Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
An Interview with Robert G. "Bob" Delk |
Catalog Number |
2021.074.025 |
Object Name |
Recording, Video |
Scope & Content |
An Interview with Robert G. Delk >>Oral history interview with Robert G. Delk, May 24, 2022, Denver, CO >>Bob Delk was born in 1940 in East St. Louis. Delk was part of the first generation of professional hydrologists in the Forest Service. He began his career on the Fremont National Forest for a year until he enlisted in the Army. After serving for three years, he returned to Idaho in 1966, where he worked on the Clearwater NF doing all things timber-related. After a year in Orofino, he returned to school on the GI Bill to earn a master's degree in Watershed Management. After graduating, he spent a year as a trainee hydrologist in the regional office before moving to the Flathead National Forest to become the Forest Hydrologist. In 1974, Delk left the Forest Service to work for the Bureau of Land Management until 1978. While at the BLM, Delk worked on a four-man team dealing with coal and oil rehabilitation. He returned to the outfit in 1978 to work for Mike Barton, Director of Watershed. After Barton was replaced, Delk became frustrated with his new boss and the bureaucracy. That, coupled with a desire to move back to Montana, led him to resign from the Forest Service once and for all. He spent the rest of his career working in Billings, Montana. >>Interview Highlights --Good context on the first generation of hydrologists in the 1960s --Interesting stories about the mismanagement of rivers and watersheds prior to and during the first generation --Alternative portrait of an employee who resigned the FS and had substantive criticisms of the outfit PASTE LINK BELOW INTO BROWSER TO VIEW INTERVIEW https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IzWbH9JwlFeWK-fX4J-_et6X5OP0VpEB/view?usp=drive_link |
Additional File |
Click here to view transcript. |
Year Range from |
2022 |
Year Range to |
2022 |
People |
Delk, Robert G. "Bob" Pfankuch, Dale Falletti, Dave Barton, Michael A. |
Subjects |
Fremont NF Clearwater NF Flathead NF BLM WO |
Search Terms |
Oral History Water Water Rights Watershed Wild & Scenic Rivers |
Catalog date |
2022-11-07 |
Collection |
Oral History |