2013 Telling our stories
Mutual of Omaha
Jay Kehne Okanogan outreach
associate, jay@conservationnw.org
A lasting legacy
Marlin Perkins and Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
started me down a path of helping wildlife. If you were around
between 1963 and 1988, you remember Marlin and his sidekick Jim Fowler saving wildlife from Tanzania to the Himalayas. The silver-haired Perkins sat safely in his jeep commenting,
"Let's watch Jim as he deals with an angry wolverine!"
This first syndicated wildlife show brought wild animals
into American homes and drastically increased ecological
awareness in the US. It taught us that wildlife often need our
help, especially when what they eat creates conflict. Whether
it is elk browsing hay in the Skagit River Valley, a bear sweeping
up an orchardist's apples in Wenatchee, or a wolf eying rancher's
livestock, wildlife are seldom in perfect harmony with humans.
Because of Marlin Perkins and my love of the outdoors, I
went to college, majored in wildlife biology, and hoped someday to do what Marlin talked about every Sunday night….help
wildlife. I then spent an entire career with Natural Resources
Conservation Service, focused less on wildlife and more on
helping ranchers and farmers.
Now I work for Conservation Northwest, just four years
after the first Washington wolf pack was discovered only 30
miles from my home in Omak. My work quickly evolved into
helping wolves recover in our state. I have learned that helping
Powerful tools
Jay Kehne (at right) with folks in the Methow. Conservation Northwest
I have learned that helping wolves is less
about wolves and more about helping those
same ranchers and landowners I spent a
career getting to know.
wolves is less about wolves and more about helping those same
ranchers and landowners I spent a career getting to know.
The fate of wolves in Washington hinges on the people
who share the lands where wolves are recovering, since they
are most affected. I feel lucky to be able to work with ranchers who are good land stewards, bringing them the tools they
need to adjust to living with wolves.
Marlin, rest in peace, your legacy lives on in many of us.
Neighbors in the wild
Two girls huddle in the early dawn
light, crouched beneath the window in
the cabin wall. The younger one giggles.
"Shhh! You'll scare them away!" My
sister was right. The slightest sound, any
abrupt motion, and our quarry would
flee. I poked my head up over the sill.
There! At the far corner of the meadow,
a doe stepped out from the chokecherry
bushes and made its way cautiously onto
the grass. A fawn soon followed.
The bushes disguised a portal to a
wilderness that stretched unbroken 100
miles into Canada. In the years we summered at our remote cabin, I saw deer,
Pat Roberts Accountant,
proberts@conservationnw.org
bear, and moose emerge from the dark depths of the forest
into the light of the field. For me, as a child, such sights were
magic. As an adult, they soothe my soul.
When I was growing up in northeast Minnesota, the animals of the wild were as much a part of the community as our
neighbors in town; except, of course, for the fact that we hunted some of them. Living in northwest Washington, I remain
concerned for my neighbors in the wild. At times I have had
to struggle with the means of existence: to retain my health,
my happiness, my home. Life is no less challenging for those of
our forests, fields, and oceans.
But being human gives me more tools to work with. And
being human gives me more responsibility to use those tools
wisely. Conservation Northwest provides a great tool chest.
Pat and Mike Roberts in the Okanogan
6 Winter 2014conservationnw.org
