The ink is barely dry on his WVU diploma, but Kirk Groves of Summersville is already enjoying the benefits of his education.
Groves graduated last fall with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources. The Nicholas County native soon landed his first job, a paid internship at a South Texas game ranch.
“It’s about an hour and a half south of San Antonio,” said Groves. “Pretty much all that country is just ranch after ranch after ranch. It’s a 180-degree turn from West Virginia. Instead of seeing forest it’s pretty much brush country and high fences.”
The ranch, like many in Texas, features high fence hunting with a number of non-native exotic species brought in from overseas. Furthermore, the ranch conducts an extensive whitetail breeding program and made a fortune selling buck semen to other breeders.”
But, Groves has moved on from the game ranch experience and landed his next job in Colorado. He’ll be part of the Colorado River Fisheries Project working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service this summer.
“It was established back in the late 70’s and we’re conducting research and management acivities to try and recover four endangered fish species in the upper Colorado River basin,” said Groves.
The fish he’ll be studying are unlike any we’ve heard of in West Virginia. They are the Colorado pike minnow, humpback chub, boney tail, and razorback sucker. The fish project may be interesting, but the scenery is what drew Groves to the job.
“I loved growing up in West Virginia and being in those mountains,” he explained. “But out here, it’s pretty much indescribable how beautiful this country is. You’d drive yourself crazy trying to get a picture of all the pretty stuff out here.”
Groves will probably get a lot of chances to take those pictures and experience the breathtaking scenery. The current federal sequestration has left his new employer, the short handed and they’ll need plenty of manpower on the project.
“A lot of my times going to be spent working, but mainly I’m going to be on the Colorado River doing fish surveys, so that’s not too bad a deal,” he said. “I’ll get to see some country I may not otherwise ever get to see.”
The position is only temporary since fish tracking can become problematic during a Colorado winter. Therefore come fall, Groves is back in the unemployment line, but he’ll use the time to click off some bucket list items.
“I’m going to apply for elk and mule deer tags this week,” he said. “Maybe I’ll do that for a while until I get ready to head back. ”
Groves also planned to link up with another WVU grad this summer working at Yellowstone.
“I’ve always wanted to come out here,” he said. “I plan on taking the long way home.”