Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame

Dave Lockman was born September 9, 1947 to  Dave and Darlene Lockman in Brighton, CO.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and Range Management from Colorado State University in 1969.  He received a Master of Science degree in Avion Biology from CSU in 1971.  Dave worked as a field biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for nineteen years and retired from the Department as Education Supervisor after thirty-two years of service.  
 
During his tenure as a Game and Fish wildlife biologist, Dave made significant contributions to Wyoming’s wildlife whether it was testing new data collection techniques for big game or improved management techniques for managing waterfowl.  Dave was single handedly responsible for restoring and expanding trumpeter swan populations in Wyoming.  He conducted inventories and population surveys, designed management plans, initiated the wetland mapping and classification system used by USFWS for Wyoming wetlands, organized the first Rocky Mountain Trumpeter Swan Population Management subcommittee for the U.S. and Canada, organized the Whooping Crane Management and Recovery Effort for Wyoming, authored or co-authored numerous technical articles during his career.
 
While Education Supervisor with the Game and Fish Department, Dave prepared and supervised the implementation and management of over 20 cooperative agreements with Wyoming communities, supervised the development of the Outdoor Recreation Education Opportunities program for Wyoming schools, Coordinated the planning and development of over 50 interpretive education projects, including the National Bighorn Sheep Center in Dubois, Wyoming and wildlife viewing sites across the state as part of the “Wyoming’s Wildlife-Worth the Watching program.  He developed and coordinated all facets toward the planning and execution of the first Wyoming Hunting and Fishing Heritage Exposition hosted by the Department.  This became an annual event in Wyoming for 15 years, for over 13,000 families and youth annually.  He co-authored the “Outdoor Expo Planning Guide” a collaborative effort between the Weatherby Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Wyoming Game and Fish.  This guide was a practical handbook for states desiring to produce an outdoor Expo.  In 2003 he became the project leader for the Weatherby Foundation’s North American Outdoor Expo Campaign.  This included providing planning assistance to states and managing a national grant’s program for funding support to states.  Twenty-two states implemented an Outdoor Expo Education event reaching 350,000 participants annually.
 
Since his retirement from the Department, he worked as a private consultant on numerous intensive wildlife and habitat surveys, habitat  evaluations, and designed and implemented wildlife habitat improvement projects for private landowners and the oil and gas industry.
 
Dave and his wife Janet live in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

A.A. Anderson was born August 11, 1846, in Hackensack, New Jersey to William Anderson and Sarah Louise Ryerson.  He spent his early childhood in Peapack, New Jersey and Fairview, Illinois but later the family returned to Newtown, Long Island.  He was schooled at the Fairchild Institute in Flushing and later the Grammar School at Columbia College (now the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School).  After a successful turn in the dry goods and manufacturing business with the canning company  Libby, and a short period studying medicine, Anderson found modest success in his painting efforts and decided to pursue painting full time.  He moved to Paris in the 1880’s and continued his studies with a community of high profile French painters.  In 1890 he founded the American Art Association of Paris which lasted until 1932.  He spent over 10 years painting in Paris and his works are held by the Smithsonian and the Cleveland Museum of Art and various private collections. 
 
On a tour of the American West while still living in Paris, Anderson established a homestead on the Grey Bull River in Wyoming, south of Cody.  He named this 160 acre plot Palette Ranch and built a log and gypsum-mortar ranch house there.  Within a few years he became frustrated by wildfires in the area which he believed were deliberately caused by out of state sheep men who grazed their sheep across cleared forest land.  He made it his personal campaign to double the size of the Yellowstone Forest Reserve bordering the Yellowstone National Park.  This became a reality by executive order of Theodore Roosevelt in May, 1902.  Roosevelt then appointed Anderson as Special Superintendent to administer both the Yellowstone and Teton Forest Reserves.   He served in this capacity until 1905.  He established ranks for his men similar to the military and accepted an appointment as a Game Warden of Wyoming.  He named his entire staff Assistant Game Wardens, without pay to give them authority to eject poachers.  At the end of his tenure, President Roosevelt reorganized the forest reserve lands surrounding the Park and established the Forest Service within the Department of Agriculture.
 
Anderson was among the very first to begin managing public rangelands and timberlands.  He also established game refuges throughout the reserves to assist the state with the management of big game herds.  He left behind a legacy toward the necessity of adequate laws protecting the public land natural resources and the ability to effectively enforce those laws.
 
In 1876 Anderson married Elizabeth Milbank.  The Andersons had one daughter, Dr. Eleanor Anderson Campbell. In 1905, he moved his main residence to his studio in New York, but continued to spend time at his ranch.  He also continued to paint until his death on April 27th, 1940 in New York.

Stephen Mealey was born in Waldport, Oregon on March 17, 1942.  He received his BA in Political Science at the University of Oregon in 1964, a BS degree in Forestry at the University of Idaho in 1973 and a MS in Wildlife Management from Montana State University in 1975.
 
