Magic Valley Reservist of the Year

Fast facts Earl Wise, 70, of Jerome, was named Magic Valley Reservist of the Year. Wise was born and raised in Glenns Ferry. He and his wife Inez have two children, Dan Wise of Jerome and Cindy North of Arbon Valley. For most his life he worked for Garrett Truck Lines in Pocatello, Los Angeles and Chicago. In 1990, he moved to Jerome and bought the Jerome CafŽ, which he sold last year before become a Fish and Game Reservist. JEROME - When most people are snow-birding it in the sunny south or hanging around a fishpond or golf course in the summer, 70-year-old Earl Wise is building fence, planting trees and doing what ever he can to help wildlife. Wise is one of the newest members of the Department of Fish and Game's reservist program, but in 10-short months he has donated more than 570 hours to the region. This work and his energetic personality made him the Magic Valley Reservist of the Year. "The reason I come here is a guy can't play golf everyday," says Wise, with a grim. "But I feel like what I'm doing is making things better for other people. I would like to leave this world a better place than I found it. "I called to join just shortly after I sold the cafŽ," he says. "It was right at the time our president (Bush) told us we should volunteer and make our communities better, so I did." With Wise's good work ethic, he has done just that. In his 10-plus months, he has helped plant 4,000 trees near Carey; helped build miles of fence around the Rice Ranch (a new Fish and Game property near Hill City) and fencing dozens of other projects in the region; found and helped clean-up a waste dump at an old railroad site near Norland, and helped map 284 tracks of public land or 33,533 acres. "One of the biggest and most rewarding things I have done is get GPS settings on these tracks of public land," Wise says. "With these settings we can map these areas for the public. With the new map it will help open up new lands to everyone who wants to go and enjoy the outdoors." Since become a reservist, Wise's love for the outdoors and volunteering has continued to grow. "People always ask me why I volunteer and say, ÔI wouldn't do that for the world,'" he says. "There is a lot of things that are more important in a job than a paycheck at my age. "One thing is, people are nice to me here plus I really enjoy the work I am doing. That is one neat thing, an old guy like me being able to hang out with a bunch of young guys. The funny thing, even the old guys here are young to me."