10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Longtime DNR biologist Steve Rauch is promoted to Assistant Chief of Game

Steve Rauch

FARMINGTON, W.Va. — Longtime Division of Natural Resources Biologist Steve Rauch has risen through the ranks to a position he actually never thought much about. Rauch was named the new Assistant Chief for Game Management for the West Virginia DNR.  Like most of his peers, he has spent so much time getting his hands dirty  in the field, he never considered moving up to “management” level.

“For many, many years I thought there’s no way I would want that. Then I decided, well maybe I can take that and help with furthering the game management unit with the section,” said Rauch.

Rauch replaces Gary Foster who retired last October.

“We are excited to have Steve Rauch join our management team,” said Paul Johansen, chief of the WV Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section. “Steve is a talented wildlife professional and he brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership to our game management program.”

Rauch has been with the DNR for 32 years. He started his career as a Wildlife Manager in 1990 and most recently has been the District 1 Game Biologist working out of the Farmington district office.

He’s only had a few days to take a look at the state of things, but speaking on a recent edition of West Virginia Outdoors, Rauch noted filling some empty position is at the top of the priority list.

“One of the important things is personnel and working toward getting open positions filled,” he explained.

To do that, Rauch realized the state needs to work to make a position in the DNR lucrative.

“Every state has wildlife folks. The federal government has wildlife folks and there’s a lot of opportunities out there straight out of college, so you really need to sell the program, the benefits, and the opportunities they would have in those positions,” he explained.

Rauch is no stranger to the the wildlife and hunting issue of the day, particularly in West Virginia. He’s heard the complaints of fewer deer being seen and has had more than a few conversations about deer management with hunter, including the currently heated topic of the buck limit and whether it should be lowered from three to two.

“The number of hunters who harvest three antlered bucks is very, very low. It would protect very few deer and biologically, it’s not going to have an impact. The majority of hunters, and data shows, only harvest one deer annually. What we have seen is hunters themselves are choosing to pass up smaller bucks ,” Rauch explained.

Rauch and his team are currently engaged in preparing the proposals for season dates and bag limits for the 2022 hunting seasons to present to the Natural Resources Commission. Those proposals will be laid out during the commission’s meeting scheduled for February 27.

Rauch holds both bachelor of science and master of science degrees from West Virginia University. His major field of study was wildlife and fisheries resources. Rauch also is a Wildlife Society certified wildlife biologist. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting and fishing.





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