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David Portnoy
Life and all the things I've seen and all the places I've gone and the different kinds of worlds I've lived in, from special operations to, to the intel world, to working with professional athletes and companies, that I end up seeing something that really lifts me up, that really brings hope to my heart, that the, the. The collective, if you will, or the American spirit and a direct representation of a group of people will come together and elicit something really powerful, something meaningful. And what I was able to witness over the last several months through a friend of mine, a new friend, Braxton McCoy, and what he and his initiative was able to do in order to get that atrocity pulled out of the one big beautiful bill, which was the proposed land sale of 7 million acres of our nationally preserved lands, and his initiative, along with his friends, to be able to remove that man, that was awe inspiring. And so what resulted out of that was an initiative that needs to continue and has continued through the Sagebrush Institute. And so today we're incredibly happy to bring on the executive director, Philip, to talk about Sagebrush and to talk about what they're doing in order to inspire you to really come to grips and recognize the true importance of what it means to protect the American homeland. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege and an honor to introduce Philip Reichert, executive director of the Sagebrush Institute. Philip, thank you so much for coming on the show, man.
Philip Reichert
Thank you, David. We really appreciate the opportunity to come on and tell our story and obviously communicate with people, allies in the community.
David Portnoy
Well, and that's interesting. I mean, it really is, I think now in modern, you know, for the lack of a better term, activism. Right? And I think over the last 10 years or so, activism, because of the substantial nature of, you know, radical progressive activism, you know, we've seen, like, if you're an activist, there's some underlining component of, oh, you're an activist. That's lame. But, but activism is there. It's imperative in every aspect of our lives. In particular, I think this, I think this issue has really enlightened, brought people to recognize, well, you know, American public lanes there. They could be in jeopardy. Right. And so, you know, could you just talk to me, talk to us a little bit about how you and Braxton came together and then the whole lead up to where we're at right now.
Philip Reichert
Yeah. Well, I'll start by saying, obviously, Braxton and I have been friends for a little while and obviously very aligned on this issue, but hats off to him. He and a few other. I would call them champions or influencers, whatever you want to say, were very instrumental in this process.
David Portnoy
Can I. Can I just interrupt and.
Philip Reichert
Yeah.
David Portnoy
When you made.
Philip Reichert
When you.
David Portnoy
I'm sorry, you were cooking. When you said hats off, man. Did you see the Braxton McCoy memes with the hat?
Philip Reichert
The side that has the best memes is probably going to win. And from that alone, I am 100% certain that we are going to win. I mean, we say it anyway. First thing. First thing I do when I wake up in the morning is text Braxton, hey, we're going to win. But with. With the hat memes on our side, there's not a chance. Not a chance.
David Portnoy
Indomitable.
Philip Reichert
Yes, absolutely. And that's also a good sign of who has the best people. You know, the people who are most interested and the most clever. They're the ones you know. The reply section is cooking with Braxton.
David Portnoy
Awesome.
Philip Reichert
And good. Good on him for embracing it a little bit. Some people may not love that sort of thing, but I don't think he takes himself very seriously, so.
David Portnoy
And that's who you want to be in partnership with. Sorry to interrupt you. I just had to bring it up.
Philip Reichert
Yeah, no, no. Maybe to your point about activism, it's true. You almost don't want to be an activist, and there are negative connotations to being an activist, but that is how things get achieved here in the United states, especially in 2025. So Braxton and I were aligned on this, and through the grace of God, the provision was withdrawn, and it was one of the best political wins, I think, for a lot of people that they've seen one of the first things where they feel genuinely like, to some extent, posting on Twitter, they actually made a difference. Some people don't feel like they can make a difference whatsoever. And that is with a lot of existing organizations that activate people. There's a huge ecosystem of that sort of thing. So people are. They have a pretty negative opinion on activism now. But I told Braxton, and it was a mutual conversation. But shortly after, he went on Sean, and it was withdrawn. I told him, well, first I said, you're basically contractually obligated at this point to start an organization like that. You just got to do it. I'M just telling you, professionally speaking, you've got to do it. But the root of that argument is not, you know, arrogance or anything like that, especially because, you know, I wouldn't say that to somebody who I had any, you know, indication that they were pursuing this for political gain or financial gain or prestige, anything like that. So I knew, I know Braxton is the right person to lead this movement, but I told him, you know, if we do something like this, and he was immediately receptive and has had some very well thought out and I think long standing opinions on this is, you know, it can't be like every other organization that exists, right? I mean, how many activist groups are there out there that, you know, take money and you know, I have been. He has been a part of some in the past, I've been a part of some in the past. Both of us are adjacent to politics and a lot of it, I feel like, is just a way for people to, you know, get paid pretty well and, and have a fancy title and maybe write some op eds and you know, that's, that's, that's how America works. I get that. But we didn't want to do that, you know, we didn't want to start something if that was all it was going to be. But there was the, the, there's always, there's.
