This is the program for the joint junior recital of alto saxophonist Tony Smith and horn player Jerry Wilson. Pianist Lisa Ann Wallis assisted Smith; pianist Vivian Jerry assisted Wilson. The recital took place on October 23, 1981, in the Mabee Fine Arts Center Recital Hall
Dr. Jerry Wilson was Chairman of the Psychology and Philosophy Department at Jacksonville State University in 1977-1978.https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/lib-ac-histimg/37146/thumbnail.jp
Jerry L. Wilson oral history interview as conducted by Denny Holland.
Mr. Wilson discusses why he was drawn to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuges he worked at, and the issues the faced.
Organization: FWS
Name: Jerry L. Wilson
Years: 1976-2002
Program: Refuges
Keywords: Biography, Biological control, Conservation, Employees (USFWS), History, Lakes, Maintenance, Management, Military, Fishing, Public attitudes, Public access, Realty, Wetlands, Birds, Prescribed burning, Wildlife refuges, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Eufaula National Wildlife Refuge, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, J.C.Appel; Burt Blair, Bill Sweeney, waterfowl work of the Service, Bruce Babbitt, Senator Robert Byrd, Sonnie Corcoran,1
National Heritage Team of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Oral History Program
Subject/USFW Retiree: Jerry L. Wilson
Date: September 26, 2005
Interviewed by: Denny Holland
Denny Holland:
This is interview with Jerry L. Wilson, retiree U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on September 26, 2005, at his home at 10755 W Highway 44, Rapid City, South Dakota. And I am Denny Holland, retiree also. And Jerry and I have known each other for a number of years. He retired, so this is Jerry's story, so you can tell us when you retired, and then take us back through a brief history of your Fish and Wildlife Service.
Jerry Wilson:
I retired in June of 2002, as manager of Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
A little bit on my personal information is I was born in Tazewell, Virginia in 1947. My parent's names were Leon Wilson and Dorothy Jane Wilson. My mother was a housewife and my father was a service manager for the Department of Transportation in the service garage.
My early years pretty much were spending like most kids in that part of the country; I really had a love for hunting and fishing. Predominately, I spent most of my time doing that other than odd chores, mowing yards and things like that to make a few extra dollars. And I guess the hobbies that affected me the most was the hunting and fishing to go into Fish and Wildlife Service. And I guess the event was I had the opportunity to work with some of the folks at Virginia Division of Game and Inland Fisheries, and that kind of gave me the idea that I wanted a career in Fish and Wildlife. And as a child most of my jobs as child were just typical jobs, carry out jobs and things like that, with the exception of the one with Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries, which I helped prepare food plots and stuff in the Jefferson National Forest. And yes, I did hunt and fish a lot.
My education is I graduated from Tazewell High School in 1965. I attended East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, and graduated in 1974, with a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in geography.
My age and my biological programs in the university equipped me for the future, which basically influenced my education and career track with the Fish and Wildlife Service. And the first thing I did, of course, is pursued the opportunity to do the Office of Personnel Management, and managed to secure several government jobs before I went to work for the Fish and Wildlife Service. They were temporary jobs, and then I moved over to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1976, at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.
Denny Holland:
Chincoteague was doing good as a public use area at that time, is that right Jerry?
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Jerry Wilson:
Chincoteague was. And I had, I guess, as a refuge manager trainee came in, I worked for the famous J.C. Appel.
Denny Holland:
Oh yes.
Jerry Wilson:
And I'd understood that there were five or six trainees before me, and I was fortunate enough to be one of the ones that actually made it past the rock and made it on with my career. And I did experience some challenging times at Chincoteague. It was a very interesting place to work. It was probably one of the two close-knit communities that I worked with in my career; Chincoteague being one and the other one being in Eufaula, Alabama, which we'll talk about later.
Chincoteague had a very major public use program at that time, and my job predominately was dealing with the Public Use Program and administering the hunts and basically the public use activities. And I remained at Chincoteague for about a year and a half or so before I moved on to assistant manager at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
Do you want to discuss a little bit about my military service?
Denny Holland:
Yes, go ahead, um hmm.
Jerry Wilson:
The next question is my military service. I was in the United States Air Force, three years, nine months, and 28 days. My predominant duty station was Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota, which basically led to the reason of me falling in love with the Black Hills and retiring here.
