Celebrating Dr. Mike Wolfe
- Trevor Irish
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Bear River Land Conservancy celebrates the life, legacy, and immeasurable contributions of Dr. Michael L. Wolfe Jr. (1941–2025)
Written by Jaimi Butler, BRLC Stewardship and Outreach Director
Mike, or Dr. Wolfe as many knew him, left our natural and human world a better place through his curiosity, adventuresome spirit, research, mentorship, inspirational stories, and hard labor on the ground.
I was one of Dr. Wolfe’s students. He was already an icon in the mid-90s at Utah State University—everyone knew Mike before you ever set foot in one of his classes. He wore a well-loved, undeniably cool hat and drank yerba mate from a traditional South American vessel that looked like a century-old baseball with moss growing on it.
Many of his students were once convinced that tasting the fecal pellets of hares was the only way to determine which species was using a particular habitat (pranked by Mike in the field with chocolate-covered raisins, of course). Most aspirational of all was his work with large, charismatic mammalian predators (loud gasp). Throughout his life, he influenced wildlife conservation both locally and abroad, all while teaching, mentoring, and inspiring thousands of students.
Thirty years later, I find myself standing at the Bear River Bottoms, surrounded by Dr. Wolfe’s legacy—a legacy of trees planted, wetlands created, and invasive weeds managed. The abundance of milkweed and other native plants supporting birds and butterflies were planted by his weathered hands in a wetland shaped by bulldozers. Mike spent thousands of hours at this site over roughly 15 years, working to nurture both human and ecological relationships for the benefit of our shared world. The Bear River Bottoms are a better place because of Mike.
I am honored—as both a former student and the new Stewardship and Outreach Director at Bear River Land Conservancy—to help carry on Mike’s legacy at the Bear River Bottoms with you. Donate in Mike’s name, join us as a volunteer in 2026, and perhaps raise a wee dram of scotch in honor of an icon.