David Portnoy
Sorry about that. But there's like in my mind, you know, growing up, you know, in the 80s where it really, you know, I mean, obviously you had counterculture revolution activists of the late 1960s, the Anti War movement. But then all of a sudden like I remember seeing green piece people like, you know, getting in front of monster whaling ships or they put it on tv, right? It was a TV show. And then you like. I remember this one woman, I think it was 80s or 90s, but she climbed to a top of a tree out in Oregon and she lived in a tree that for like 700 days. And you know, and you have Greenpeace and all, you know, and it's so it's like that when you think about ecological activism, you know, you're thinking about those things. But it wasn't until my best friend who grew up hunting, right. You know, really began. And then I have another real close friend, Evan Hafer, who runs Black Rifle Coffee, who's a intense conservationalists and activists. Like I didn't even know. Oh, there's this whole other part of it too, you know, and when you really dig into those organizations, there are a little bit different, right? There's a different underlying mindset about that, that context of how you're going to interact and what you're going to do. And I think, you know, you guys have tapped into that in a really meaningful way. And what was it like trying to decide what it was going to look like?
Philip Reichert
Well, I think. I think it helps when. When you have some serious people. And, you know, not to say that we don't joke around or anything like that, but, you know, regardless of left or right, there are groups that are performative. What is it? Climate Defiance is one of the new ones on the left that everyone likes to dunk on, and they should. And then you have groups that are serious, and the serious groups can either be the most productive if they're aligned with you, or they can also be, in my opinion, the most damaging to your cause because, you know, if somebody takes it seriously, then much higher chance, I think, of getting what they want done. Yeah, so we obviously wanted to be serious, but we want to be different from the groups that exist today. And I think that it had to be that way. Not only because there is a glut of just what I would call. Even if they're not performative in the same way that Climate Defiance are, they don't pursue an objective with their entire being. They are not in pursuit of that. They are just participating in the ecosystem that exists. And maybe they get some wins here, maybe they get some losses there, but the primary drive for them is just to exist and to pay the salaries and to go to the galas, stuff like that. So we didn't want to do that. And that required, I think, a lot of heavy lifting on Braxton's part, because Braxton, from the beginning of land advocacy and basically anything that he cares about, he's never done it for ulterior reasons. He's always just done it because that's what he cares about. And to assemble a team of people that are doing something for free purely because they care about it, and, you know, to impose limitations on your effectiveness as an organization to maintain purity, that's not easy. And that required him, you know, finding the right people for that.
David Portnoy
And were you the first one that he contacted and why. So, you know, how did your relationship initiate?
Philip Reichert
So I didn't know that he was seriously considering it until he was seriously considering it. Yeah, I told him he had to do it. And I think he. He said at one point to me, he was like, oh, we're gonna. You know, we're gonna need to, like, actually start a nonprofit, like, all this stuff. And I Was like, that's not an obstacle. Like, that's not the hard part. So he was like, interesting. And then I think within a week, he had. He had already lined up a board and all of these things.
David Portnoy
Well, so that's the thing, too, Philip. I mean, I went to your board and. And, you know, I mean, just the Dr. Kelly, is it Heber or Herbert?
Philip Reichert
Heber or Heber?
David Portnoy
She. I look at her resume, I'm like, holy gosh, that was brilliant.
Philip Reichert
Yeah.
David Portnoy
Hit her on this stuff.
Philip Reichert
And she's. She's in. She's out on field work with trout right now. So, you know, went to. Studied political science in undergrad and went to mit, and she's out in the mountains doing field work, studying trout. Kids nowadays, especially political science students, they don't even know that they can do that. They don't even know that there's a whole academic ecosystem of people studying nature. They think, oh, I got to go into finance or I got to go into engineering or something. So that was. I think that was. Well, it was first, a good get by Braxton to get Kelly on the board. But second, it was important to have people that have, at a minimum, an understanding of what is out there, people who have lived in the Mountain west, people who have participated actively in the outdoors in some way. I think our board is like 80% veteran, too, which wasn't a requirement, but that certainly helps because everyone has presumably made some sacrifice for that. So, you know, that, I think, sets us apart from a lot of other people, too. But that was just the board, you know, that wasn't bylaws or anything like that.
David Portnoy
And so obviously, I mean, I've grown up around a component of ACT is certainly charity development. I watched my parents start four or five charities as a kid. They were always involved in local charities, preservation of where I grew up in the town of this, you know, all these different things. And. And, you know, and I recently started our first charity, which was called the Opera.
Philip Reichert
Congratulations.
David Portnoy
Yeah, thank you very much. We worked on it for like two years, and, you know, it's still in the developmental phase three in year three. And. And it's hard. It's not easy, you know, and. But the real kicker comes and what that mission focus is, right? And when, you know, specifically, all right, this is what we have to rally around. Like, I mean, you know, you were in the military. You. You understand if you don't have mission focus, you, you know, you got a bunch of people kind of sitting around like, what. What are we doing? And why Are we doing this? But you guys are. Had a very clear initiative, and that was, you know, a derivative of. Of what emerged out of this insanity of selling 7 million acres. You know, the one thing that I think typically happens when I see nonprofits start, they come out with a bang, and then they realize, oh, wow, this fight is a lot more intense than we imagined. What are some of those facets that you believe you're going to have to confront? Because I guarantee you, this is not the end of land sales. Right? I mean, real estate speculators have been a component of American history since day one. Hell, the ultimate realtor is our president right now.
Philip Reichert
That's right.
David Portnoy
So, you know, this isn't going away. So what are you guys preparing for in the fight?
