75th Celebration: Honoring the Fallen

A tribute to Fish and Game employees who have lost their lives in the line of duty. A series of plaques hang on a wall behind the customer service desk at Idaho Fish and Game's Boise headquarters. Each plaque is adorned with a photograph, a name, and two dates; one for the date on which the person in each photograph was hired, the other commemorates the date on which they died. There are nine plaques on the wall; above them, a brief sentence reads "Department Employees Killed in the Line of Duty." The wall is a daily reminder for current Fish and Game employees that managing wildlife and enforcing game laws, can be dangerous; that "all give some; some gave all". On this Memorial Day weekend, during Idaho Fish and Game's 75th year, we pause in our anniversary celebration to remember those Fish and Game employees lost in the line of duty.

Name	Appointed	Died in the line of duty	Comment
Wayne C. Klavano	6-15-1959	5-29-1963	Fisheries Biologist Ð killed in a car accident.
Stanley L. Larson	9-1-1941	10-8-1967	District Conservation Officer Ð died from injuries sustained while loading horses into a trailer.
Samuel B. Buntrock	11-1-1970	5-29-1974	Conservation Officer Ð killed in a plane crash while flying an elk calving survey; the pilot and 2 USFS employees also died in the accident.
Harry R. Gibson	7-1-1972	7-4-1977	Fisheries Biologist Ð killed in a plane crash while conducting angler counts on Silver Creek.
Wilson Conley Elms	9-12-1977	1-5-1981	Conservation Officer Ð shot and killed while responding to a report of wildlife violations.
William H. Pogue	5-1-1965	1-5-1981	District Conservation Officer Ð shot and killed while responding to a report of wildlife violations.
Michael Gratson	12-9-1991	12-28-2000	Wildlife Biologist Ð killed in a helicopter crash while surveying mountain lions; the pilot also died in the accident.
Lawrence (Larry) Barrett	4-25-1988	8-31-2010	Fisheries Biologist Ð killed in a helicopter crash while en-route to survey spring Chinook spawning redds; the pilot also died in the accident.
Danielle (Dani) Schiff	9-1-2002	8-31-2010	Fisheries Biologist Ð killed in a helicopter crash while en-route to survey spring Chinook spawning redds; the pilot also died in the accident.