Denny Holland:
Right, I can understand that.
Jerry Wilson:
I didn't receive any decorations or anything like that. I did receive an injury while I was in the service. And of course that gave me the Veteran's Preference, which really, I think, assisted in securing a job with the federal government also, even though my scores were high and everything.
My spouse; I was married for 22 years, pretty much my career through the Fish and Wildlife Service, I was divorced in 1995. And I guess... The family moved, we moved around a lot, and my wife worked a little bit part-time jobs. I don't think it really affected her that way. But what I did realize when I got to Eufaula, my son had lived in Ruby Valley in an isolated station with me for four years, and he was really prepared and a 3
little bit ahead in shoulders above the others kids about his exposures to real-life situations, that maybe a lot of kids in urban environments don't get.
Denny Holland:
And how many kids do you have?
Jerry Wilson:
I have two children; Jonathan Lee Wilson, who graduated from Parkersburg High School. He received a full scholarship for Marietta College, which is a private institution. He graduated from there. He was accepted into medical school in Morgantown, West Virginia, and he's in his first year of internship. He has one more year of internship and then he will be seeking, he's already started trying to secure residency, so it looks like he's going to be a doctor eventually in a few years.
Denny Holland:
Oh boy, very good. And...
Jerry Wilson:
My daughter graduated from Parkersburg High School. And she attended one year at Ohio State University. And right now she's filling out her paperwork to attend West Virginia University in Parkersburg, and that way she'll be able to live at home there and try to pick up on her courses. She's looking at pretty much nursing now. She started with dental hygiene, but I think she's going to change over to nursing right now. They're both doing real well in school, and they both did real well in undergraduate.
Denny Holland:
What attracted you into Fish and Wildlife Service? Begin with...
Jerry Wilson:
Well, like I said earlier, I worked for Virginia Division of Game and Inland Fisheries. And I knew I wanted a career in the Fish and Wildlife Service, and I guess what really... After I did that, I went into the military in the Air Force, traveled to South Dakota. And while I was out here, when I got out of the service, I had an opportunity to build up a little bit of money before I went back school I worked for a moving company. And I remember moving an individual out of the Badlands National Park, a park service employee. And I knew at that time after talking to him for awhile that I wanted to secure federal employment if I could. And my entire young age I hunted and fished a lot, and that kind of steered me towards Fish and Wildlife Service.
Denny Holland: And so you took off from there?
Jerry Wilson:
I took off from there. After I got out of the military I went back and used the GI Bill to go to college. And after that I started with the OPM Registers and was picked up, I went to work. My first job with the government was with the Bureau of Land Management in 4
Rawlins, Wyoming as an environmental specialist for oil and gas exploration back in the '70's. Then I took a quick stint as a park ranger with the Corps of Engineers on the Missouri River. And from there I secured the refuge manager's training job at Chincoteague in 1976.
Denny Holland:
And that was the beginning of your true downfall!
Jerry Wilson:
That was the beginning of my downfall! Well, it did have some challenging times. I never will forget one thing; J.C. Appel had said to me, we had a maintenance supervisor that worked there who was pretty tough to deal with, O.D. Justice. Anybody who went through Chincoteague knew O.D. Justice. And he said, "Well, in your career you're going to find a lot of rocks in the road." He said, "What are you going to do?" And I said, "Well, having learned an experience here, I'm going to try to break some of them up instead of going around them, because you just leave them for the next guy behind you if you don't." So that was a real trying experience for me with the Fish and Wildlife Service at Chincoteague.
Denny Holland:
And from Chincoteague?
Jerry Wilson:
I traveled to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, and I worked on a Corps of Engineers overlay on Lake Texoma. And I was there about a year and a half, and I had an opportunity to work with a guy by the name of Burt Blair.
Denny Holland:
Oh, I know Burt, yeah.
