The Greene County Conservation Department recently added a new position and individual to its staff.

Jacob Fernholz grew up near La Crosse, Wisconsin and he graduated from high school, he earned a bachelor’s degree in fish and wildlife management from South Dakota State University. Fernholz then graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a master’s degree in natural science with a fish management emphasis. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio his love of fish started at a young age of three when he could hold a fishing pole, and his parents were educators and during summer breaks, they went fishing as a family.

“My dad was a biology teacher and my mom worked with pre-k and kindergarten students. But she always had programs and stuff like raising chickens, and stuff in the classroom, always had to have hands on some sort of animal. But endless days of going fishing was how I grew up. I just said, ‘You know what? If I can do what I love then I’m not really working anymore, I’m getting to do what I love instead.’”     

After college, Fernholz moved to North Dakota with his wife and worked for the state government for three years while his wife worked for the Valley City Natural Fish Hatchery. They moved to Arizona where Jacob worked with the Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery. 

Jacob says when his family grew to include two small children, they decided to move back three years ago to the Ogden area where his wife was from and is an Ogden High School graduate. He applied for the naturalist position with Greene County Conservation and was excited when he got the job and even more excited to build this position to include lots of outreach programs, especially with school-age kids.

“The future of hunting, fishing, hiking, (and) camping is the youth. I’m going to be the soldier on the front line for that here in Greene County. I’m looking forward to being able to promote those types of activities here in the county and what we have available.”

Jacob will begin in his new career as the Greene County Conservation Naturalist on August 12th.