He’s a long way from where he was born and grew up, but getting him to return there other than to visit, would be difficult to do.
Nels Rodefeld, along with wife Sarah, have been in Oklahoma for 14 years. They reside near Remus in southern Pottawatomie County, where they have about 260 acres. Rodefeld is the chief of the Information and Education Division for Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
His wife is employed with the state Department of Commerce, where she works with Community Action agencies across Oklahoma to ensure they are staying within program guidelines.
The couple, who met on a blind date and went fishing the first time they met, also operate the Back 40 Retreat, which Rodefeld describes as “a small getaway.” He said “we started that recently, and we have a lot of people from the local and area communities who have taken advantage of it, especially when they have some family-related gathering like reunions, weddings, get togethers and the like. People are coming for anywhere from a weekend, to a few days to a week, for whatever reason brings them to this area.”
In addition to their day jobs and operating the retreat, he and his wife also have 15 to 20 mother cows and some small calves.
Rodefeld was born in Michigan, spent some time in Pennsylvania, and mainly grew up in Wisconsin. His dad had been a professor at universities in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but the family moved to Wisconsin to take over the family dairy operation.
He says what he enjoys most about living where he does now is “the sense of community. It still means something to have neighbors. There’s not the same kind of neighborly cooperation in other places where I have lived before coming here,” he added.
He pointed out that growing up on a dairy form, which also had beef cattle, “prepared me for working hard. There was always something to do.”
In fact, he thinks “if everyone could grow up on a farm, the world would be a better place to be. I got to spend a lot of time outdoors. I got my passion for the outdoors. You get to see a lot of cool stuff in the outdoors.”
He met Sarah one summer during his college years while he was working at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. One of the women he worked with set up them up on a blind date, but he mentioned that it wasn’t until the second summer he had worked there that the woman was willing to set him up with her.
They met at a boat ramp, went fishing, and he took a grill with them so they could hamburgers. “It’s the only fishing trip I don’t remember if we caught anything,” he quipped.
Sarah, who grew up on the shores of a lake, enjoys fishing and hunting as much as he does.
They dated about a year and got married. She told him after he finished college she would go anywhere he found a job, except for Kansas and Oklahoma. “We moved to northwest Arkansas and I worked for a year with the Sustainable Agricultural program before taking a job here in Oklahoma with the wildlife department,” he said.
Rodefeld has been in his current position as chief of the Information and Education Division for more than two years. He worked his way up, starting out as a publications specialist and associate editor of the Outdoor Oklahoma magazine. Later he became the information supervisor and magazine editor, handling the Outdoor TV show and was responsible for the website as well.
He spent about six or seven years as assistant chief before his elevation to chief in 2006.
When he was asked what he liked most about his job, he replied “what is there not to like about it. The diversity I get to work on and most importantly the things I work on I care and am most passionate about.”
Rodefeld continued “I love to hunt and fish. And these things I work on I care about. Being able to have input to providing opportunities for people to enjoy our natural resources is something I really take seriously.”
He indicated it’s most gratifying to have influence and create opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors. He’s convinced “if you participate in outdoor recreation, you’ll have a better quality of life. I really enjoy helping people get involved in the outdoors,” he said.
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He’s a long way from where he was born and grew up, but getting him to return there other than to visit, would be difficult to do.
Nels Rodefeld, along with wife Sarah, have been in Oklahoma for 14 years. They reside near Remus in southern Pottawatomie County, where they have about 260 acres. Rodefeld is the chief of the Information and Education Division for Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
His wife is employed with the state Department of Commerce, where she works with Community Action agencies across Oklahoma to ensure they are staying within program guidelines.
The couple, who met on a blind date and went fishing the first time they met, also operate the Back 40 Retreat, which Rodefeld describes as “a small getaway.” He said “we started that recently, and we have a lot of people from the local and area communities who have taken advantage of it, especially when they have some family-related gathering like reunions, weddings, get togethers and the like. People are coming for anywhere from a weekend, to a few days to a week, for whatever reason brings them to this area.”
In addition to their day jobs and operating the retreat, he and his wife also have 15 to 20 mother cows and some small calves.
Rodefeld was born in Michigan, spent some time in Pennsylvania, and mainly grew up in Wisconsin. His dad had been a professor at universities in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but the family moved to Wisconsin to take over the family dairy operation.
He says what he enjoys most about living where he does now is “the sense of community. It still means something to have neighbors. There’s not the same kind of neighborly cooperation in other places where I have lived before coming here,” he added.
He pointed out that growing up on a dairy form, which also had beef cattle, “prepared me for working hard. There was always something to do.”
In fact, he thinks “if everyone could grow up on a farm, the world would be a better place to be. I got to spend a lot of time outdoors. I got my passion for the outdoors. You get to see a lot of cool stuff in the outdoors.”
He met Sarah one summer during his college years while he was working at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. One of the women he worked with set up them up on a blind date, but he mentioned that it wasn’t until the second summer he had worked there that the woman was willing to set him up with her.
They met at a boat ramp, went fishing, and he took a grill with them so they could hamburgers. “It’s the only fishing trip I don’t remember if we caught anything,” he quipped.
Sarah, who grew up on the shores of a lake, enjoys fishing and hunting as much as he does.
They dated about a year and got married. She told him after he finished college she would go anywhere he found a job, except for Kansas and Oklahoma. “We moved to northwest Arkansas and I worked for a year with the Sustainable Agricultural program before taking a job here in Oklahoma with the wildlife department,” he said.
Rodefeld has been in his current position as chief of the Information and Education Division for more than two years. He worked his way up, starting out as a publications specialist and associate editor of the Outdoor Oklahoma magazine. Later he became the information supervisor and magazine editor, handling the Outdoor TV show and was responsible for the website as well.
He spent about six or seven years as assistant chief before his elevation to chief in 2006.
When he was asked what he liked most about his job, he replied “what is there not to like about it. The diversity I get to work on and most importantly the things I work on I care and am most passionate about.”
Rodefeld continued “I love to hunt and fish. And these things I work on I care about. Being able to have input to providing opportunities for people to enjoy our natural resources is something I really take seriously.”
He indicated it’s most gratifying to have influence and create opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors. He’s convinced “if you participate in outdoor recreation, you’ll have a better quality of life. I really enjoy helping people get involved in the outdoors,” he said.