Jerry Wilson:
And Burt is the only I guy I knew that bought 70,000.00worthofsteelfenceposttobuildaroadallthewayaroundarefuge.Andfortunatelyhedidn′tsucceedinthatactivity.Andthatwasarealchallengeandexperiencethere.IhadsomeopportunitieswhereBurt...YoujusthadtoknowBurtBlair.IsawsomethingsatHagermanthatIdidnotwanttodoinmycareer,orIwasnotgoingtotolerateinmycareeratotherstations.Soitwasalsoacharacterbuildingexperienceforme.DennyHolland:Yes,thiswastrainingground.JerryWilson:Itwas,itwasreallyatrainingground.AndIguessthenextrefugeImovedonto,Iwentto...Ineverwillforget,wewereinTexas;GlennCarowanwasoveratTishomingo,Iwas5atHagerman,andJimHubertwasIthinktherefugesupervisorinAustinatthistime.SoJimcalledGlennandIdowntoAustinandhesaid,"Boy′s,"hesaid,andtherewasoneotherguywithusandIcan′trememberhisname,hesaid,"OneofyouisgoingtoLagunaAtascosa."AndtheyhadaplanforusinRegion2.Andthatwasatthetimetheywerehavingtroublefillingvacancies,sowhattheydidistheyjustadvertisedwithintheregion.Well,IknewafriendinD.C.whowasa"biggie"intheU.S.GeologicalSurveywhowasgoodfriendswithafellowintheFishandWildlifeServicenamedEdCollins.SoEdCollinswasatSacramento.SoGlennandImanagedtogetsome"Greensheets"outsidetheregionforsomevacancies.AndIthinkGlennendedupgoingtoSavannahandIendedupgoingtoSacramento,California.SoJimHubertsaid,"ItskindsoflikeMurphy′sLaw,sometimesyouwinandsometimesyoudon′t."SowekindofslidoutofRegion2.Well,IwenttoSacramento.IguessSacramentowasoneofthebetterexperiences,particularlywithwaterfowl.SacramentohasoneofthelargestimpoundmentsystemsprobablyintheFishandWildlifeServiceanywhere.AmaintenancestaffatthattimewhenIgottherewaslike20,anditwasjusttherewasamixofprofessionsthere.Andmyjobwastobasically...Iwentintoactuallyrunthefieldcrew,andtheyhadsomemanagertransferee′sandafewlittledifficultiesthere.SoIendedupsupervisingabiologicalcrewandIrantheentiremaintenancecrewinthefield.Andthatwasonfiverefuges.AndthiswasatthetimewewereintheprocessacquiringtheButteSink.AnditwasalsointheprocessofthebigimplementationofthesteelshotissueatDelevanRefuge.SoIwasrightonthecuttingedgeofthat,andonsomeofthefirstrefugesthatimplementedsteelshot.Sothatwasverychallenging.Thatcombinedwithanextensivewaterfowlmanagementprogram,workingwiththeUniversityofCalifornia,andthenwiththeCaliforniaStateFishandGamefolks,andthenalsotheopportunitytoworkinthediseasemonitoringandthediseasedie−off.ThatwasarealexperienceformeandIlearnedalotinthosefouryears.DennyHolland:Didyougetalotofflackonthesteelshotfromyourhunters?JerryWilson:Actually,whathappenedwasDelevanRefuge...Well,actuallythestatewasbigonbirdsperhunteraverage,youknow.Sotheyalwayscamewiththeirlittlesheetsforthemeetings.Delevanhadthehighestbirdsperhunteraverageinthestateattheimplementsandsteelshotissuethere.Sothatwasprettyhardtocontendthat.Wegotsomecomplaintsonit,butitwasactuallymorehypedupfromtheoutsidethenthehunter.Anditwasgroups,biggroupsthatdidn′twantit,orthestateswhodidn′twantit.Theywouldincitethesepeoplemorethantheactualguyoutinthefield.Ifoundthat,inalotofmeetingwewenttoIfoundthat.6Butitwentoverfairlywell,theyhadareallyqualityhuntingprogramonDelevan,andweneverhadanyshortageofpeople.ImeanalotofpeoplewantedtohuntDelevan.AndSacramento,IworkedthereandIsupervisedsomepersonnelproblemsandthingsinthefieldwehad.ThenIfeltafterfouryearsitwastimetomoveon,soIputinforthejobat...DennyHolland:Excuseme;youwereatSacramentoforfouryears?JerryWilson:Fouryears,forfouryears.DennyHolland:Okay.JerryWilson:IputinforthejobasamanageratRedRockLakesinMontana.Andloandbehold,Igotit.Well,nowatthistimetheyhadsomeproblemsatRubyLake.Anybodythat′sfamiliarwithRubyLake.SoI′dacceptedthejobatRedRockLakes.AndLarryDebatescalledmeupandhesaid,"We′dliketohaveyougotoRubyLakeasmanager."Hesaid,"WeneedsomebodywithyourPRskillsinRubyLake."Isaid,"Well,I′vealreadyacceptedRedRockLakes."Andhesaid,"We′lltakecareofthat."Sotheydid.AnditmighthavehurtmyfutureopportunitiestogetinRegion6.SoIwenttoRubyLake.Andtheonlythingtherewasanareamanagerthere,Sweeney;BillSweeneyIbelievewashisname.BillSweeneysaid,"WhenyougotoRubyLakeeitherthepoliticiansaregoingtogetyouortheagencyisgoingtogetyou."Well,Isaid,"Nothatjustcouldn′tbe."Well,IcametofindoutrealquickwhenIwenttoRubyLakeexactlywhathewastalkingabout.IwasthereaboutaweekandIwentintotownforapublicmeeting,anditwasoverthepower−boatingissue,anybodywho′sfamiliarwiththat.AndIwasinapublicmeeting,andthefirstthingtheytoldmewhenIgottherewasdonotwearauniformshirtintown.SoIdidn′t.SoIwenttothispublicmeeting,Iwassittinginthebackoftheroomofabout250people.AndSenator"Chic"Hechtwasthere,andhegotupandhesaid,"IsMr.Wilsoninthecrowd?"Well,theyalreadyknewIwasthere.SoIwentandmetwithhiminabackroom,andhesaid,"Youknow,we′regoingtochangethoseregsandallowpowerboatsearly."AndItoldhim,Isaid,"Well,ifyoudo,we′reprobablygoingtobebackincourt."Andsureenoughtheychangedtheregs,madethesignsupforit.ButtheonecommenthedidsaywhenhewenttoWashington,hesaid,"Youknow,whenwecamethroughElkoeveryfederalagencytheyhadtherehidbutMr.Wilson,we′llhavetogivehimcreditforthat."7Sotheychangedtheregulations.Andwewentthrough...InthewisdomoftheWashingtonoffice,thatwasoneoftheyearsinRubyValleythatwehadthe"hundred−yearflood."Sothecanvasbacknestingwaswaylate.Soitwasgoingtoimpactrightinthemiddleofthepower−boating,thenewregulationchange.SointhewisdomoftheWashingtonoffice,whichtheyalwaysknowbest,theydecidedtowritetheFONSI.SotheywrotetheFONSIwithFindingofNoSignificantImpacts.Well,thedefenderscalledmeonaboutonaFridayandsaid,"DidthestaffattherefugehaveanyinputintheFONSI?"Isaid,"No,wedidnot."Hesaid,"That′sallweneededtoknow."Sotheyfiledaninjunctionandtheystoppedthepower−boatingissue.Well,severalinstancesthatoccurredinthepast,andatonepointtheyhadalotofagentsthereandrefugeemployees,andtheywrotelike200andsometicketsontheotherscases.WellhereitwasonaboutaThursdayorFridayandtherewasaninjunction,therewereabout3,000peoplethere.Andthereasonwhyallofthis,"Well,howmanypeopledoyouneedstandingbyandeverythinglikethat?"Isaid,"I′mgoingtogodownto"shantytown"andI′mgoingtogetPhilMariluch;PhilMariluch,asyouenteredinhishousehehadastatueofJohnWayne.PhilMariluch,thesheriffgavehimabadgetocheckonthecabinsoutthere,buthewasawell−respectedguy.Hewascrudeandrougharoundtheedges,butwell−respected.AndItoldPhil,Isaid,"Phil,we′vegotadilemmahere."Isaid,"We′vegotaninjunctiononthatthing,"andIsaid,"There′salotofpeopleIhearthat′sirritated."AndIsaid,"Ifyou′dhelpmeI′dappreciateit,I′lldothemainboatlandingifyoudotheNarciss."AndPhilsaidhewould.Well,Itooksomefoullanguageandstufflikethat.Weneverwroteaticket.Therewerenocomplicationsforit.Therewerenoconfrontationsoranythinglikethatotherthansomeverbalwords.Thethingwentoverprettysmoothly.AndIthinktheServiceatpointsshouldbemorecreativeinhowtheydealwithsituations.Andlawenforcementisanecessarytool,butsometimesitcanalienatemorethanitcancure.Andthiswentoverrealwell.AndIthinktherefugeafterthatgainedalotofrespectforthat.AndIneverwillforgetMel,Ican′tthinkofhislastname,hewastheeditorofthepaperthere,andIknowwhenIfirstgottherethathewasoneoftheguysImet.Andhesaid,"Youknow