Philip Reichert
Well, I think creating this organization in the aftermath of the victory was very important. And in fact, I think if we had waited even a little bit, the obstacles to doing so would have been even more incredible. But it was all about. This was a grassroots victory for sure, and there were champions of it like Braxton, but it was, by and large, an organic, grassroots victory. But the people that were fighting, they are not grassroots. They're the opposite of grassroots. It's moneyed interest, it's lobbyists, it's big corporations, politicians who have been in the political system for decades, and then interest groups. All of these groups and all of these individuals, they don't work like we do. And it is not guaranteed that an organic, grassroots effort against them in the future would work. So what we felt was paramount is creating something that's bigger than any one person that can marshal support against something, and that's going to be very difficult. Like you said, it's a lot of work. A lot of them start off very quickly. I like to think we're starting slowly and scaling to a point that we can make a difference. But as soon as we announced, man, we had thousands of people sign up.
David Portnoy
Wow.
Philip Reichert
And I think we've got a little over 2,500 people already, and we've only existed publicly for a couple of weeks and existed privately for maybe an extra day or two. So that's. That's huge. And it's super important, because if we rely on Braxton or whomever to win these fights for us in the future, we could lose. And he will. People like Braxton, people like the board will always fight for this. But all it takes is one loss, and then it's incremental destruction of what we hold dear for the future.
David Portnoy
100%. And that's why I just love your mission statement, which is advance conservative stewardship of America's law lands through principled advocacy, practical policy solutions and grassroots membership that puts America first. And you know, when you think about who is that? I mean, the obvious collective is our hunters, right? Cattlemen, you know, farmers, you know, people that are, you know, ecologists or people botanists or, you know, but then, you know, that's the easy, I think the, the easiest way to evaluate. But now all of a sudden you take a step back and you look for the advocacy that emerged out of this. And you know, it's, it's people that have been grown up their whole lives taking people to your kids, your family to these places and experiencing what we have, exactly what, you know, Teddy Roosevelt acknowledged that we needed to preserve white, which is, which is the essence of America. And that's these vast, open, you know, divine, miraculous places that we can go and walk through. I mean, you know, I've been going out to Colorado since I was a little kid. My parents used to have a place in Snowmass for 22 years. And my favorite thing was I'd go visit them, man, I'd go get my backpack and I'd, you know, walk up behind Maroon Bells, I'd go camp out and you know, the above tree line pastures. I'd wake up and there'd be a hundred elk next to me. And you can't experience that in any other way and in any other place. And so I, you know, the fact that you balloon to 2500 members or people that are involved or interest, that's a staggering number to me. But I think it's testament to what people want. They want to know these places are safe for their family, for their future, for their businesses. And like, for Braxton, the thing that just kills me, I mean, he's a sixth generation cowboy. Like, that's, that's more, that's, that's the DNA of who you are socially. So when, when you're getting contacted by these people that are funny, what are you hearing? Like, what is the, the, the, the emphasis behind you and what do they want? Are you getting directed? Like we, hey, I'm, I'm in Idaho and this is happening here. We need your help here. Tell me a little bit about what you're seeing from the rapid response and rise and what are the, what do they want from you guys right now?
Philip Reichert
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Philip Reichert
First thing I'll say is I think that the rapid Adoption of our platform and our organization just speaks to how underrepresented people felt by the existing groups in this space. They felt like that we are something that closely resembles what they believe in. So that wasn't limited obviously to the Mountain west or people who live with access to public land. As, you know, obviously Texas has. People think of Texas as a pretty natural state, but it doesn't have a lot of public land. And I personally am from north Florida.
David Portnoy
Oh.
Philip Reichert
And I'm very far away. Yeah.
David Portnoy
Hell yeah.
Philip Reichert
Go Tallahassee, go. But, you know, my personal experience with public land for the first time was when I was stationed in Colorado Springs and I went out into Pike National Forest and I would just pick a mountain and walk up it, you know, and you get to the top and you're like, this is America. This is what we fight for. So people can have that perspective wherever they are. And they do. Our largest membership is Texas, obviously, and we have a ton of people in the Mountain west, but we have members, double digit members in every state. So I think having a spokesman who can really speak to the blood connection to the land is really helpful.
David Portnoy
Oh, that's brilliant. That's just. Powerful statement right there.
Philip Reichert
Yeah. Braxton is the guy for it too. You've spoken with him about it, you.
David Portnoy
Know, you know, and dude, like I remember, you know, in our, our interview, obviously through, you know, online and you know, you know, he was, you know, he was, you could feel the intensity just emitting in his, his descriptions and all. And like it just sucked me in. And then, you know, when he went on Sean's show, dude, there were moments where I was like, I was freaking tearing up watching this dude and I'm like, God, this guy, like, he, he, you feel it. And, and what's interesting is, is we just got back my fam. My wife and her family are from Maine, a little, teeny little town. And, and Maine has that too, right?
Philip Reichert
It does, it does.
David Portnoy
Like, you go up to, I mean, people think that, you know, you know, Maine is just a teeny little state. It's a massive state and it's mostly forest, right? And it's. And so, you know, every time we go up there, man, we, we do, we, we try and do this one hike called the Tumbled Down Mountain Height. And you know, it's a two and a half hour hike. I take my daughters all the way up and you know, our first time up to this, it was this Plateau lake. We're sitting there, we, everybody's exhausted and this moose walks out of the, the wilderness and, and goes for a swim.
Philip Reichert
And you know, probably be chased by flies.
