Since January of 2006, Steve Schmidt has provided leadership to the fish and wildlife management professionals of the Upper Snake Region of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
As an avid sportsman, he understood the value of providing fish and wildlife populations with the habitat and protection required to allow them to thrive and remain accessible to sportsmen. He was the leader of the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee (YES) when the Yellowstone grizzly bear was first delisted in 2007 and remains active in ongoing efforts to re-delist the Yellowstone grizzly population.
Schmidt originally grew up in Kansas and moved west to attend the University of Montana in Missoula. After graduation, he returned to Kansas to serve as an Area Wildlife Manager for six and a half years with the Kansas Fish and Game Commission. He moved to Idaho to first work for Fish and Game as a land manager at Market Lake Wildlife Management Area. From there he went on to serve as a Habitat Improvement Program (HIP) Biologist, the prototype for today's habitat biologists. For twelve years he served as Regional Habitat Manager, overseeing the Upper Snake Habitat Section.
In addition to involvement with YES, Schmidt also served as leader of the Eastern Idaho Aspen Working Group and the Upper Snake Beaver Cooperative. In total, Steve Schmidt has spent the last thirty-six and a half years of his life dedicated to serving the wildlife and sportsmen of America.
According to Schmidt, "It has been and honor and a privilege to be a steward of the natural resources of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem."
Even though he is retiring, Schmidt said, "I intend to remain engaged in conservation related issues and am confident the managers at Fish and Game will carry on with the good work underway."