In Memory of DVFF Member No. 1
Robert (Bob) Wisecarver
Robert Wisecarver, aka "Numero Uno"
By Jannifer Lee Puyans, DVFF Member #1095
"Numero Uno" as Andy Puyans bellowed heartily from behind the counter of Creative Sports as Bob Wisecarver entered the shop. Bob and Andy's friendship was bonded by their passion for fly fishing, respect for one another, and their association from the early days of the Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen. They held membership numbers #1 and #27, respectively. Both have created legacies of different pathways, but oddly enough, both related to wildlife conservation, protection, and education. Whether Bob Wisecarver was taking on the role as the leader or just as a player in a cause, in either role, he was in it for the success of the vision.
One of my last visits with Bob was just before Christmas. Prior to that time, I had last spoke to him the first week of November and not seen him since the presentation of the scholarship award named in this honor at UC-Davis in September. I arrived with an assortment of freshly baked cookies. It is a practice of my former "donut girl" days at DVFF monthly meetings. It is late morning and he requested that I join him in his fishing room. It is neat and organized, in total deviation of my own so-call organized piles. There were clippings of articles and a picture of a very young and physically handsome Bob Wisecarver holding a steelhead pinned to a large cork board wall. He pointed out to a specific aged-looking article in the center which is obviously the first piece to be mounted. It was a centerfold of Atlantic salmon flies taken from an issue of the New Yorker. I can not recall the entire account of the story because my attention was somewhat disturbed by the fact that Bob was now dependent on oxygen. I remembered a row of half dozen steelhead flies with the hook points embedded above the edge of this article. There was a well-used Grant King Boss fly and an Ed Haas Black Gordon, reminiscent of Bob's days on great steelhead rivers of the West Coast after the most spirited fighter of the rainbow trout.
We later continued our visit in the living room. Bob was very much an archivist. Recalling the time when he and Dave Draheim put on at the Lakeside Room the first fly fishing conclave of what now has become an annual major event, the Northern California Council FFF Hall of Fame. He spoke of his very close friend and often an associate in projects, Brian Murphy, on his bumblebee project and with a little mischievous giggle, pondered about the significance and the eventual outcome of Brian's new-found interest.
He was a long-time and devoted member of the Mount Diablo Audubon Society and worried about the difficulty in recruiting younger members. It was by far the longest subject of our conversation. Shirley politely interrupted and announced that Ranger Dan was on the phone and Bob answered with his cordless phone that perfectly fitted in his shirt pocket. An unhung citation is propped against the wall sitting on the floor. The City of Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation had named the quail habitat project at Borges Ranch after him. He is humbled by all of the acclamations, but still did not comprehend the fuss and fanfare. I replied that through his countless years of dedication, the payback is knowing that one is cherished and admired in his community and his worth deserved testimonial recognition. There was a short pause, and he gently chuckled in affirmation and gave a little smile. It was awe-inspiring to watch Bob, limited by a R2D2-looking apparatus and yards of oxygen tubing, in an unyielding manner conduct his daily routine. He had redefined the activities of retirement with his own interests and gave us a new look at how life should be lived. In essence, he was a hybrid of a Pied Piper and Johnny Appleseed for habitat and Open Space. How, exactly, does one measure or describe the enormity of somebody's contributions and knowledge? The importance of sharing ideas, inspiring people, offering encouragement, and maintaining friendships? The answer is simply sharing a day in the life of Bob Wisecarver, and as I left that late afternoon, I was thankful of Shirley for this precious moment in time.
It was early Sunday morning, the 1st of June, and I was quickly scanning my e-mail at work. There was a message from Sven (an Andy nickname for Phil Erickson) with an article in the Contra Costa Times about Bob Wisecarver. Immediately, without reading the content, I knew that the inevitable happened. Bob had passed away on Thursday. Indeed, I was saddened, but my thoughts drifts back to that magical December day. I knew that Bob's life was well lived. It was evident in the tone of his memories and he expressed few regrets except for the hope that he may live to September to righteously celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen. Our beloved #1 is now our legacy and we have added a new chapter to our club's history and to mankind.
A Tribute to Bob Wisecarver
By Phil Erickson
We in DVFF know and think of Bob Wisecarver as a fly fisherman, and he certainly was! He was a founder of our club, and member #1.
Under his leadership the club started many of the programs that continue to this day.