Steve spent the majority of his career, 1977 – 1997, with the US Forest Service as a wildlife biologist and then Forest Supervisor on the Shoshone National Forest and Boise National Forest.  He was the Director of Idaho Fish and Game from 1997 – 1999.  Steve was the Executive Director of the Boone and Crockett Club from 1999 – 2001 and Manager of Wildlife, Watersheds, and Aquatic Ecology with the Boise Cascade Corporation from 2001 – 2005.
 
During his tenure as Forest Supervisor on the Shoshone National Forest, Steve demonstrated an ability to build cooperative liaisons to achieve desired results for federal, state and private landowners.  He was instrumental in working with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to set wildlife population objectives to allow equilibrium between wildlife and livestock, as well as oil wells in the wilderness. This template is still in use today and as important as it was 30 years ago.  Steve had direct influence on the non-migratory elk here in the limited quota Area 121 in Wyoming.  His vision brought this herd to its current healthy and vibrant state and is sustainable in a key predator area.
 
Steve is an Honorary Life Member of the Boone and Crockett Club and was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service in the US Air Force in Viet Nam.  He and his wife, Marty, live in Springfield, Oregon.

Joe Back was born April 12, 1899, in Montpelier, Ohio.  His father was a country doctor who visited his patients by horse and buggy.  A lover of horses, he maintained a breeding stable when not practicing medicine.  Through him, Joe developed knowledge of horses at the earliest age, handling the buggy as his father made his rounds.
 
When Joe was only 9 years old his father died of a sudden heart attack.  His mother relocated to California where she soon remarried.  Joe could not get along with his stepfather who was quite a drinker; so when he got in trouble at school for drawing sketches of his 8^th grade teacher, he decided that was enough of that whole situation and took off on his own.
 
Joe’s mother had a cousin who managed the Fiddleback Ranch north of Douglas, so Joe headed there and was put to work as a chore-boy for board and room.  Having learned to handle horses from his father, he was soon promoted to full ranch hand status with wages of $45 a month.
 
With the onset of World War I, Joe entered the Navy.  Proficient with firearms, he was assigned to be a machine gun instructor and the closest thing to an ocean he ever saw was Lake Michigan.  Discharged in 1919, Joe returned to Douglas and began cowboying on the 55 Ranch for ranch foreman Wheeler Eskew.  Wheeler was a top hand and Joe considered him “one of the finest men I ever got to know.”
 
Joe had filed on a homestead 42 miles north of Douglas and had begun the improvements necessary to obtain full ownership when he heard about a big horse roundup.  Hiring on with 6 or 8 other cowboys, they eventually caught several hundred stray horses, which were to be purchased by the Diamond G Guest ranch above Dubois.  They then obtained a chuck wagon and rope corral and herded the horses from Douglas to Brooks Lake and the Diamond G, a distance of approximately 270 miles.  The trip took 2 weeks and was filled with adventure.
 
The Diamond G wanted Joe to stay on as a wrangler and guide, so he leased the grass on his homestead and remained in the mountains.  He began guiding summer pack trips in the Teton Wilderness, including trips as far as Lewis Lake in Yellowstone National Park.  In the fall, he would guide elk, deer, and bighorn sheep hunters.
 
Joe Back had always liked to draw and sketch and the Brooks Lake country was full of subject material.  He began making sketches of horses, mountains, and cowboys and gave them away to ranch guests.  One summer-long guest was Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a staff artist with National Geographic.  When he saw Joe’s sketches, he encouraged him to attend the Art Institute of Chicago.
 
Initially rejected because he had only completed the 8^th grade, Joe figured that was the end of that idea.  But when Fuertes found out about it, he gathered up Joe’s sketches and sent them to the Institute with a strongly worded letter; Joe was accepted.  He quickly sold his homestead and headed east.  It was at the Art Institute of Chicago that Joe would meet his future wife and lifelong partner. 
 
Mary Waters Cooper was born on Dec. 3, 1906 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  While still an infant, her father moved the family to Vermont.  Even as a young child, Mary’s interests in nature and art were evident.  Her notebooks would be festooned with drawings, often of plants or animals.  Her father was a member of the Green Mountain Club, which established hiking trails reaching to Canada, so Mary spent weekends hiking the hills and clearing trails.  Early pictures show Mary with various animals, including several pet snakes.
 
Graduating from high school at the age of 16, Mary was admitted to Berea College in Kentucky.  A small, prestigious school, Berea charged no tuition but required students to hold jobs at the college.  When Mary arrived, she brought one of her pet snakes which caused quite a commotion and was eventually placed in the biology lab.
 
While Mary was at college, her family relocated to Chicago.  Joining them there following graduation, she began taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Classes in animal anatomy were held at the Field Museum of Natural History, and one day while Mary was sketching animals, someone walked up behind her and remarked, “That’s a helluva good bear!”  It was Joe Back.
 
Joe courted Mary during 1931 and 1932, and they finally married in February of 1933, during the great depression.  Jobs were scarce, but Joe was hired as a foreman by the National Park Service for $175 a month, and Mary was appointed to run a trailside wildlife museum for $100 per month.  They lived on Joe’s salary and saved Mary’s earnings with a plan to move to Wyoming.
           
