Posted: 4/3/2025
SNR Alumni: Steve Kilpatrick Inducted into the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame
By Tom Christiansen (B.S. 1984)
Steve Kilpatrick (B.S. 1976; M.S. 1982) was inducted into the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame March 19, 2025. The Outdoor Hall of Fame honors individuals “who have made significant, lasting, lifetime contributions to the conservation of Wyoming's outdoor heritage”.
Kilpatrick was born into an outdoor life growing up hunting and fishing on his family's farm near Neligh, Neb.
"I lived a fairly secluded early life," Killpatrick said. "Going to the big 'city' once a week for groceries until high school.”
Kilpatrick studied wildlife management at UNL and spent most of his professional career managing and protecting wildlife habitat with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Steve's formal work with wildlife began with his M.S. research under his advisor Dr. Ron Case studying the underground ecology of the humble Plains Pocket Gopher in the alfalfa fields of southeast Nebraska where they were problematic to farmers because of their burrowing behavior.
Together, Kilpatrick and Case pioneered a technique of implanting radio transmitters into the abdomens of small mammals like pocket gophers.
"Pocket gophers are very compact, so they just shuck a traditional transmitter collar," Kilpatrick said.
Kilpatrick credits Case for his patience while finishing his thesis while also starting his career at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and raising a family.
Steve's career literally and figuratively reached its pinnacle managing bighorn sheep in the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. In between were meaningful efforts collaboratively conserving a host of wildlife including waterfowl, elk, moose, beaver and bison and the habitats upon which these species rely.
Following his career with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Kilpatrick served as Executive Director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation and the Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation and later served on the board of directors of the National Bighorn Sheep Center.
Steve is most known and respected for his ability to create and sustain working relationships with a spectrum of interests and individuals, often holding opposing points of view, dealing with difficult issues such as grizzly bear management, disease transmission between domestic sheep and bighorn sheep and brucellosis in elk and bison.
But Kilpatrick is modest in describing his role, "If anything, I was the two-cent glue that held together the million-dollar puzzle pieces of talented people who made a lasting legacy for wildlife in Wyoming."
Steve is also widely regarded for his eagerness to mentor early career wildlife professionals, so much so that the Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society created the Kilpatrick Mentor of the Year Award in recognition of Steve and the importance mentoring has in the profession. Steve's style of mentoring usually means going to the mountains, sometimes hunting, often astride a horse or mule leading a pack string on a multi-day pack trip. Even in retirement, Steve's counsel is often sought by those still working.
"For some reason mentoring came naturally to me," Killpatrick said. "When perched on the side of a mountain surrounded by scenic vistas one can't help making time to inspire current and future employees. They are the future."
At the personal level, Steve also creates outdoor legacies by passing his knowledge and skills down to his grandchildren. Whether horsepacking, horse sledding, elk or duck hunting, Steve and his family have made lasting memories and created another generation of outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists.
Kilpatrick has been recognized with many awards including the first Craighead Wildlife Conservation Award (2003), the Conservationist of the Year from the Wyoming Wildlife Federation (1997), Professional of the Year (2005) and Lifetime Achievement award (2014) from the Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society as well as an Alumni Achievement Award from the UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (2010).
In his nomination of Kilpatrick for the CASNR award, Case wrote, “Steve is a representative for the silent legacy, our wildlife resource, that cannot lobby, campaign, vote, or even voice their opinion."
Kilpatrick's name is now permanently etched next to 75 other Hall of Fame inductees including such notables as Theodore Roosevelt, William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody, Jim Bridger, Olas and Mardy Murie, and Curt Gowdy.
Tom Christiansen (B.S. 1984) is a UNL Alumni Master (2014). Like many others, Tom largely credits Steves mentoring for Tom's 30-plus year career in the wildlife profession.