David Portnoy
Yeah, yeah, right. And wanted to get exactly. But it's like my kids are like, you know, they couldn't even move because those are the only ways we are able to connect to the intimacy. You know, for me it's down in South Florida. It's protecting our reefs and protecting our ocean. And you know, there's a great veterans charity called Blue Force and they go down and they clean up the reefs and the keys and all that and they're wonderful guys. Rudy Ray is one of the guys that down there and, and you know, and so for me it's always been that ecological support of, of our reef systems and our oceans and that because I grew up in water but to. And so my kids, from the moment they could walk, they're in. Had masks and they do that. And so I think there is this what it, it's something like this. Our greatest sense of connection to Mother Earth only comes when we're integrated with Mother Earth where it goes beyond what, what we have control of, where, where we're not the dominant controlling factor of the tools and objects we're integrating with. Because you're, you're, you're out of place. Like you're in, you're in that, that place. And I think, you know, that's so powerful. So how do you start to continue the messaging? One of the things that I really love about here, it was policy advocacy. Right. And to be able to write policy for particular, whether state politicians, municipal politicians or whatever, to be able to lean on. You know, I've done, you know, work with the Heritage foundation before with a firm I'm with and you know, the biggies out there and you, we now we know how corrupt they all are. So to really have you guys lean in. So what are some of the first kind of policy things or specific hunting things or conservation? What specific tasks are on your guys radar right now?
Philip Reichert
Yeah, so the most important thing, and this does get into a little bit of what you were talking about. You know, we wanted to make sure that the people who were most heavily involved with us and the people that we are working for, for as an organization are the people who are, like you said, in nature and a part of that and they have that perspective. Because I think that ultimately if there is policy, I mean, first of all I believe that a lot of our problems should be solved at the lowest possible level, which is a common sentiment among the political right. But they don't really espouse that I think the most meaningful thing you can do is go fix your local and then maybe you fix your state and then you look to the national. So the most important thing for us to do from a policy perspective was first acknowledge that our state chapters are going to be on the ground first developing what is best for their state, because nobody wants somebody from D.C. coming in and telling them what works for them. And I think that applies everywhere. So even if, even if we have the best of intentions, if we adopt like a broad, sweeping national platform, that all sounds great. And there are lots of organizations that have a national platform that you look at it and it looks on paper like all the right things. How is that involving people? You know, all political power and political influence in this country should come from the citizen. And so we believe our platform should also come from our citizens. So the first thing that we wanted to do was to go out, create these state chapters, of which we have several so far, and begin the process of allowing them to determine what's important to them. And like, our platform is through a C4, we do have a C3, which is going to be, you know, riparian projects and the kind of thing that you wouldn't expect a D.C. organization to even know about and do. But the important thing for us is the money, the policy, all of that comes from the people and goes to the people. So we are, we are the framework for that, that guy in Idaho to get involved and make a difference. We are not mandating anything now. We have a specific focus. We're not going to get involved with issues that are outside of our scope. And I think it's very important to limit yourself where you can. We do that. We limit how we get money and we limit how private we are with who we get money from and all of those things. But we don't want to, we want to focus exclusively on what matters to those people.
David Portnoy
I love that mentality. And you know, that's always the great challenge, right? You, you tap into the deep nerve of the social consciousness of the time and, you know, things can move so fast, so rapidly. And in particular, you know, you get somebody from, I don't know, some big foundation or, you know, whatever, and they have a lot of money and they're like, oh, look at this little up and coming foundation. I'm gonna give you $200,000. And then, you know, oh, we're supporting and this. And then all of a sudden, you know, you get the emails, listen, we have an issue in this place right here. We need you to bring attention and write a little paper, you know, and you're like, wait, what?
Philip Reichert
Yeah, that's the norm. You know, it's. It's so. It's. It's shameful. I get it. And I've seen this so many times up close, I. Maybe they agree with you. Maybe these donors, you. You share their position, maybe you put them on your board, maybe you take their money. But at a certain point, what if you don't agree? What are you gonna do then? What are you gonna do when you have a million and a half dollars or whatever from this organization and they're telling you what to believe? Oh, suddenly they're on your board. Suddenly they are the ones who determine whether you can make payroll. And of course, your payroll is hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for each executive in D.C. so you need that money. You very quickly lose whatever independence you have. So we want to avoid that completely financially and proximity to D.C. we just want to. We don't want to go to D.C. ever. Never, ever, ever.
David Portnoy
Well, I don't think you need to. I mean, I think.
Philip Reichert
I don't think so either.
David Portnoy
I think the real what we're starting to. You know, once you. I mean, obviously you saw you begin to collapse the corrupt network of NGOs in D.C. and how they're affiliated with the State Department, Homeland, whatever government agency is fund siphoning off, you know, millions and in some cases, billions of dollars to, you know, random, you know, nonprofits that start up, depending upon what type who's in the office there, right? Both sides. And all of a sudden they get funded to $20 million. And like, my favorite one. What's my favorite one lately and brand new, was the concert they did for the Pacific Palisades fires, right? They raised $100 million. And now we found out that less than 5% has even gotten remotely close to those people.
Philip Reichert
That's why I think it's so important, man. I mean, if people are giving you money, obviously they're gonna want to. They're gonna want to know where it goes. So if there's like, everyday working class people giving you money, like, for US and our C4, which is our main entity, this is membership money. If people give us a certain amount of money, we make them members of the corporation. They're basically on a board, and they should have a say in where that money goes. So giving $100 million to fix this crisis, as soon as you get nothing out of that, people's trust in these institutions just drops dramatically. And it's not like we had any to begin with.