In the spring of 1935, Joe and Mary bought a 1927 Buick to make the trip west.  They sewed a canvas tent which could be affixed to the side of the car and camped their way through the country, arriving at Dubois, Wyoming, Joe’s old stomping ground.
 
Moving to the high country, Mary and Joe purchased the abandoned and dilapidated Lava Creek Ranch.  Working nearly round the clock, they rendered the ranch cabins ready for winter.  And that first winter was a tough one with deep snow and cold temperatures.  Joe would take 2 days to snowshoe the 22 miles to Dubois for the mail and a few groceries.  But they both decided to stick it out.
 
Given her somewhat genteel and urban background, it is amazing how much Mary took to Wyoming’s wildlands.  Her sentiments are perfectly reflected in a short essay to the Berea College alumni newsletter, where she spoke of her first winter in the wilderness.
“Sheer beauty.  It is a privilege to just be in a world so lovely, so bright with changing color; so rich in the detail of bird and animal form and action, and the patterning of the lodgepoles and the willows; so tremendous in the massing of the great mountains; so aloof and remote from the smoke and fussiness of human crowding.”
 
Then later, “There is a relief to all one’s senses at the lessened feeling of being just a cog in a great, impersonal, and intricate Society, the relief and responsibility of being “on your own” for better or for worse.”
 
And in closing, “I have actually heard this vivid, beautiful, ever-changing country called “God-forsaken.”  We both find it in our hearts to thank God that it is so comparatively human-forsaken.”
 
Mary and Joe ran the Lava Creek Ranch as a dude outfit for nearly 4 years.  These were lean times, calling for improvisation and doing it yourself.  Mary learned to do carpentry, dig ditches, butcher elk, and skin beaver. During the fall, Joe would be gone for weeks on end guiding hunters, and in her journals Mary speaks of how lonely she became without him; truly an inseparable pair.
 
They later sold Lava Creek Ranch and bought the Rocker Y, another dude ranch, but a bigger operation.  While they loved the lifestyle, it did not allow them the time they needed to pursue their art careers.  After a long day in the saddle or a day spent cooking and cleaning, their creative energies for painting and drawing were diminished.
 
During World War II, Joe and Mary worked for the war effort in California; Joe as a shipyard welder, and Mary as an airplane mechanic.  Returning to Dubois at the war’s end, they dude ranched for one more year.
 
By the spring of 1946, Joe and Mary came to realize that they would never become full-time artists running a hectic dude outfit.  They sold the Rocker Y, moved east of Dubois and built a cabin that would also serve as an art studio.
 
Drawing and sculpting did not pay all the bills, so Joe took odd jobs, including stints with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a seasonal game warden and packing fish into the wilderness for stocking.  He also continued guiding hunters and always got his own elk for the winter’s meat - a staple since the Lava Creek days.
           
Joe published a small pamphlet on horse packing, “How to Tie a Diamond Hitch” illustrated with his colorful sketches.  It was in big demand, so he launched a book project to produce a “horse packer’s bible.”  The end product was “Horses, Hitches and Rocky Trails,” still in print and considered one of the best guides to horse packing in existence.  His last chapters advocate respecting the wilderness and keeping care of the mountain country.  He would later publish several other books, and Mary would publish “Seven Half-Miles From Home,” a reminiscence of her walks in the upper Wind River country.
 
The University of Wyoming asked Mary to teach extension art classes, and she was soon teaching in Dubois, Lander, Crowheart and Riverton.  Her classes were immensely popular, and the annual art show she arranged for her students and regional artists gave rise to the Wind River Valley Artists’ Guild.  Her efforts were later recognized when she received the Governor’s Award for Service to the Arts.  In addition, both she and Joe were awarded the Medallion of Honor by Central Wyoming College in 1982.
 
The Backs celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary in 1983, and over 200 people arrived at their small studio home.  This turnout portrayed the public’s appreciation for all of Joe and Mary’s community service. 
 
Joe Back passed away on September 7, 1986.  This was a terrific blow to Mary - she had lost her husband, best friend, and lifelong partner in all affairs.  Despite the loss, Mary continued her work with the Wind River Valley Artists’ Guild and maintained her habit of walking and bird watching along the Wind River; but she had lost much of her desire to paint with Joe’s passing.
 
Mary Back died on May 28, 1991, but the legacy of Joe and Mary Back lives on through their artwork, writings and in the fond memories of countless friends.
 
The Wind River Valley Artists’ Guild is now housed in the beautiful Headwaters Arts and Conference Center in Dubois.  Visitors can enjoy the artwork of Joe and Mary Back as well as many other fine artists.

John Baughman was born August 26, 1950, in Pittsburgh, PA.  He lived in West Virginia, Montana and Colorado where he received his BS degree in Fisheries Science in 1972 from Colorado State University and a Masters degree in Zoology from the University of Wyoming in 1974.  Upon graduation, he went to work for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as the Wildlife Planner.  From 1976 to 1995, John worked as Reservoir Research Supervisor, Fisheries Management Coordinator and then Assistant Chief of the Fisheries Division.  In 1995 John became Deputy Director of the Department and then served as Director from 1996 to 2002.
 
