This collection includes nineteen interviews dealing with the educational and career experiences of alumni of the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation. The interviews were conducted in the fall of 2013 by Clark Grant. The interviewees discuss their time at the University of Montana and the careers that they pursued after graduation. Many of the interviewees went on to work for the U.S. Forest Service in fields such as forest management and fire, but others discuss careers in private industry and areas not related to forestry. The original interviews are held as Oral History collection OH 443 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 19 interviews.
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Bill Gabriel Interview, October 23, 2013
Bill Gabriel
Bill Gabriel discusses being one of the University of Montana College Of Forestry’s first Ph.D. in Wildlife students, starting in 1968 and receiving his degree in 1976. Gabriel gives an account of his education, including research about elk habitat in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. ... Read More
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Bob Hayes Interview, October 13, 2013
Bob Hayes
Bob Hayes, who graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Forestry in 1953, details many stories of his time spent on at the university during the early 1950s. He talks about his admiration for Professor Fay Clark and shares stories about his teaching methods. ... Read More
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Bob Ream Interview, 2013
Bob Ream
Bob Ream talks about his 44 years spent as a University of Montana faculty member, as well as his position as Professor Emeritus and School Advisory Board member at the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation. Ream details his contribution to the creation ... Read More
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Colin Hardy Interview, 2013
Colin Hardy
Colin Hardy talks about graduating from the University Of Montana College Of Forestry and as one of the first undergraduates in the Resource Conservation Program. Hardy also received a Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Montana and details the amount of influence the university ... Read More
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David Wanderaas Interview, October 15, 2013
David Wanderaas
David Wanderaas discusses his time at the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and graduating in 1973. He describes his childhood interest in forestry and visiting Glacier National Park and Western Montana. He talks at length about the meeting he attended as a university student ... Read More
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Frank Fowler Interview, December 19, 2014
Frank Fowler
Frank Fowler discusses working as a smokejumper while attending the University of Montana’s College of Forestry. Fowler discusses the book he authored, High-mountain, Two-manner, which documents his experiences as a smokejumper and a university student. He notes that much of the documentation for the book ... Read More
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George Hirschenberger Interview, January 31, 2014
George Hirschenberger
George Hirschenberger discusses what drew him to the University of Montana from Chicago, Illinois (his birthplace), and graduating from the College of Forestry with a degree in Range Management. He talks about his time as a student and two instructors, Melvin Morris and Lee Eddleman, ... Read More
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Howie Hunter Interview, December 9, 2013
Howie Hunter
Howie Hunter discusses his time as a student at the University of Montana. He describes working briefly for the U.S. Forest Service before taking a position at a local forest products company, where he worked until retiring in 1988. Hunter also talks about his time ... Read More
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Jim Burchfield Interview, December 18, 2014
Jim Burchfield
Jim Burchfield discusses his forestry education and working for the U.S. Forest Service. He recalls being drawn to nature as a boy and first becoming interested in forestry after meeting a forester as a sophomore at the University of Michigan. Burchfield talks about his role ... Read More
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John McMahon Interview, October 10, 2013
John McMahon
John McMahon discusses his time at the College of Forestry as both an undergraduate and graduate student. He speaks about his career as a forester for Weyerhaeuser Company in Washington state and his job responsibilities, which included supervising both the planting and harvesting of trees. ... Read More
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Ken Winterberger Interview, 2013
Ken Winterberger
Ken Winterberger talks about his time at the University of Montana from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry in 1976. He describes how Professor Bill Pierce helped him get a seasonal job at the Red Ives Ranger Station in Idaho. ... Read More
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Mary Fritz Interview, December 21, 2014
Mary Fritz
Mary Fritz talks about her early adulthood and what drew her to study forestry and work in the field. She discusses attending the University of Montana’s College of Forestry, from which she graduated in 1979 with a degree in Forest Management. Fritz credits the Forestry ... Read More
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Myrl Nardinger Interview, October 15, 2013
Myrl Nardinger
Myrl Nardinger discusses his time at the University of Montana’s College of Forestry before graduating in 1973 with a degree in range management. He describes field trips to Nogales, Mexico, and smuggling Coors beer back to Montana. Nardinger also recalls a field trip to Washington ... Read More
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Rich McCrea Interview, January 1, 2014
Rich McCrea
Rich McCrea talks about the influence his father’s interest in the natural world had on his decision to study forestry. He also discusses his time at the University of Montana, from which he graduated in 1975. He describes the trajectory of his career, which evolved ... Read More
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Risa Lange-Navarro Interview, October 16, 2013
Risa Lange-Navarro
Risa Lange-Navarro describes her father, Bob Lange, who was a dendrology professor at the University of Montana from 1962 to 1979. She talks about learning forestry from her father, including memories of going to the Lubrecht Experimental Forest. Lange-Navarro describes attending the University of Montana’s ... Read More
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Sue Vap Interview, January 11, 2014
Sue Vap
Sue Vap discusses her time in the University of Montana’s School of Forestry from 1968 to 1972. She talks about what it was like to be one of the few women in the school. She comments on the lack of gender equality at the time ... Read More
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Will Ramsdell Interview, January 30, 2014
Will Ramsdell
Will Ramsdell describes how a personality test in high school helped spark an interest in a physically demanding work and how a chance encounter with a Missoula hippie led to his enrollment at the University of Montana. He discusses attending the university’s School of Forestry, ... Read More
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Wyman Schmidt Interview, October 18, 2013
Wyman Schmidt
Wyman Schmidt discusses receiving three degrees from the University of Montana’s School of Forestry: a Bachelor’s degree in 1958, a Master’s degree in 1961, and a PhD in 1980. He describes his career with the U.S. Forest Service, which was primarily focused on forest ecology ... Read More
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Zane Smith and Betty Smith Interview, October 3, 2013
Zane Smith and Betty Smith
Zane Smith graduated from the University of Montana (then Montana State University) College of Forestry in 1955. He discusses his time at the university and the importance of Professors Faye Clark and Chuck Waters, who shaped him and his career. Smith describes being a third ... Read More