Clearwater Region Media Contact/Educator Changes

Mike Demick has replaced the retiring Rod Parker as conservation educator at the Clearwater Region office in Lewiston. Demick grew up in the Idaho Falls area where his father was a veterinarian who often worked with Fish and Game officers and biologists. Demick decided at an early age that, when he grew up, he wanted to work for the department. He started his career with the department in 1994 as a volunteer coordinator in Pocatello. He had held a similar position before that with the Salmon National Forest. He holds both a B.S. and an M.S. degree from Idaho State University. Demick's hunter education instructor was the man he replaced, Rod Parker. Parker has retired from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game after 21 years of service. "Rod has a true dedication to educating children and a real love of wildlife," said John Gahl, Conservation Education Supervisor. After graduating from Utah State University with a B.S. in wildlife management, Parker returned to his native Iowa where he patrolled area waterways as a peace officer. However, the pull of the west was strong. In 1975 Rod and his wife, Lenore, moved to Idaho. Working two years for the Idaho Department of Lands as a stream and lake specialist, he changed careers and began working for the Idaho Department of Water Resources in Idaho Falls. After a year of "endless paperwork and navel-lint meetings," Rod's dream of working with wildlife came true. In December 1979, Parker began his Fish and Game career in the Upper Snake Region as Regional Conservation Educator. Trapping elk and turkeys, transplanting mountain goats and snowmobiling into backcountry homes to teach hunter education students were just a few of the "hands on" duties Parker enjoyed. Working with volunteer hunter education instructors and Project WILD facilitators also provided him with many cherished memories that made moving from Iowa to Idaho worthwhile. Rod and Lenore plan to take cruises of Alaska and the Caribbean, boating along the San Juan's and Canadian Gulf Islands, maybe some federal contract work, and "enjoying family and the freedom retirement offers." The Parkers will continue to reside in Deary with their three daughters living nearby.