Under John’s leadership the Department developed and implemented the Hunting and Fishing Expo, the Private Lands/Public Wildlife program, the “Access Yes” program, the first alternative funding programs e.g. the Wildlife Heritage Foundation and Game and Fish credit cards and the Lifetime hunting and fishing licenses.
 
Following his game and fish career, John served as Executive Vice President of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.   In that capacity, he and his staff worked nationally on the Farm Bill, Wallop-Breaux Reauthorization, a new transportation bill with major funding to reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions, continued and enhanced funding for state wildlife grants, and worked with Boone and Crockett to develop and implement concept of National Conservation Leadership Institute.
 
John saw affiliation with professional and other like-minded conservation groups as important to one's character building and career development. In that regard, he during his career, he has been a member of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), past president of the Colorado-Wyoming Chapter of AFS,  a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wild Sheep Foundation, the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation and a member of the Boone and Crocket Club. He has authored one book (now in its second edition) and has over 100 popular, semi-technical and professional articles and presentations to his credit.  He served as the president of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), chaired WAFWA's Awards and Recognition Committee, and served on the Executive Committee.
 
On the national scene, he served as vice-chair of the Legislative and Federal Budget Committee, chaired the Threatened and Endangered Species Committee, and the Wildlife Damage Management Committee.  He is past-chair of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Iafwa) Committee on National Grants and served on IAFWA's Executive Committee.
 
John and his wife, Demity, retired in 2006 and live in Cody, Wyoming.  

Aven Nelson was born on March 24, 1859 to Norwegian emigrants, on a small farm in southeast Iowa.  He was the youngest of four children.  
 
In 1883, Aven earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri Normal College and began his career as an assistant professor of natural sciences at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri.  In 1887, he and his wife, Celia moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where he joined four others as the first professors on the University of Wyoming campus.  He served as the University’s first librarian and professor of economic biology, zoology, animal, physiology, hygiene, physical geography and calisthenics. 
 
In 1891, he took a leave of absence and went to Harvard to complete a master’s degree. He returned to Wyoming in 1894 and in the next two years he collected over 2,300 botanical specimens.  In 1899, he convinced the University to establish the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.   In 1901, he became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  In 1904, he earned a Ph.D from the University of Denver. 
 
Dr. Nelson published “New Manual of the Botany of the Central Rocky Mountains (Vascular Plants)” with John Coulter as senior author but complete rewritten by Nelson.  The work contained 2788 species, 1788 synonyms, 55 new species, and 133 new combinations.  A few years later he published “Spring Flora of the Intermountain States” .
 
He became the Vice President of the University in 1914 and then in 1917 was named acting President and then served as President from 1918 to 1922.
 
Aven married Ruth Ashton from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a graduate student at UW in 1931.  That same year, he retired from teaching.
 
The Aven Nelson Memorial Building on the University campus was named in his honor.  He received an honorary doctor of science degree from the University of Colorado  and received  an honorary doctor of law degree from the University of Wyoming, during its 50^th anniversary.
 
At the age of 80, he and Ruth botanized Mount McKinley National Park.  Ruth authored three books, “Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park”, “Plants of Zion National Park: Wildflowers, Trees, Shrubs, and Ferns”, and a “Handbook of Rocky Mountain Plants”.
 
Dr. Nelson died on March 31, 1952 at the age of 93 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

John F. Turner was born in Moose, Wyoming on March 3, 1942.  He was raised in Jackson Hole, Wyoming where his father owned a ranch.  He was educated at the University of Notre Dame, receiving a B.A. in biology in 1964.  He was assistant director for the University of Notre Dame foreign studies program in Innsbruck for 1964-65.  He then attended the University of Michigan and received an M.S. in wildlife ecology in 1970.
 
John then returned to Jackson Hole as a partner at the Triangle X Ranch, a dude ranch in Grand Teton National Park.  In 1983, he was elected to the Wyoming Senate.  He served as the Wyoming Senate’s vice president from 1983 to 1985; senate majority floor leader from 1985 to 1987; and president of the Wyoming Senate from 1987 to 1989.  He was also vice chairman of the board for the National Wetlands System Advisory Board from 1983 to 1987 and was a member of the National Wetlands Policy Forum 1987-88.
 
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush named Turner Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service where he created over 50 wildlife refuges.  He served there until 1983, when he became president and chief executive officer of The Conservation Fund.  He worked there until 2001, when President George W. Bush nominated Turner to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; he subsequently held that office until July 2005.
 
John became the first ever Beverly and Eldon Spicer Visiting Professor in Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming in 2006.  Since leaving public service, Turner has served on the Board of Directors of International Paper, Northeast Utilities, Peabody Energy, and Ashland Inc.

David Bragonier was born in Iowa in 1937 and moved to Wyoming after graduating high school.  In 1956 Dave began working for the US Forest Service before being appointed as a Special Deputy Game Warden in 1958.  He served in that capacity for 34 years, and was stationed in Jackson,  Baggs, Kaycee, Dayton, Riverton and Cody.  After his retirement from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Dave also served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation.
 