David Portnoy
I disagree. As long as you got Braxton McCoy's name.
Philip Reichert
Oh, of course. Sagebrush is different. Obviously everyone trusts us.
David Portnoy
What a burden it is on you all too. Right? That's what people don't quite understand. Right. And I think, I think they do, but it's, it's not something they want to openly talk about because it's a, it's indicative of what they're afraid of. Right. Activism requires, in some context, conflict. Right. You're identifying a crisis, a problem, an enemy, if you will. And what do you do? You have to either address it, fight it, stop it, confront it, whatever, or it just keeps growing. And I think a lot of people in particular since COVID I think a lot of people have a tremendous amount of fatigue and they're like kind of over all of the problems and issues. And I mean, if I had a dollar. I mean, because I travel around the country every year, I talk to thousands of people with my other job and a lot of that is in the financial industry. And so I'm talking about people who, they're trying to figure out what charity their clients are going to invest $50 million in or whatever, you know, so I'm kind of sub haphazardly getting access to that sub ecosystem of filling drop of philanthropic endeavors, you know, and it's like, man, more and more I'm like, oh, it's about, you know, a tax write off or it's whatever and you know, 100. Yeah. And I'm just like, wait a minute, this is where it gets confusing. One, there's a group of people who don't want to be activists because they're afraid of the public, whatever that might, the reciprocation or the, the cause and effect of, of them being outed or public or whatever. And then the other is, it's not really about that. It's about, you know, a tax exemption, like being able to, you know, do that. And so to see you guys and, and this is no small fight, man. I mean, when you start like, dude, perfect example, perfect example, Phil. And then I'm going to let you, you just kind of tell me a little bit about you and how you grew up and why this kind of thing came in your life. But dude, in my hometown right now, the, the city council, I'm Boca Raton, Florida, the city council, everybody but one person, they have this beautiful acreage in downtown Boca where they have the ball fields. I grew up playing flag tag and T ball on our local Tennis courts there, a nice city hall, these beautiful banyan trees, an old house that's been in in in Boca since the nineteen early nineteen hundreds called Singing Ponds. Well, the majority of board has just decided, oh, we're going to strike a deal with these New York developers. We're going to lease this land, knock it down and they're going to build two giant high rises, condominiums. And nobody in Boca Raton knows what's going on now. And so my mom's like out there banging on. It's like, put the sign in your front yard and will you interview these? So like I'm just getting boned up, but I'm going to have this, you know these guys, one of the guy who's, who's going against it on. And that's exactly what you're saying, right? It's like it has. You have to have the courage to be able to step what once more undo the breach. Right. And put yourself on the front line for what you believe in and what matters most to you. And it's just so admirable what you're doing. Tell us a little bit, Philip, about you and how you've gotten to this point. Why is this a big issue and you know, your background and where, why you're in this spot right now. Lenovo is built for creators who don't wait for inspiration.
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Learn more@abekahomeschool.com well, I think beyond me, the whole board, it speaks exactly to what you're saying. Once more into the breach. Obviously Braxton will charge at windmills however long they let him. You know, as long as they have horses in Idaho, he'll be riding one. And you know, for all of us, it was very important for us to beat this forever. And obviously you're not going to beat it forever, but you can at least create the thing that can do that. I can't speak to everyone's childhood and stuff like that, but me personally, I grew up north Florida. You know, it's Florida, but it's not really Florida.
David Portnoy
No, we go Florida.
Philip Reichert
Yeah, that's right.
David Portnoy
That's right.
Philip Reichert
And you know, I grew up, you know, shooting birds in the woods and we played outside and that was, that was what I thought everything was. That's what I thought, you know, you were supposed to do. And I, you know, graduated, went to college. I only made it a year. I wanted to join the military since I think I could consider conceive of anything just because it was probably. I thought it was the most honorable thing somebody could do. We all believe in America, and being a soldier and willing to die for America is the epitome. So I made it a year. You went to ucf my freshman year. I made it a year before I dropped out and I went into the military. And I remember sitting down with my dad and I wanted to go be an 11 Bravo. I wanted to do it right. I wanted to have the experience. Experience that everyone had. Although Braxton was signal, all right, you got to remember that the war hero was a commo guy. That's right. My dad convinced me that I should do something smart and be intelligent. So I did that and I agreed. I joined as an intelligence analyst. I got to do really cool things. Not as many cool things as you would expect a recruiter to say, but probably more than the average person who gets a three year enlistment. And, you know, when I was growing up, I had wanted desperately to go to United States Military Academy at West Point, you know, because you see it on the military channel and you just, you just think that this is the coolest fucking thing anyone's ever seen.
David Portnoy
Absolutely.
Philip Reichert
And my, actually my first sergeant at the time, but eventually my commander said, we're gonna send you because we think it's a great place for you to be. And I really thought about not doing it. I was like, man, I've seen what an officer does. You know, I don't want to go work staff. I don't want to. I'm not going to be like, I'm not going to be doing anything. And this also, you have to understand, this was 2018. Ish.
David Portnoy
Yeah.
