In memory of David Charles Lockman
IN MEMORY OF DAVID CHARLES LOCKMAN
1947-2022
Dave Lockman earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and Range Management from Colorado State University in 1969 and a Master of Science degree in Avian Biology from CSU in 1971. He worked as a field biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) for nineteen years and retired from the Department as Education Supervisor after thirty-two years of service.
During his tenure as a wildlife biologist, Dave made significant contributions to Wyoming’s wildlife, whether it was testing new data collection techniques for big game or improved management techniques for waterfowl. Dave had a great interest in wetlands and waterfowl. He was the WGFD Western Wyoming Waterfowl Manager for many years, restoring and expanding trumpeter swan populations in Wyoming. He conducted inventories and population surveys, designed management plans, initiated the wetland mapping and classification system used by USFWS for Wyoming wetlands, organized the first Rocky Mountain Trumpeter Swan Population Management subcommittee for the U.S. and Canada, organized the Whooping Crane Management and Recovery Effort for Wyoming, and authored or co-authored numerous technical articles during his career.
While Education Supervisor, Dave prepared and supervised the implementation and management of over 20 cooperative agreements with Wyoming communities and developed over 50 interpretive education projects, supervised the development of the Outdoor Recreation Education Opportunities program for Wyoming schools, coordinated the establishment of the National Bighorn Sheep Center in Dubois, Wyoming, and created wildlife viewing sites across the state as part of the “Wyoming’s Wildlife-Worth the Watching” program. He planned and developed the first Wyoming Hunting and Fishing Heritage Exposition hosted by the Department. This became an annual event in Wyoming for over 13,000 families and youth annually. He co-authored the “Outdoor Expo Planning Guide”, a collaborative effort between the Weatherby Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and WGFD. This guide was a practical handbook for states desiring to produce an Outdoor Expo. In 2003 he became the project leader for the Weatherby Foundation’s North American Outdoor Expo Campaign. This included providing planning assistance to states and managing a national grant program for funding support to states. As a result, twenty-two states implemented Outdoor Expo education events, reaching 350,000 participants annually.
Since his retirement from the Department, Dave worked as a private consultant on numerous intensive wildlife and habitat surveys, habitat evaluations, and designed and implemented wildlife habitat improvement projects for private landowners and the oil and gas industry. Dave will long be remembered for his tireless efforts with management plans for Pathfinder Ranches, wetland development and designs, habitat inventories and mule deer mitigation work on the Jonah Oil Field, and the Bridger-Teton Forest internship for ecology and forest management.
Dave Lockman was inducted into the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2014. One may make contributions to the National Bighorn Sheep Center’s Conservation Education Fund in memory of David Lockman.