Dave has dedicated his entire life to conserving Wyoming’s wildlife and wild places and the name Dave Bragonier is synonymous with wildlife law enforcement in Wyoming.  He was in a position to see great changes in Wyoming during the energy booms and witnessed  impacts to Wyoming habitats through mineral extraction industries, grazing, recreation, and urban development and expansion.  Dave worked with the various industries, agencies and non-government organizations on behalf of Wyoming’s wildlife and habitat.  During his tenure he had direct influence on Game and Fish Commission regulations, Wyoming State Statutes and Federal Land Management Agency decisions relating to our natural resources.
 
Today Dave lives near Powell, Wyoming and continues to collect, organize and disseminate historical information relevant to wildlife, wildlife management and conservation.  He continues to lecture on conservation issues at museums, libraries and other public forums.  

Rex Corsi was born September 30, 1927 on a farm in Etna, Wyoming.  He served in the US Navy prior to receiving a BS degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Wyoming in 1951.  Rex was employed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department from 1951 to his retirement in 1989.  His first position with the Department was in statewide fish distribution and he then spent four and a half years as Fish Biologist for western Wyoming.  Rex then served as Game Warden for 10 years with duty locations in Jackson, Jeffrey City, Cody, Ten Sleep and Worland.  In 1965 he was appointed the Cody District Game Division Supervisor. From 1966 to 1972 he served as Assistant State Game Warden in Cheyenne and from 1972 until his retirement he served as State Game Warden and Chief of the Wildlife Division.
 
Rex received the Professional Wildlife of the Year Award from the Wyoming chapter of the Wildlife Society.  His leadership and judgment was crucial to the policies that have formed a solid foundation for the development of science-based management of wildlife in Wyoming.  Some of the many policies and legislation actions of long-term significance for which he exhibited a major leadership role include: 1)prevention of the continued expansion of elk feedgrounds in Wyoming, 2)the prevention of legislation and policies leading to the loss of wildlife being able to range freely between public and private lands, 3) the prevention of legislation enabling the introduction of big game ranching into Wyoming, and 4) the initiation of a science-based team to conduct the most thorough analysis ever conducted on big game and exotic game ranching and its effects on native wildlife and habitat.
 
In 1990, after his retirement, Rex received the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Guy Bradley Award for his contributions to wildlife law enforcement.  Rex and his wife, Nancy, reside in Cheyenne, WY.

William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa on February 26, 1846.  In 1857 when his father died, his mother moved to Kansas where Cody worked as a mounted messenger and wrangler.  Over the next few years he tried his luck in the Pike Peaks gold rush, joined the Pony Express, served as a Union scout during the Civil War and then in 1863 enlisted with the Seventh Kansas Cavalry.  In 1867, he took up the trade that gave him his nickname, hunting buffalo to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad.  In 1868, he returned to his work for the Army as chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry.  For his service he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872.
 
Cody became a national folk hero due to the exploits of his alter ego “Buffalo Bill” in Ned Buntline dime novels.  In 1872, Buntline persuaded Cody to assume this role on stage in his play “The Scouts of the Plains”.  He remained an actor for 11 seasons and between seasons, he escorted rich Easterners and European nobility on western hunting expeditions.  In 1876 he was called back to service as an army scout in the campaign that followed Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn.  In 1883, Cody organized the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, an outdoor extravaganza that dramatized some of the most picturesque elements of Frontier life.  Half circus and half history lesson, the show proved an enormous success, touring the country for three decades and playing to enthusiastic crowds across Europe.  In 1890 he was called back by the army once more during Indian uprisings.

In 1895, Cody was instrumental in the founding of Cody, Wyoming.  In November 1902, Cody opened the Irma Hotel, which he named after his daughter.  He also established the TE Ranch and eventually held around 8,000 acres.  In 1897 and 1899 Cody and his associates acquired from the State of Wyoming the right to take water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about 169,000 acres of land in the Big Horn Basin but were unable to raise sufficient capital to complete their plan
The Shoshone Project became one of the first federal water development projects undertaken by the newly formed Reclamation Service, later to become known as the Bureau of Reclamation.  Construction of the Shoshone Dam started in 1905 and when it was completed in 1910, it was the tallest dam in the world. Almost three decades after its construction, the name of the dam and reservoir was changed to Buffalo Bill Dam by an act of Congress to honor Cody.  He was known for promoting Western culture and the rights of Native Americans.  He was an ardent conservationist and supported the creation of hunting seasons for big game.

Cody and his wife, Louisa, had four children, two of them dying at an early age.  Cody died on January 10, 1917, in Denver, CO and is buried at the summit of Lookout Mountain in Golden, CO.

Jay Lawson is a native of Casper and a Natrona High School graduate.  He attended Casper College before serving an extended tour of duty as a U.S. Combat Medic with the 1^st Air Cavalry Division in Viet Nam where he earned the Purple Heart.  Following honorable discharge from service, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Range and Wildlife Management from the University of Montana.
 
