Fish and Game Names New Fisheries Chief

Idaho Fish and Game has picked a new head of fisheries. Ed Schriever, 48, of Lewiston, who has worked for Idaho Fish and Game for more than 24 years, all of it in fisheries - some in hatcheries and most in management - has been the regional fishery manager for the Clearwater Region for the past seven years. He will be moving to Fish and Game headquarters in Boise. "He brings a strong fish management background dealing with resident and anadromous fish issues," Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said. "We look forward to Ed's leadership and critical thinking skills on our leadership team." Schriever replaces Steve Yundt who left Fish and Game earlier this year to take a job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Born in Virginia to a military family, he has lived across the United States and Europe. When his parents moved back to their native state of Oregon in 1972 they bought some property in the country with a stream that supported a run of native cutthroat trout. That's where Ed began thinking about how things in nature fit together in complex ways. "I wish more kids were in contact with nature on a routine basis," Schriever said. "Exploring nature and discovering its complexities are very important for their development." Schriever attended Oregon State University from 1978 through 1983, and earned a bachelor's degree in fisheries science. "I enjoyed fishing as a child, but I really became an avid angler after I was old enough to drive and explore different places," Schriever said. "It was my love of fishing that inspired me to study fisheries science and ultimately brought me to this profession." And it was while going to college that he got his first job with Fish and Game. He took off in the spring of 1980, during his sophomore year, for an eight-month temporary position as a biologist aide, trapping Bear Lake cutthroat trout from St. Charles Creek. He spent the rest of the summer feeding fish and sweeping ponds at the Grace Fish Hatchery in Southeast Idaho. In January 1984, he returned to the Grace Hatchery and his first full-time Fish and Game job as a fish culturist. Later that year he took over managing the Idaho Power hatchery facility at Oxbow, Oregon for Fish and Game. And in December 1985 he moved to Clark Fork to manage the newly constructed Cabinet Gorge Hatchery. In 1989 he took the regional fishery biologist position in Lewiston, and in 2001 he took the job as regional fishery manager in the Clearwater Region. But his interest in biology, conservation and resource management began more than 40 years earlier, catching frogs and bugs in a pond near his house at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He didn't spend his youth playing video games or surfing the Internet - they didn't exist then. "I ran around catching fireflies in a jar and watching tadpoles grow to frogs in a wash tub on the back porch," he said. "I read Ranger Rick magazines and participated in scouting." He enjoys hunting for the same reasons he enjoys fishing - the study of animal behavior and habitat. And he enjoys woodworking as a hobby for the satisfaction of building something tangible. He attributes his successes as a manager to the many people he has worked with. Working collaboratively, developing partners and identifying stake holders are not just catch phrases, he said. It's the way things get done and issues get resolved. Schriever met Sonja, his wife of 26 years, at Oregon State University. They have two grown children who live in the Lewiston area.