Philip Reichert
We were drawing down, you know, we had pretty much decided to be done in the Middle East. So I was like, I'm not going to do it. And my, My battalion commander, my brigade commander, my company commander, all walk into a room when I'm giving a briefing during an exercise and they pull me out. Like, you just got into West Point. Were taking you over to, you know, go, like, tell the. I was like, oh, man, you know, wow, what a. I did go. I was gonna do it. I think.
David Portnoy
What was.
Philip Reichert
I think I was gonna do it.
David Portnoy
What was that moment like, man? You know, it's.
Philip Reichert
It's wild. It's. It's the culmination of a dream that I never thought I would have and I never would have admitted to myself that I would have.
David Portnoy
Oh, my gosh. It's like, that's it. Like those. The moments that encapsulate the whole buildup as a kid, the whole. Right. The ideation of this. This thing that's. That's bigger than anything else. And then. And then all of a sudden, you know, because of the quality of soldier you were, this opportunity just comes to you, and then you get it. Man, that. That must.
Philip Reichert
That's precisely it.
David Portnoy
Yeah.
Philip Reichert
I mean, I didn't. I didn't have a great experience at West Point. I did. I'll summarize it. I feel less strongly about it now being removed from it, but I. Yeah. In the year that I was there, I didn't develop as a soldier, which was important to me. I didn't really develop as a student, which was also really important to me because I was like, I'm an idiot, man. I've been in the Army. I dropped out of college to join the Army. I don't know anything about calculus.
David Portnoy
Yeah.
Philip Reichert
And then I didn't really develop as a person very much. So with. With that in mind and knowing that I was going to go work staff and probably just go to some NTCs, I was like, man, I can go to an Ivy League school right now. And so I did that.
David Portnoy
Oh, cool.
Philip Reichert
Where'd you go? I went to Columbia, which was actually a mistake.
David Portnoy
Wonderful. Well, you don't know. Right. Because, you know, again, opportunities hit us, and they hit us in such a.
Philip Reichert
Right.
David Portnoy
There's so much emotional expectation that builds up in what you imagine something to be, and then you hit it, and then you're like, whoa. And I, you know, I mean, I had that in the teams a little bit. I had it working for the agency a little bit. I. In every place I've ever gone or done, there's a component of that. Right. But it really is.
Philip Reichert
This is precisely when I realized. I'm glad you mentioned agency. Precisely when I realized I was beginning to piece together the trend. Because when I was at a strategic element in Korea, I worked with some CIA analysts briefly. And then obviously, you go to West Point, and that's supposed to be the pinnacle. And then I went to Columbia, which is supposed to be one of the most prestigious places to be. And I basically realized that people are people and you can find amazing people anywhere. And Braxton, I think, is a perfect example of this. I would pick Braxton over anyone in any of those institutions nine times out of ten.
David Portnoy
Oh, same with me. But. But you don't know that. Right. You're not sure where life is going.
Philip Reichert
To, especially as a kid.
David Portnoy
That's right. But what do you do? You say, all right, I'm going to try it and see for myself. I'm going to try it and see for myself. And the more times you do that, the more courage you develop and the more you recognize, you know, that this, you know, blessed, crazy ride between your birth date and your death date, like, how you. How you utilize that, it can. It's really on you and what you choose to do. So after those experiences, you know, what'd you do and where'd you get. And how'd you ultimately get to where you are now?
Philip Reichert
Sure. Well, I met my wife at Columbia and Covid. That was awesome. Yeah, that was. That says, you know, as good as a experience you can ask for.
David Portnoy
Right.
Philip Reichert
But Covid hit, and I was paying, I think, 72 grand a year before GI bill to go to Columbia. And like, the very difficult thing for a veteran, especially a veteran with, like, a intelligence background, is you can go get a job, dude. You can go work anyway.
David Portnoy
Yeah.
Philip Reichert
And so I did. My wife was like, man, I don't. Like, she was working on Wall Street. She had already graduated. And she was like, I hate this. And I was like, I could have told you that. Could have told you you'd hate it. So we went to Wyoming. We lived in Wyoming for a year. She was doing personal banking. I was contracting for Space Force there, and then we moved to Denver. I kept contracting for the Space Force, so that was my second and third times in the Mountain West. And she wanted to do her PhD. So we came back to New York, and I had to find something to do. I was gonna. I was like, maybe I'll just go work at McLean.
David Portnoy
Yep.
Philip Reichert
Or find something outside of this realm to do that I can do indefinitely into the future. And I ended up working for Fox News. That was my first experience with media politics. And believe it or not, as an intelligence contractor and soldier, I tried to be apolitical, which is something that I guess is difficult for people. I did not know that at the time, but I tried to do that. And so my first experience was at Fox News, and it was actually great.
David Portnoy
Cool. That's really cool. Yeah, I, you know, I. My friend, you know, the. I'm underneath the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton network. I've gotten close with Clay. And Clay's wife used to be a producer for Tucker, and she talks about her time there is really amazing and really just wonderful. And so, you know, I think a lot of it, as it always is, is the people you surround yourself with. Right. And the people that you. You know, and there'll be people that you work with or around that maybe stink, and some who are great. And so it's, again, what you make of it.
Philip Reichert
Yeah. And it's precisely that, you know, you have. You either have a good team or a bad team. Even on a bad team, you can find the good people. And it was just. It was an introduction to all of this. Right. It was an introduction to how the world works, how media works, how politics works. You know, you start. You're just producing, like, basically arranging stuff on the screen, but eventually your people are emailing you, asking to come on the show, and you're assisting with booking, and you're paying attention to the news trends, and it really just becomes this whole enterprise that most of us on Twitter are participating in unknowingly. But there you go.
