MINNEAPOLIS _ Dave Olfelt, 58, was named Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fish and Wildlife Division director last month by Commissioner Sarah Strommen, replacing Jim Leach, 65, who retired in April.
Olfelt has worked for the DNR 31 years, most recently as a regional wildlife manager stationed in Grand Rapids. He's also held management positions in the agency's Parks and Trails Division.
Growing up in south Minneapolis, the son of a state of Minnesota attorney who worked closely with the DNR, Olfelt learned at a young age around his family's dinner table of important conservation issues, such as the establishment of Voyageurs National Park and the conflict over Reserve Mining's dumping of taconite tailings into Lake Superior.
A graduate of North Park University in Chicago and the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he earned a master's degree in zoology, Olfelt's first job in state government was at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
He and his wife, Sonja, are parents of an adult son, Andy, who lives in Fargo, and Anna, a college student.
In the interview below, Olfelt discusses his outdoor interests and management of the Fish and Wildlife Division.
