Oral History Subcommittee 

Preserving the rich history of the Fish and Wildlife Service is one of the primary purposes of the FWS Retirees Association.

One of the projects that we have undertaken in partnership with the Service’s History Committee’s Oral History subcommittee and the National Conservation and Training Center is conducting interviews of retirees to record their experiences working for the Fish and Wildlife Service.  

The collection of oral histories has grown to over 800 interviews that provide a wonderful insight into the projects, challenges and experiences of many of our retirees and other colleagues. We do this both through interviews that focus on an individual’s career and with interviews that focus on specific programs. We have conducted interviews and panel discussions on the history of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and on the National Wetlands Inventory Program. Our special focus the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program continues. We will soon be initiating a special topic emphasis on the International Affairs program in 2025.

We are very interested in hearing about your career, no matter what program or geographic region or capacity you worked in. So please consider giving us an interview!  We are also interested in expanding interviews with retirees who identify with the BIPOC, differently-abled, and LGBTQUIA+ communities. 

If you would like to be interviewed for either a career interview or if you worked in any of our special focus areas, or would like to recommend someone you think we should interview, please let us know. These may be folks involved in planning, administration, or operations. In addition, it would be most useful if you have contact information for anyone you recommend. Recommendations can be sent to Libby Herland, Chairperson of the subcommittee.  Libby’s e-mail address is herland194@gmail.com. 

Members of the Oral History subcommittee are working closely with NCTC staff to finish transcripts of interviews and get them online. If you have been interviewed but haven’t received a transcript to review, please let us know. Completed transcripts are uploaded to fws.gov or at https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital. Just type a name into the search box. Please contact Libby if you don’t have a transcript or can’t find your completed transcript online.

Lastly, if you are interested in becoming an oral history interviewer, please contact Libby. We are always looking for other retirees to conduct these interviews. We’ll help you learn the ropes.  With an increasing number of retirees, the need for new interviewers is greater than ever.  And just think, it is a great opportunity to share stories and history with others and make new FWS friends, even in retirement!