In April, 2011, Jay retired after thirty-three years with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department including twenty-one years as Wildlife Division Chief.  Jay started his career in 1977 as a temporary biologist and then game warden trainee.  He became a district game warden in 1978.  He was promoted to Regional Wildlife Supervisor in 1985.  In 1989, he was promoted to Chief of the Wildlife Division.  The Wildlife Division contains about one half the agency personnel, utilizes almost one half of the budget and deals with the vast majority of controversial and difficult issues that face the Department.
 
Jay’s outstanding achievements on behalf of the wildlife resource and the field of fish and wildlife management include:  successfully managing Wyoming’s terrestrial wildlife resource during his tenure as wildlife division chief, including the recovery of the grizzly bear, bald eagle, peregrine falcon and black-footed ferret; development of a professional training program for wildlife managers using restitution funds derived from convicted poachers, increased the professionalism of the division work force by instituting a comprehensive employee recruitment and screening process, promoted the public relations aspect of wildlife law enforcement, resulting in survey results showing  91% of residents felt game warden contacts were a positive experience. Jay also teaches at the Colorado State University’s Wildlife Management Short Course and has done so for 22 consecutive years.
 
Jay developed, proposed and worked with the Wyoming legislature to enact several statutes that enhance the management and protection of Wyoming’s wildlife including laws that substantially increased the penalties for the illegal take of wildlife and the development of more humane snaring laws that substantially reduced non-target mortality.  Jay and others were instrumental in preventing the legalization of private ownership of native and exotic big game and the establishment of a game farm industry in Wyoming.  He implemented enhanced youth hunting and fishing opportunity through NGOs, employee organizations and regulation development.  He personally participates by taking young people hunting and fishing every year.  Under his leadership, the Department developed a pilot hunter access program that was incredibly successful.  The effort, which later became established as the WGFD’s Private Lands, Public Wildlife program currently provides hunter and angler access to 1.6 million acres of private land.  In 2003, Jay served on a three-person team, which developed a proposal to direct funds from Governor-designated licenses to wildlife research and management.  Governor Dave Freudenthal agreed to the proposal, which has more than three million dollars for on-the-ground wildlife projects during the past seven years. 
 
Jay has been active in regional and national wildlife management organizations including the WAFWA Law Enforcement Committee, the Human/Wildlife Conflict Committee, which he created, and the Western Bird Conservation Committee.  From 1990 to 2006, Jay served on the Pacific Flyway Council and was Chair in 1991 and 2006.  Jay also initiated annual coordination meetings with neighboring states. Jay has served on the Department’s Hunting and Fish Exposition Advisory Board since its inception in 1998.  Jay approached the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in 2004 about initiating the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame and has chaired the Nomination Committee from 2004 to 2010. He also received the WGFD’s most prestigious award, the Director’s Award in 1995.
 
In 2007, Jay wrote and published the book, “Men to Match our Mountains,” a collection of short biographies documenting the lives of early Wyoming game wardens, trappers, hunters and cowboys.  He donated all proceeds to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming’s Forensic Fund.  To date, these funds have been used to purchase a new DNA sequencer for the regional forensics lab in Laramie.  This lab conducts forensic analysis for most WAFWA states. For contributing his book sales, he was awarded the Wildlife Heritage Foundation’s Conservation Philanthropist of the Year award in 2008. 
 
Jay Lawson’s long-term commitment to and outstanding achievements on behalf of Wyoming’s fish and wildlife resources and the field of wildlife management earned him the Special Recognition Award from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in 2010 and WAFWA Lifetime Member Award in 2011.  He has fostered a vision for the future preservation and conservation of wildlife through innovation and professionalism that will be evident many years into the future through the wildlife professionals and leaders that have developed under his leadership.  His accomplishments have not only affected Wyoming, but have made a positive impact on many wildlife issues regionally and nationally.
 
Jay remains an avid hunter and fisherman and lives in Cheyenne.

George Wrakestraw was born June 16, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri.  He moved with his parents to Laramie, Wyoming at the age of 10 where he grew up and later earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming. He worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for 31 years from March 1950 to July 1981. George wore many hats for the Department, including Deputy Game Warden, Biologist, Central Flyway Biologist, Supervisor of Waterfowl Management and Migratory Bird Supervisor. George’s early work  involved research, inventory and restoration of big game species. His work with migratory birds from the mid-1950s to retirement was of statewide and regional significance and the department and hunters continue to profit from it to this day.
 
George was promoted to waterfowl biologist for the Central Flyway under the supervision of Game Bird Supervisor Bob Patterson. In April 1953 and 1954, George and his associates collected Canada goose eggs from nests along the Sweetwater River and incubated them at the Sheridan Bird Farm. Goslings produced from these eggs were released into suitable habitat statewide, including the Springer Wildlife Habitat Management Area near Yoder. During this same time period, George participated in coordinated duck and goose banding studies of international scope. George traveled to Canada to assist with the banding of waterfowl in addition to his work in Wyoming.
 
