Wisconsin’s Green Fire Thanks George Meyer

Note: George Meyer (1947-2025) passed away at home on December 10, 2025. We will share updates when his obituary and information about a memorial service are available. If you would like to contribute toward George’s Celebration of Life, you can learn more and donate at the family’s GoFundMe page here. You can find George’s obituary here.

Our remembrance of George Meyer below is one way WGF wishes to commemorate the impact George had on our organization and conservation at large.

by Terry Daulton, WGF Founder and Past-President, and Tom Hauge, WGF Wildlife Work Group Chair

George Meyer standing in a meadow of big bluestem at the Buena Vista Wildlife Area, Portage County, WI, September 2025, photo by Tom Hauge.

Wisconsin’s Green Fire Thanks George Meyer

In late February 2017, a group of stalwart Wisconsin conservation and environmental leaders gathered in a blizzard at the historic Kemp Station research facility in Lake Tomahawk.  The purpose was to discuss formation of a new non-profit organization to provide and promote the use of science in natural resource policy in the state.  The context for this meeting was long standing frustration and concern over a state administration that devalued the work of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), eliminated funding and positions for scientific research, scrubbed state websites of science on climate change, and prevented staff science experts from freely speaking to news media or public groups.

Among the 35 people who battled the drifts to arrive at Kemp was the then Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, George Meyer.  His presence at that meeting was instrumental in the formation of Wisconsin’s Green Fire – Voices for Conservation. When we asked the participants if we should form an organization, George’s voice was a loud “yes!”  Our mission would be to provide citizens with unbiased scientific analysis around Wisconsin’s most pressing environmental policy questions.

“George was the voice of experience and support on the organizational and financial challenges.  Without support from George and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, WGF would never have fledged.”

– Paul LaLiberte, WGF Founding Board and Science Council member

George was critical to that early meeting at Kemp.

He shared ideas, urged action and then offered his time and energy to help launch the group. His early involvement led to the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation (WiWF) supporting us as “financial sponsor” and providing WiWF staff to help with administration and fiscal aspects of starting a new organization while we pursued 501(c)(3) non-profit designation and set up our bylaws.  He also volunteered for the Founding Board where he helped forge the early direction of the organization, its vision and its early work.

“George was the anchor that helped us build confidence that we could and have developed a successful organization. He was our confidence builder during those early days. He went out of is way providing support and organizational skills at a time when we needed them.” 

– Ron Grasshoff, WGF Public Trust and Wetlands Work Group Co-Chair

At our first annual meeting in September 2017 at the Aldo Leopold Foundation, George acknowledged the critical moment for conservation in Wisconsin and rallied our new members with the message, “We are calling up the reserves.”

George’s support gave us the confidence to take the big leap and form Wisconsin’s Green Fire.

We have grown from the small group that gathered at Kemp to 800-1,000 supporter members from all walks of life.  Our newsletters reach an audience of over 2,000 people. WGF has published numerous natural resource policy documents on Wisconsin’s pressing natural resource issues.  Perhaps most importantly, Wisconsin’s policy decision makers increasingly ask for WGF’s recommendations prior to taking action. We are making gains and providing the best available science to natural resource policy decisions.

“I first met George at the Brule ranger station in 1981 when he was the DNR’s chief legal counsel. This was before the Clean Water Act included wetlands. I complained about bureaucracy involved in protecting wetlands, bemoaning the cumbersome solid waste and littering laws we used to prevent wetland destruction. George responded with emphasis that protecting wetlands was one of our most important jobs, only surpassed by acquiring public lands. It was an inspiring pep talk that I have remembered throughout my 34-year career.”

– Tom Jerow, Current WGF Board President

Long before our snowy origins, George Meyer had begun his long and auspicious career.

His 30-year tenure at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) saw him holding positions from legal counsel to WDNR Secretary. He dealt with thorny issues from wildlife management and the arrival of Chronic Wasting Disease in whitetail deer, to toxic waste cleanups and air and water quality. George led the negotiation and implementation of Treaty Rights held by Wisconsin’s Ojibwe Tribes.  He dealt with legal, administrative, scientific and media outreach.

“If former DNR Secretary Buzz Besadny was “Wisconsin’s Father Nature,” then George Meyer was “Wisconsin’s Force of Nature” working tirelessly to protect our natural resources.”

– Tom Hauge, WGF Wildlife Work Group Chair

“When I once approached George at a meeting and told him I didn’t understand how he managed his workload asking “How do you do it all?” He smiled and simply said “I love my job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else!””

– Diane Daulton, WGF founding Board Secretary

We also want to recognize that WGF is not the only non-profit that benefited from George’s leadership.

After retirement from the WDNR, George took the position of Executive Director for the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.  There, he established the Conservation Leaders Class to grow the community of conservation leaders.  He worked to save the McKenzie Environmental Center, supported Wisconsin’s Green Schools, and the annual outdoor skills programming that occurs at Poynette. His investments in the future of conservation haven’t gone unnoticed, as reflected in his induction into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 2018.

“George made the DNR better, then he retired and made Wisconsin better. Not many people have legal expertise, natural resources knowledge, management skill, political savvy, and the ability to connect with people. George had them all in spades. George was the ultimate public servant, serving with courage in the face of opposition and support when dealing with his people. Green Fire’s mission is science based natural resources management. George modeled this principle for thousands of natural resources managers.”

– Bob Martini, Founding and Current WGF Board Member

We are grateful for all George Meyer’s contributions to natural resources in our state and beyond.

Wisconsin’s Green Fire especially thanks and honors George for his early nurturing of our organization.  All of us at Wisconsin’s Green Fire are grateful that George Meyer took that winter’s drive. We will never forget his many contributions to our evolution and success.