Biologist's Book Pulls no Punches

The following column was published in the Fargo Forum on
Oct. 15.


A former North Dakota federal biologist has written a “tell-all” book in which he tries to explain why natural resource agencies do a generally poor job of protecting and managing natural resources. The book, “Choosing a Conservation Vocation or a Bureaucratic Career,” was written by Dick Kroger.

He began his biological career with the National Marine Fisheries Service, then moved to Wyoming with the Bureau of Land Management. He ended his career working on the Garrison Diversion project out of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office in Bismarck.

Kroger maintains there are two types of biologists: those who choose the profession as a vocation and those who become bureaucrats.

Since I have covered state and federal agencies in the Upper Midwest for more than three decades, I agree with him and have little trouble fitting most I know into one of the two categories.

Career bureaucrats rock no boats and take no chances for fear of derailing their career. Worse, they do not serve the resources well, and often impede those who try to make things work. On the other hand, there are vocation career biologists who are the ones who make the good things happen.

While North Dakota can make a strong case on behalf of the now-defunct Garrison Diversion Project, the fact is, it would have been disastrous for wildlife, especially ducks and other birds that depend on wetlands and grass.

Yes, the federal government did and continues to let the state down with its management of the Missouri River. Back then, they flooded some of the state’s best bottomland, inundated its largest hardwood forest and promised irrigation in return.

Never mind the fact North Dakota has a short growing season and irrigation would likely have turned into a massive boondoggle. But back then, it was foolhardy for a biologist to interfere by providing information to the public.

North Dakota’s U.S. senators, especially Milton Young, clamped down hard on those who did, including Gary Pearson of Jamestown, N.D., who was dumped, and Rich Madson of Pierre, S.D., who took the project on and suffered the same fate.

The bureaucrats? They kept their jobs and forged ahead, but it was President Carter who stopped the project. Imagine what would happen today with low Missouri River levels if we were to take massive amounts of water and transport them across the state via an open canal where evaporation would take a major toll.

There are plenty of other examples. When South Dakota’s then-state conservationist, Dean Fisher, prodded by the powerful Farm Bureau, decided to lower wetland delineation standards, agency people with the exception of a very few looked the other way.

Instead, it was a coalition of an American Indian tribe, an environmental group and two state conservation organizations that put a stop to things. I know all of this to be true because I had more than a few “deep throats” within the federal and state agencies.

They are what my friend, Ted Williams, calls “sticklebacks.” Kroger would call them career vocationists. Without them, much resource damage would occur.

Kroger maintains state, and especially federal, agencies are necessary because local levels of government are usually controlled by “good old boy” political machines that usually care not a whit for natural resources.

He characterized the U.S. Forest Service as an agency whose employees march in lockstep with their blind allegiance to the agency, regardless of the cost to the environment. The end result is that the timber, mining and grazing industries reign supreme over other uses of federal land, a trend that’s increased under the present leadership of politically appointed Mark Rey.

But even well-meaning guys with white hats make some stupid mistakes. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit separated the research arm from the USFWS and placed it under the Geological Survey.

Kroger’s message to the public? Get involved. Speak out and join organizations that work for resource betterment and aren’t afraid to enter political battles.

Kroger’s book is a good read for anyone who cares about the outdoors.


Tony Dean is the host and executive producer of “Tony Dean Outdoors,” a television series that airs across the Upper Midwest. His daily radio show, “Dakota Backroads,” airs 42 times daily on 39 North Dakota and South Dakota radio stations, plus two in Minnesota. He can be reached at tonydeanoutdoors@pie.midco.net

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