In 1953, 132 (give or take a few) Canada geese wintered in Goshen County. Bagging a Canada goose was like harvesting a bighorn ram in that era and George said lucky hunters would tie the goose on the hood of their vehicle and drive through Torrington to show it off. George established an objective of 10,000 wintering geese and set to work in the early 1960s.  To enhance the nesting success of Canada geese, George and his crews built and installed artificial nesting structures statewide.  In order to encourage more migrant geese to remain in Goshen county, George proposed a very controversial and innovative hunting strategy in 1969: half day hunting.  Approved by the Commission in 1970, half-day hunting continues today in Goshen and Platte counties. His goal of 10,000 wintering geese was first reached in 1978 and today Goshen County enjoys a wintering population of 30-40,000 Canada geese.
 
George’s work was not limited to game species.  In addition to aerial waterfowl surveys to determine species distribution and make population estimates, George organized and directed the first statewide eagle census in the state in the early 1970s at the request of his good friend and Governor, Stan Hathaway. George also was a key player in the department’s acquisition of the Table Mountain Wildlife Habitat Area in 1964 and segments of the Springer Habitat Area. Table Mountain is probably the most intensively used public waterfowl hunting area in the state.
 
In terms of wildlife law enforcement, George was unique. Hired as a Deputy Game Warden George was one of two biologists that were allowed to keep their law enforcement commission until their retirement. Due to all the time he spent doing surveys from a plane, George also learned how to fly, which proved beneficial in about 1952. One night as he was flying as a passenger from Rawlins to Cheyenne, the pilot became critically ill and George had to take the controls and pilot the craft safely to Cheyenne.
 
Many present day hunters knew George and remember his dedicated work to enhance migratory bird populations and hunting opportunities in Wyoming and consider him the father of modern waterfowl management in Wyoming.
 
George passed away on February 6, 2010 and is survived by his wife, Alma Wrakestraw, a daughter, Kay and her husband Richard Rose and a daughter, Marsha and her husband Gary Dolan.

Dave Freudenthal was born on  October 12, 1950 in Thermopolis, Wyoming.  He earned a BA in economics at Amherst College in 1973 and a JD degree from the University of Wyoming in 1980.  He was elected Governor of Wyoming in 2002; and was re-elected in 2006. Prior to being elected Governor, Dave Freudenthal was:  United States Attorney, United States Department of Justice, 1994-2001, Lawyer, Herschler, Freudenthal, Solghug & Bonds, 1980-1994, Administrative Aide, Wyoming Governor's Office, 1977-1980, State Planning Coordinator, Wyoming Governor's Office, 1975-1977, Economist, Wyoming Department of Economic Planning and Development, 1973-1975 Tank Builder, National Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths Union Oil Rig Worker.

As Governor, one of Dave Freudenthal’s main goals was to establish and secure funding for a Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund which would provide millions of dollars for habitat protection and improvement over many years to come. Today, the Wildlife Trust Fund currently has almost $100 million of a $200 million goal.

Two of the most critical wildlife issues facing Wyoming while he was Governor include the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of the Grey Wolf, which had been re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park before the administration took office, and the Greater Sage Grouse possible ESA listing, which had and still has the potential of shutting down energy development in much of the state, and would bring Wyoming’s income stream to a trickle. The sage grouse issue is an example of the balance that must be maintained. Governor Freudenthal, in 2003, formed a Sage Grouse team, and whose work resulted in a 2010 federal decision to not list the bird, but to put it on a “watch list,” meaning it could be listed at some time in the future.  In 2007, with a lawsuit pending over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's decision not to list the greater sage grouse as endangered, the administration began to map the bird's habitat. Within those mapped "core areas," the state has tightly restricted oil, gas and wind development, all thought to disrupt grouse breeding. Listing of the Greater Sage Grouse as an Endangered Species would have subjected 83 percent of gas producers to new regulations.

Wyoming state government is funded primarily by energy production revenues, much of which is produced from public lands. About half the land in Wyoming is publicly owned. That necessitates a working relationship with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and others.  Additionally, many Wyomingites are users of outdoor recreation and hunting and fishing.  Because of the importance of energy development and public use of public lands, the administration formed relationships with key federal personnel and continually worked on those relationships. Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Director Don Simpson said this state is now in the enviable position of having other states look to it as to how federal-state relationships can work to facilitate a broad range of public lands challenges. No other state had established as close a working relationship with the BLM, he said.

The administration also worked with federal managers to allow the state to use what is called “off-site” mitigation for wildlife species.  Due to the efforts of the Governor, companies involved in energy development in Sublette County provided millions of dollars in mitigation to address impacts to wildlife and their habitat that occurred as a result of oil and gas development.  These dollars are held in an escrow account administered by Wyoming Wildlife – The Foundation and dispersed as requested by the coalition of energy companies, various state agencies, and the Bureau of Land Management known as the Pinedale Anticline Project Administration (PAPA). 

By statute, the governor can receive up to 20 complimentary big game licenses each year. At the beginning of his term as Governor, he turned his big game licenses over to the Wyoming Governor's Big Game License Coalition and Wyoming Wildlife – The Foundation to administer on behalf of the Governor's Office. The Foundation and Coalition has continued to administer the licenses for the last  9 years. Proceeds from the sales of the licenses goes toward Wyoming wildlife and habitat projects. Proceeds from the sale of Governor Dave Freudenthal’s big game licenses recently topped $3 million.