,you′regoingtobekindoflikeamushroom,they′regoingtofeedyoubullshitandkeepyouinthedark."ButafterIgotthereIaskedaround,andI′mgoingtogointothisalittlebitbecauseifyoungerguyslistentothisitwillhelpyou.IaskedaroundandIsaid,"WhoarethesixmostinfluentialpeopleinRubyValley?"OneofthemwasPaulSawyer,whowasapowerbrokerforSenatorLaxalt.Theotheronewas;therewas...Ican′tthinkoftheirnames,thereweresixguys.ButPaulSawyerwasthekeythatIdealtwith.AndPaul,whowasthetypeaguy,IcalledhimoutandIsaid,"Paul,onthiscanvasbacknestingandeverything,"Isaid,"doyoureallyknowwhytheydon′twantthepowerboatsonthere?"Isaid,"Ifthosebirdsareexposedforanylengthoftimeinthathighintenseheatthenit′sa8donedeal,they′renotgoingtohatch."Andhesaid,"Well,nobodyreallyeverexplainedthattous."Isaid,"Well,that′sthepart,thedehydration;ifthehenisoffthenestforaperiodoftimetheeggswilldehydrate."SoPaulandIbecamegoodfriends.Theyhadameetingthere,andSenatorLaxaltwasrunningforPresident,wasgoingtorunforPresident,andwegotflooded.Sothecongressman′saidehadmadeastinkandwenttothecongressmanaboutweweregoingtoclosefishing.Well,theNarcissBoatLandingwasundertwofootofwater,andsoPaulmadethecongressman′saideapologizetomeatthealliancemeetingthatday.AndSenatorChicHechtwasintown,TedStevensofAlaska,Laxalt,Vucanovich,andtherewasoneother;therewaslikefivecongressmanandsenatorsintown.Paulsaid,"Youcometothepublicgathering."Hesaid,"Youmeetmeandwe′llgointhebackroomandwe′llfixthis."SoIwentinthebackroomwithPaul,andtheroadswerefloodedin,andtherewasabigcontroversythereaboutdiggingtheditchesoutwiththebass.Therewasalargebasspopulation,anditwasreallygoodfishing,theonlyplacetogo,butthey′rerealsmall,stuntedbass.Andforyearswe′dhadthecontroversyaboutdredgingandconflictwiththestateaboutthebass.AndIsaid,"Paul,I′lltellyouwhatwecando."Hesaid,"Howmuchmoneydoyouneed?"AndIsaid,"Well,tofixtheroadsandtheboatlandings,we′regoingtoneedabout600,000.00 or $800,000.00." And I said, "While we're at it, why don't we clean those drainage canals and deepen them, and that will provide you some winter survival for your bass severed loss. That will get us much better water capability and we can flood of the North Sump." Senator Laxalt said, "Well, how about a million?" Ten days later we had a million bucks. So we went in there and we cleaned some of the ditches out, we fixed all the roads. And actually I had upwards of 20 some volunteers with their dump trucks that came in and hauled gravel and helped us get that boat landing open for that fishing.
And I felt when I left there I built a good community rapport. Paul and I became good friends; he was a very influential guy.
And then after we got all of this settled down, we had a research study come in, and I need to go into this history, it's very important. We had a research study come in from the folks from North Dakota, I think North Dakota or South Dakota, where's that big research facility up there; Northern Prairie, from Northern Prairie Research.
Well, the first they did is after we had everything calmed down we were going to do a report on it. They were going to do a research study when the congressman and the senator had proposed this regulation change to prove that it was not going to be an impact. In reality they designed the s
Jerry Wilson was the Chairman of Philosophy and Psychology at Jacksonville State University in 1974-1975. (circa 1974)https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/lib-ac-histimg/47350/thumbnail.jp
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