David Portnoy
Or knowingly, right? Or knowingly.
Philip Reichert
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The best thing you can do to. I mean, if you want to be a producer or something, the best thing you can do to be aware of what's going on is just to have a Twitter account, really, Honestly.
David Portnoy
I mean, I was in front of a really successful group out in the Midwest two nights ago, you know, talking for about three hours, you know, and there was stuff I was talking about that they had no idea was going on. And, you know, we talked about the land sale. We talked about, you know, we talked about the fact that America was funding the Taliban. $40 million a week. You know, another big show. Sean broke and, you know, talking about terrorist threats internally. And, you know, these people are looking at me like, what are you talking about? I'm like, afterwards, I go to the wholesaler I was with. I'm like, hey, man, you know, these people are really successful, but they don't know anything. And I think for me, that's a challenge, right? Because it. Almost as if there's so many things to choose from or to pay attention to that it overwhelms people psychologically, and then they begin to push away, when actually the most gratifying component is you lean in. Right. And you see where it leads you. And, like, look at you. The next thing you know, man, you're the executive director of the Sagebrush Institute.
Philip Reichert
Sure. Yeah. And that's. And that's. That's exactly how it goes, Right. I mean, it starts at Fox, but at Fox, all we were doing is reading Twitter. And, you know, I got. I was booking guests. The Ukraine war kicked off, and I was. I was the. That was the army guy for that. So Every military segment had to be me. I was finding Ukrainian leaders off of Twitter and putting them on the show. Right. It's such a powerful platform. Honestly, I don't like to gas it up too much just to do it, but it really is. If you take a week off of Twitter, it's like almost having one eye closed. You don't know what's going on in the world.
David Portnoy
That's right. Well, I mean, I don't know if you saw. Just yesterday it hit. It's the number one app in America now.
Philip Reichert
Yep.
David Portnoy
Yeah.
Philip Reichert
And it just. I think it should be.
David Portnoy
And it's just getting started. Once they figure out video, once they figure out CROC video production, once they figure out how to fix algorithms, and then once they get the advertising piece, you know, to where content creators can actually make some. Some. Some relatively decent money, you know, there will be no other app, you know, And I think that was his intention from the beginning, you know, so it was to be the all in one app.
Philip Reichert
Well, the whole context that I created for myself for my professional career, going from military to basically the military, but contracting to Fox and then going down in scope. After Fox, I worked for another national nonprofit. And then after that I was like, well, maybe I need to get more local. And I would work the State House in Texas most recently. And right now my day job is I'm the editor and executive director of a local media outlet in San Antonio.
David Portnoy
And that's called Thrive. Right? Thrive.
Philip Reichert
Thrive. We might be rebranding, but it's called Thrive. And the most important thing I think that people can do who want to make a difference is to get as local as possible in your effort. That's where it's easiest. It's cheapest. Your effort goes the furthest. And that's been my thesis. I've been doing that. It's very easy to go. I'm going to go work in D.C. and I'm going to have a VP title and I'm going to do this. But I don't think people should do that. I think most of our problems in this country could be solved. All of the people who were moving to D.C. new York and Los Angeles for the prestige stayed in their communities and found a cause that they could tackle at the local level with all of their effort. And, you know, that's that all of that is inculcated into sagebrush, man. That's why we go local with our platform. That's why we are just trying to engage and activate local people to do local things. And I Think that not enough people do that. Not enough organizations in the space do that, and they need to.
David Portnoy
I agree wholeheartedly. All right, so where. Where can people find. Sagebrush will contribute. Keep. Keep up the speed newsletters, the whole thing tell us that.
Philip Reichert
So recommend either following our Twitter account or going to sagebrushinstitute.org and signing up. You can do both. I recommend you do both. And yeah, we try. It's a delicate balance between pushing out all things that's happening and not spamming people. I think we're navigating that very well right now.
David Portnoy
Yeah, for sure.
Philip Reichert
And it's going to be a wild ride. So much. We're trying to take it slow. We really are. But so much opportunity is out there, and we're trying not to raise money and people are giving us money, and we're trying not to grow too fast, and we're growing too fast. So there are going to be opportunities wherever you are very soon with us, and we're going to publicize all of it, and we're going to be directly involved with them every step of the way. Braxton is a perfect example. He'll talk to you on Twitter, he'll reply to you, he'll engage with you, and the whole board is the same way. We want to be advocates for people in their communities.
David Portnoy
Well, that's beautiful. And listen, if you're listening to this, if you're in your car right now or you're at your dinner table, you're working out or wherever you are, and you can hear my voice or see my face, I want to tell you something. Just think about that moment. You know, my earliest moment memory my whole life was being out in Yosemite with my father and going for a hike and having he. I just remember him putting me on his shoulders, and it was like I was in the trees. And you're going around, you're seeing those sequoias, and you're seeing you get to the top of that mountain, you look over that valley, and it's transformational. And you. Each one of you has that memory. Each one of you has hopefully kept that going in some capacity. Maybe it's where you do your run every day, you know, after work. Or maybe, you know, you get out of the city and you drive out to some beautiful park or, you know, that's where you actually vacation. You dedicate yourself. And I hope you just. You're listening to what Philip is saying and you recognize the power of this organization and you say, hey, listen, I think this is the type of people that I believe in. These are the type of people I want to be the custodians for my advocacy and, you know, go visit their site, start following them on X or Twitter, and then don't be afraid, man. Give them 100 bucks, give them 200 bucks. Every little piece matters in organizations like this because before you know it, there's going to be something near you you're going to care deeply about, and this is an organization that might be able to help assist you. So, Philip, man, you're just such an impressive guy. I really have just a tremendous amount of respect for you. And as I've already stated, you know, I'd follow Braxton into any army of windmills any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Philip Reichert
And I did. So here we are.
