By Ronica Stromberg
Jeff Obrecht, a 1983 Cornhusker alumnus with a wildlife management degree, received the Distinguished Service Alumni Award from the School of Natural Resources on April 11. Obrecht worked in public affairs for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for 32 years before retiring in 2018.
He had a minor in agricultural journalism from Nebraska and used his education to perform a broad spectrum of tasks as a public information officer. He hosted two weekly radio shows and a call-in show, contributed articles to Wyoming Wildlife magazine and served as its interim editor from 2015-2016, taught children in school programs about wildlife, represented the department at outdoor shows and expos, responded to requests from the media and public, instructed workshops on shotgun shooting, ran check stations in big-game hunting seasons and assisted a Nebraska professor, Ron Case, in bringing students to Wyoming to learn about wildlife management across the state.
"His forte was being a loyal alum who served as a liaison with other graduates of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln who worked for Wyoming Game and Fish," Case, now an emeritus professor, wrote in his nomination of Obrecht for the alumni award. “They formed a close-knit cadre of ambassadors for the university. As a group, they excelled with the agency."
Tom Christiansen, one of the other Nebraska alumni who was part of the Wyoming wildlife cadre Case mentioned, also nominated Obrecht for the award.
"His most meaningful outreach was largely conducted without fanfare, behind the scenes, and was more intimate," Christiansen wrote in his nomination of Obrecht. "He spoke patiently and genuinely on the phone with uncounted, but literally thousands, of outdoorsmen and women seeking advice and information about where and how to hunt and fish. He excelled at one-on-one, hands-on training of youth in safe gun handling and shotgun skills. The talents Jeff developed were forged at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, largely through mentorship from the legend himself, Professor Howard Wiegers."
Follow the rest of Jeff's story at https://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/what/newstory.aspx?fid=1340