In addition to the myriad of accomplishments made by Dave Freudenthal while he was governor, he was always an advocate and ambassador for the wild things and wild places that make Wyoming such a special place.  Dave now works for Crowell & Moring, LLP and is on the Board for Arch Coal.  He is also an arming faculty member teaching at the University of Wyoming.  Nancy is a Federal District Court Judge.  Dave and Nancy have four children – Don, Hillary, Bret and Katie.

The earliest record of the Eastman family out West dates back to the 1800’s. Since then six generations of Eastman families have called this home. Gordon Eastman grew up hunting and living in the wilderness outdoors. The Eastman family knows the outdoors as closely as a layperson would know his backyard.
 
Gordon Eastman is today considered not only a pioneer in the outdoors filming industry but also in big game hunting. Gordon created a new genre of films as early as 1957, while guiding in Alaska. In those early years he produced a landmark documentary “Hunting Alaska Today”. For many years from his base in Jackson, Wyoming, Gordon personally toured the West and Midwest with his outdoors movies and lectured to packed auditoriums wherever he went.
 
Gordon showed the general public the wonders of far off lands like Alaska, Canada and Wyoming and their unique big game animals. During this time the Canada government invited him to be the first to document the opening of the Northwest Territory to white man hunting. This film is a classic revealing the untapped vast big game resource of the north. This endeavor caught the eye of Walt Disney and he hired Gordon to help film Disney productions like Run Appaloosa Run, One Day in Teton Marsh and several other wildlife films. But longing for the wilds of the north, in 1966 he again struck out on his own to film in the backcountry of British Columbia and the Yukon. This produced several features for the big screen, “High, Wild, and Free” and the wolf epic “Savage Wild.” Gordon, himself, directed these films, wrote the scripts, photographed, edited and also narrated them for the theater audiences. In 1969 “Savage Wild” was in the running for the best documentary of that year.
 
Gordon Eastman was a strong believer in ethical hunting practices and he set the highest standards of fair chase hunting for the Eastman generations who are following in his footsteps.  
 
In the 80’s Gordon transferred all this 16mm films to the video format. During the 80s and 90s, he filmed and produced over 30 more western big game hunting and western fly-fishing titles for the next generation of hunters. In those years Gordon had sales of over 20,000 videos per year making him the biggest producer of hunting videos of this time.
 
Today hunters consider Gordon’s son, Mike Eastman, to be a living hunting legend. Mike spent half a century big game hunting, guiding and filming not only in Wyoming but up in the northern providences of Canada and Northern Tanzania, Africa. In 1987 Mike created and published Eastmans’ Hunting Journal and Eastmans’ Bowhunting Journal magazines. Today the magazines have over 100,000 subscribers and they aspire to practice the ethical fair chase hunting that Gordon had instilled into Mike.
 
Then in 1999 using Gordon’s outdoors hunting documentary style, Mike began producing a long running TV series on trophy big game hunting. Today this popular Outdoor Channel TV series continues to promote Gordon’s strong ethics of fair chase and ranks among the top ten outdoors shows on TV-a great tribute to Gordon’s love and respect of the outdoors, which continues to influence the younger generations today.
 
Gordon pass away March 13 1997 survived by his wife Mary Lou Eastman, three sons Mike, Brad, and Rod Eastman and a daughter Maria Eastman. 

Hubert (Hugh) J. Vogel was born in Sigourney, Iowa on April 18, I928 to Carl and Bernice Vogel. He is the identical twin brother of Herbert Vogel. Hugh moved to Casper, WY in 1952 where he met his wife of 50 years. Marge passed away in 2004.

Hugh's career has stretched over 50 years in the oilfield  business. He started his career with "Cotton" Wigley with K&W Sales in 1958. With K&W being an agent for Drilco, a division  of Smith International for 15 years, they brought Hugh on board as the District Manager. In 1972  Hugh was  promoted to Rocky Mountain Area Manager. Hugh left Drilco in 1980 and operated Alaskan Oilfield Sales for many years. He has spent the last 20 years working with his longtime friend and partner, Steve Nickson at Supply Company in Casper.

Hugh Vogel's volunteer work, particularly with the Wyoming Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, provided some of the best examples of what one  man with a vision and a mission can accomplish. He has served as the 1st WY State Vice President and the State Treasurer for the NWTF and organized the Big Horn Chapter of the NWTF in Casper.

Hugh was the 2nd  person in NWTF national history to receive the Wild Turkey Rare Breed Award. This award is presented to an outstanding conservationist who pulls service and duty ahead of personal gain from their efforts. Due to his guidance the Big Horn Chapter in Casper is constantly the number two chapter in the nation for raising money for the NWTF.

In September each year, Hugh assists between 7,000 and 10,000  young people who participate in the NWTF JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge Ethics and Sportsmanship) field days and also provides a hands-on learning experience at the Hunting and Fishing Expo. In addition he hired a person with his own money to go into schools with an education box and other tools to educate students about wild turkeys and conservation.

An avid turkey hunter himself, he has harvested all five major subspecies of turkey throughout the US and Mexico. On his 80th birthday, he harvested the Ocellated Turkey in the Yucatan to complete his Royal Slam.