He started his fishing at a very early age in the Sierras and by his teens he was guiding other fishermen on the Tuolumne River. During his navy service in WWll, he never missed an opportunity to fish while he was stationed in the South Pacific.
He was also a fly fishing pioneer!
He was one of the very first to fish for Striped Bass in the bay while others were saying they could not be caught on a fly, he was catching them and teaching others how to do it. He fished Baja waters from a small aluminum boat with a fly rod when most thought it was a place only for conventional tackle. In British Columbia, he fished alongside the famed author and naturalist Roderick Haig-Brown on the Campbell River.
But Bob was more than a fly fisherman!
As many of you know, through his intellect, perseverance and preciseness, Bob also became an expert in habitat reconstruction for birds, especially raptors and quail .For many years he worked tirelessly right here in the East Bay proving that if you provide the habitat the wildlife will return.
Both the Audubon Society and the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation have recognized him for this dedication to wildlife and the environment.
But he didn't stop with fishing and birds!
Quite by chance on a trip to Oregon, he discovered the value of bats to our environment and again through his intellect and hard work he became an expert in bat habitat remediation and was called upon by the State of California for help and advice.
His hero John Muir would be proud!
So, while this is a time of sadness, it also is a time to celebrate the legacy Bob leaves behind!
He was a mentor to many... ...an inspiration to most... ...and to all... ...a friend!
Bob Wisecarver, a Friend of Wildlife and Open Spaces, Has Died
By Gary Bogue, Contra Costa Times
summer fog
at the foot of the great pine
there is no shadow
—haiku by Jerry Ball, Walnut Creek
KEEP ON TRUCKING
My friend Bob Wisecarver died Thursday morning at the age of 87. Bob did more with his 87 years than any other 10 people I know could do in their lifetimes. That's the kind of man he was. Lots to do and not enough time to do it. But somehow he always still managed to do it.
What made Bob so special to me and why we naturally gravitated together were his special interests. He was truly a friend of wildlife (especially bats!) and of the restoration of our wild open spaces.
Bob had so many projects going on at one time, I suspect he often met himself coming and going.
Whether he was getting Napa grape growers to build bat houses so they could use bats instead of pesticides, restoring quail habitat on Mount Diablo, or talking PG&E out of a new 50-foot power pole so he could build a man-made osprey nest at San Pablo Reservoir, Bob was always inspiring people and motivating them to join him in his many quests.
I asked Brian Murphy, Bob's longtime friend and associate, to e-mail me a few words about his friend:
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Dear Gary: Actually, I was just talking to the W.C. City Council Subcommittee about the Open Space Foundation's Civic Pride Grant request to finish the wildlife corridor Bob Wisecarver started 12 years ago. I wasn't talking about the past, but about our future and how to engage and inspire young people to get involved in wildlife restoration. Collecting seed in the fall and planting it in the winter is easy. Motivating another generation of people to become passionate about doing this kind of thing is the challenge. How do we get young people turned on to look at and appreciate the natural worlds in their backyards, their private little open spaces? Bob Wisecarver was a pioneer in wildlife habitat restoration and he was always about collaboration, motivation, inspiration and going out and building projects. There were always bat houses, barn owl boxes and bluebird boxes to be built and installed, and then getting more people assembled to help him with those projects. Back at the ranch, brush piles were constructed, plants growing and quail were showing up. Through Bob's efforts, wildlife habitat restoration has evolved into a simple process of collecting various species of seeds in the fall to create new habitat. Then plant the seeds with winter and spring rains growing them into plants. The most important thing was Bob talking to other people about this process to inspire them to try something similar on the land they were working to restore. With bats, Bob concluded the best thing to do is encourage Caltrans to add bat housing to the undersides of bridges they are reconstructing, as they have done with his advice in the Lodi area. Bob said just one of those bridges with built-in bat housing would do much more good for bats than all the bat houses we could ever put up. So we should all encourage Caltrans to include bat housing in their bridge designs. Bob would like that. Gary, it isn't just about what we lost with Bob's passing. It's about the knowledge and inspiration we've gained from Bob's efforts, and especially for us to continue to put that knowledge to work. We've got all that knowledge and the tools Bob gave us to use it. If we don't use them, they're no good. Brian Murphy, |
Well spoke, my friend.
Bob would like that, too.
We're still going to miss that guy.
Reprinted with persmission from the Contra Costa Times (06/01/2008)