Jerry Stroebele Oral History Transcript

2 part interview:

Part 1: Interview conducted by Norm Olson on April 10, 2006

Part 2: Interview conducted by Robin West on May 27, 2025

Jerry describes living abroad as a child because his father was an Army officer, returning to the United States for high school and his college years in Texas and Idaho. Jerry was in the ROTC and served in Alaska and Viet Nam. He had summer positions with the FWS in California and Washington while he was still in college and was rehired by the Service upon his return from Viet Nam. Jerry worked for the River Basins Studies program out of Portland, Oregon where they handled permitting for water development projects in the entire Pacific area including Guam and Hawaii. He then transferred to Fairbanks, Alaska where he served as the field supervisor of the first field office there. They worked on protecting fish and wildlife resources and wetlands protection from oil and gas operations and mining operations. Jerry recounts some of the anti-federal sentiment he endured with the establishment of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980.

Jerry recounts leaving Ecological Services to work for Refuges when he took a position at Selawik National Wildlife Refuge. He had a dog team and decided to mush to Kotzebue, his new home, with his fiancée. That trip took over 3 weeks and passed through many native villages and refuges. Jerry talks about going to native villages to get public comment on the CCP for Selawik NWR and then implementing hunting regulations there. He develops a policy that worked to protect goose species of concerns while allowing “the common man” access to other waterfowl hunting. He finishes talking about his unsuccessful efforts to expand the wilderness area wilderness area
Wilderness areas are places untamed by humans. The Wilderness Act of 1964 allows Congress to designate wilderness areas for protection to ensure that America's pristine wild lands will not disappear. Wilderness areas can be part of national wildlife refuges, national parks, national forests or public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Learn more about wilderness area at Selawik NWR. During his time at Selawik, Jerry goes to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and earns a law enforcement commission so he can enforce wildlife laws on the refuge.

Lastly, Jerry describes some of his work in the Regional Office in Anchorage, including working through the GARD/PARD re-organization (Geographic Assistant Regional Director/Programmatic Assistant Regional Director) and becoming a mentor at Refuge Academy. The interview ends with Jerry talking about his family and his post-retirement interests in sailing and walking the Caminos in Spain.