Jim Mischke honored as Outstanding Range Professional

On June 9 in Buffalo, at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Spring Convention, Jim Mischke was presented with his award as Outstanding Range Professional.

Mischke was born and raised at Crofton, Neb., a small town of about 500 people. He said he spent a lot of time on a farm and ranch there. Though his parents, Helen and Cyrus, tried to teach him there was a better way to make a living than working a farm and ranch, Mischke strongly disagreed.

Mischke said his great-grandfather was one of the first settlers in northeast Nebraska, and in his obituary it states he was a lover of the soil and a person to go to with questions about what trees to plant and how to take care of the land. "That's something that struck me when I was a kid," Mischke said, "and I hoped to follow in his footsteps."

He wound up going to the University of South Dakota for a couple years, and he noted at that time the only thing a person could get in the field of natural resources was a degree in Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation. "I didn't want to plan city parks or anything like that," Mischke said, "so I transferred to the University of Nebraska, where I got a degree in Range and Wildlife Management, and Natural Resources. I sort of combined multiple disciplines into one."

Mischke started working with what was the Soil Conservation Service in 1981, and moved around to a couple places in Nebraska, including South Sioux City, Ainsworth and Lincoln.

In 1987, he was selected to come to Wyoming and work in Thermopolis, where he's been ever since. He is the District Conservationist, which he described as something like the county representative for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and he works for the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

"I've been here since that time, helping people do soil irrigation and rangeland management practices, wildlife practices, pretty much anything to do with natural resources on private lands, state lands and some coordinated work with the BLM." He added that's part of the award, the coordinated effort not only within his own agency but also with Hot Springs Conservation District and other county agencies.

Mischke said among his favorite parts of the job is getting out and visiting with landowners and operators to discuss concerns and point out options for conservation. "That's truly my number one job. Everything the people do is voluntary, so it's sort of a salesmanship skill. They come with a question, and I like to give people options. I give them as many possible solutions to the questions they have."

Among the concerns he's addressed a lack of stock water, erosion sources or lack of plant condition on a piece of land. "Most of the time, the people know what they want to do," he said. "They're just coming in to get reassurance they're going down the right directions . . . It's not necessarily convincing them, but reassuring them."

Another thing Mischke likes to do when visiting with people is something that used to be called "technology transfer." He explained this involves visiting with people long enough that they share their secrets of how they make projects work. If he feels it is a good idea, he'll pass it on, so it's more like a sharing of knowledge. It's similar to "coffee shop talk," Mischke said, but many of the people sharing the knowledge live far apart from each other and are not likely to make it into the coffee shop, so their talks are in their homes.

Mischke added this is a reason he likes it here so much, because the people are friendly and will invite others in with no question, and make the time they need to visit. The face-to-face time has seen a shift to more screen time in recent years, he tries to find a happy medium between the two.

As for how he found out he was nominated, and later awarded Outstanding Range Professional, Mischke said he had been gone for some training, and his wife Robin suggested they go to Buffalo to see his brother's house. Though unsure if he could take the time for the trip, his wife worked to convince him. She had also previously suggested they reserve some time to go to Buffalo.

Robin said she urged him to go to Buffalo because she did not want him to find out he'd won the award until someone else told him.

"I was trying to figure out what was there. I don't usually just take off and go somewhere," Jim said. He noted there still wasn't anything that tipped him off, until Darcy Axtell from the Hot Springs County Conservation District told him he had to return a phone call to Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, who had made a couple attempts to contact him.

"I was like, "Oh, man!' I wasn't sure if this was a phone call I wanted to make. So, I finally worked up the bravery to call him." The first thing Magagna said was Mischke's name was on a list of applicants for the award, and the association selected him for it. He later learned Axtell and a couple local ranchers had submitted letters of support along with the application.

"They did a good job of keeping it a secret," Mischke said. "It took me completely by surprise." He added he's still mystified as to why they selected him, and he's sure there were other candidates who were just as qualified or more. Most of the time, people selected are those involved in just rangeland, and he also does things such as office management and irrigation work, though a higher percent of his time is rangeland work.

Mischke emphasized he has some great partners in his line of work. "It's the partners that have implemented this stuff that I just talk about."