Webster describes a "mentor" as - a wise and trusted teacher! I would describe a mentor as the individual who pointed out the opportunities and then allowed you to “learn by doing”! This means they got involved, but guided from a distance and allowed you to to make your own mistakes.

Of course, my first mentors were my parents. My mother was a school teacher and would never give me the answer but give me the facts and make me figure out the answer. My dad was very encouraging about whatever endeavor I pursued but insisted that I had a reason and logic for something and not just because someone else was doing it. Both were insistent on education as providing future options. Whatever happened in life, I could always use a college education to get another start.

That is how I arrived at the University of Minnesota as a naïve farm boy ready to set the world on fire.

My college professors taught me everything about how to manage wildlife. When I went to grad school, the professors taught me to question everything the experts said about managing wildlife. Thus the evolution occurred: “Not how to do it but how to think and then apply the management”! They also taught me that the university can do the research but the field biologist needs to figure out how to apply it the ground.

My life is full of mentors that allowed me to develop as a biologist and not as a copy of another biologist.

My first job with the BLM was in the Medford Oregon District. I was the only biologist for two resource areas that were heavily populated with foresters.

My supervisors (one for each resource area) told me the job requirements and then abandoned me . . . . or so I thought! They were actually giving me the space to develop my own program and would often show up at the end of the bad days to give me encouragement and provide the enthusiasm to start the next day.

Another mentor was the fuels specialist who told me it was not his job to do the prescribed burn for wildlife habitat . . . but he would help me. Thus I learned first hand the application of fire and the value of working with the fire/fuels people.

Throughout this development period I received good advice from fellow BLM biologists at district and state office levels, biologists from Fish & Wildlife Service and Forest Service, State agencies, and private organizations. This advice ranged from casual conversations while working together to heated discussions across tables at official meetings. I learned from all of them.

Later, I moved on to the Lakeview District, Klamath Falls Resource Area where I worked with different foresters, range conservationists and fire personnel. I also learned valuable lessons on water issues and T&E fish. It was here that I finally realized the lessons I had learned from all the foresters and fire people that I had worked with. By working cooperatively we were able to maintain or improve habitat for spotted owls, sage grouse, and eagles proactively.

Now I am in the great state of Montana where they gave me another opportunity! New challenges, different issues, and new people to learn from.

Hopefully I will be able to provide opportunities for other biologists to develop their own skills.

Don’t teach them – teach them to think! Then give them space!