First Annual Jack Hemingway Conservation Day

Jack Hemingway Conservation Day will be proclaimed Wednesday, October 10th, Hemingway's birthday. Signing of the proclamation by the governor at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9th marked the first of an annual tribute to Hemingway's contributions to conservation in Idaho and a focal point for continuing efforts to honor our state's natural heritage. The day has been set aside to honor the late Jack Hemingway, son of Ernest Hemingway, and a prominent conservationist who served as an Idaho Fish and Game Commissioner from 1971-1977. "I've spent some of the best moments of my life hunting, fishing and exploring Idaho and its rugged terrain," Hemingway said in a 1991 interview. "It's captured my heart, much as it captured my father's years and years ago." Governor Kempthorne announced the designation in the State of the State address on January 8th. He praised Hemingway's conservation efforts saying, "He lived a life as big as Idaho's outdoors and in turn he gave his time and talents towards conserving our natural heritage for generations to come both as a Fish and Game Commissioner and as host of the wildlife show Incredible Idaho." On Tuesday, the Governor will also announce a special conservation program that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be launching as a tribute to Jack Hemingway. In addition, school children, sportsmen groups, conservation organizations and individual volunteers along with Department personnel have planned habitat restoration projects and dedication ceremonies in Hemingway's honor. New Meadows Valley High School students will be spending the afternoon of the first annual Jack Hemingway Conservation Day planting willows on the banks of the Little Salmon River to help restore the trout stream, according to Al Van Vooren, Fish and Game Deputy Director. "And we have some cooperating landowners that are helping us, we are protecting the streambanks, letting the willows come back. The stream will cleanse itself, it will shade itself, temperature will drop, and the gravel will get cleaner. So on that day we're going to have a bunch of volunteers, mostly young people, out there trying to turn that stream into a trout stream, which Jack loved so much." Fly-fishing was Jack's passion and it took him to the far reaches of the planet. Even a world war couldn't dampen his fervor for fishing. In 1944 as a lieutenant in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA, Jack parachuted into France with a fly rod hidden in his pack. He was eventually wounded and captured by the Germans, but not before a few French fish rose to his flies. Jack poured his passion for fly fishing into preserving one of Idaho's premier trout streams Silver Creek near Sun Valley, spear-heading a tremendous effort to set aside this pristine paradise. Now a Nature Conservancy Preserve, the clear waters of Silver Creek beckon fly fishermen from all over the world. It is a living legacy to a true conservationist. Hemingway's efforts will be recognized on October 10th with the dedication of an interpretive sign at Silver Creek Access West. "I'm very pleased that Jack will be honored on this particular day, which is his birthday," said Angela Hemingway, wife of the late Jack Hemingway. "And I think it's going to be well received. And it's a tribute to a man that loved the great outdoors of Idaho and spent countless hours fishing and enjoying the ridgetops of every mountain, of every stream and just a great tribute to my husband." Jack Hemingway Conservation Day should also be a time to just go out and enjoy hunting, fishing or hiking in Idaho's great outdoors, according to Van Vooren. He encourages folks to consider mentoring a young person, introducing a youth to all the wonders of our wildlife heritage. "Conservation is an attitude and it's a way of life. And this is an opportunity to reflect on what Jack exemplified and for all of us to reflect on the conservation effort. And not what we'll do on that day, but what we can do in the coming year and for the rest of our lives to promote the values that Jack exemplified." Jack Hemingway died at the age of 77, on December 2, 2000. Following the 2001 event, the date of the Jack Hemingway Conservation Day will fall to the last Saturday in September to correspond to National Hunting and Fishing Day.