishing and hunting, which he often wrote about in his articles.
- Upon retirement, Art Lander fondly remembers his more than five decades of work, during which he wrote about a range of topics related to the vibrant sports scene in Kentucky, from notable Kentuckians in history to the state's heritage of quality fishing and hunting.