David Portnoy
Amen. Well, thank you so much, sir. God bless you and God bless.
Philip Reichert
God bless you.
David Portnoy
Thank you.
Philip Reichert
Thank you. Come on.
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Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Host: David Portnoy
Guest: Philip Reichert, Executive Director of the Sagebrush Institute
Release Date: August 4, 2025
At [02:47], David Portnoy introduces the episode by expressing his admiration for Philip Reichert and the recent conservation efforts led by Braxton McCoy. Portnoy highlights the significance of the Sagebrush Institute in rallying support to protect America's wilderness areas, emphasizing the emotional and national importance of preserving these lands.
“What I was able to witness over the last several months through a friend of mine, a new friend, Braxton McCoy... what he and his initiative was able to do in order to get that atrocity pulled out of the one big beautiful bill...” - David Portnoy [02:47]
Philip Reichert delves into how the Sagebrush Institute was conceived following the successful movement to halt the proposed land sale of 7 million acres. He credits Braxton McCoy and other key influencers for their pivotal roles in this grassroots victory.
“Braxton and I have been friends for a little while and obviously very aligned on this issue... they don’t want somebody from D.C. coming in and telling them what works for them.” - Philip Reichert [05:49]
Reichert emphasizes the Institute’s commitment to being different from traditional activist groups by focusing on genuine advocacy without ulterior motives such as financial gain or prestige.
Portnoy discusses the evolving landscape of activism, noting a shift from the high-profile environmental movements of the past to more localized and pragmatic conservation efforts. He shares personal anecdotes about influential environmental activists from his youth and connects them to the current efforts led by Sagebrush Institute.
“There’s a huge ecosystem of that sort of thing. So people are... they have a pretty negative opinion on activism now.” - Philip Reichert [07:04]
Reichert outlines the strategic approach of the Sagebrush Institute, focusing on building strong local chapters to ensure that conservation efforts are tailored to the specific needs of each region. He highlights the rapid growth of their membership, reaching over 2,500 members shortly after inception.
“If we rely on Braxton or whomever to win these fights for us in the future, we could lose. And he will.” - Philip Reichert [18:15]
He also stresses the importance of maintaining financial independence to prevent external influences from compromising the organization's mission.
“We don’t want to go to D.C. ever. Never, ever, ever.” - Philip Reichert [33:26]
The discussion shifts to the Institute’s policy advocacy, where Reichert emphasizes the significance of addressing conservation at the local level before scaling up to state and national policies. This approach ensures that initiatives are grounded in the actual needs and preferences of the communities they aim to serve.
“Our platform should also come from our citizens. So the first thing that we wanted to do was to go out, create these state chapters...” - Philip Reichert [29:14]
Philip shares his background, detailing his transition from military service to various roles in media and nonprofit organizations. His experiences have shaped his commitment to conservation and effective activism.
“I grew up north Florida... I wanted to go join the military since I could consider conceive of anything just because it was probably. I thought it was the most honorable thing somebody could do.” - Philip Reichert [42:19]
Towards the end of the conversation, Reichert discusses the future plans for Sagebrush Institute, including expanding their membership, enhancing community engagement, and launching new initiatives to address ongoing and emerging conservation challenges.
“We're trying not to grow too fast, and we're growing too fast. So there are going to be opportunities wherever you are very soon with us...” - Philip Reichert [55:20]
Grassroots Focus: Sagebrush Institute prioritizes local activism, ensuring that conservation efforts are community-driven and sustainable.
Financial Independence: The organization maintains strict financial autonomy to preserve its mission and prevent external interference.
Rapid Growth: The Institute has seen significant membership growth, indicating widespread support and a strong foundation for future initiatives.
Personal Commitment: Both leaders’ personal journeys underscore a deep-rooted commitment to conservation and effective activism.
“What I was able to witness... is an initiative that needs to continue and has continued through the Sagebrush Institute.” — David Portnoy [02:47]
“The side that has the best memes is probably going to win. And from that alone, I am 100% certain that we are going to win.” — Philip Reichert [06:20]
“Our platform should also come from our citizens. So the first thing that we wanted to do was to go out, create these state chapters...” — Philip Reichert [29:14]
“What makes Sagebrush different is... giving the power back to the people.” — Philip Reichert [34:23]
This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show offers an insightful look into the Sagebrush Institute's efforts to conserve America's wilderness through grassroots activism and community-driven policies. Philip Reichert's experiences and dedication, combined with Braxton McCoy's leadership, position the Institute as a formidable force in modern conservation efforts. Listeners are encouraged to engage with Sagebrush Institute through their website and social media platforms to support and participate in ongoing and future initiatives.
For more information or to get involved, visit sagebrushinstitute.org or follow them on Twitter.