Bill Mathews loved Idaho. He loved the wide-open spaces. He loved the raptors that dot the sky over desert plains and dive-bomb rivers in the forest. He grew up on a cattle ranch at Grays Lake and loved his agricultural heritage.
Mathews always had one goal in mind: work as hard as possible to preserve what he loved about his home — the land. He felt that way whether it was in his role managing 12 million acres of public land as the Idaho State Director of the Bureau of Land Management from 1970 to 1979, or working for the U.S. Grazing Service in Idaho after he graduated from college in 1942, coming back from World War II to work for the BLM in Burley and Boise, or panning for gold in the mountains east of Boise after he retired.
“We like to say our grandpa was a conservationist before it was cool to be a conservationist,” said Jessica Sipe. “He was humble. He wasn’t a flashy person, he wasn’t demanding but always found a way to get things done.”
“I remember my dad being calm, cool and collected, but he always found a way to push you to your best,” said Kali Karringer. “He had a way to quietly push you out of your comfort zone and get you to do the unexpected. He always knew what people were capable of and helped them get there.”
For instance, when visiting the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area to watch for the raptors it’s named after, you can thank Mathews for striving to make it happen.
Though many know of Morley Nelson’s tireless efforts on behalf of raptors, there were several others who worked behind the scenes to preserve the Birds of Prey area and other wild and open lands that are so much a part of the Idaho existence.
When Mathews retired as the Idaho Director of the BLM in 1979, the Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area was 31,000 acres.
It encompassed 485,000 acres of 81 miles of public land in 1993 when Congress established the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, which was developed as part of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System. Mathews worked on that issue for years, telling the Idaho Statesman in 1980 that the expansion would provide crucial habitat for raptors.
When the popular 1970s TV show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” visited the area, much of it, as expected, was about the charismatic Nelson. Mathews was just thrilled about the coverage, Sipe said, and even got some camera time showing off the landscape.
Among the prized possessions of Mathews’ family is a picture of him on a boat floating on the Snake River with Robert Redford, who made several contributions to conservation of the area, Sipe said.
Mathews shepherded the Idaho BLM through major, paradigm-shifting policy changes in the 1970s when the National Environmental Policy Act was implemented, current BLM Director Steve Ellis said. That required land use agencies to do environmental assessments — to determine the environmental impact of a land-use project before they could do it.
Mathews was also director when the Wild Horse and Burro program was instituted in the 1970s to help manage wild horse populations in the American West and helped create the “Adopt a horse” program, which allows qualified people to adopt mustangs.
“Bill’s skill and judgment guided the Idaho BLM through some crucial changes,” Ellis said.
“When I think about Bill, what strikes me is his dedication to serving others and to conservation. It was his lifelong devotion to persevering land for future generations.”
Mathews was born March 5, 1921, to Louis and Lila Mathews in Provo, Utah, at the home of an aunt, but he spent the vast majority of his 90 years in Idaho.
He was raised on a cattle ranch about 40 miles north of Soda Springs, a place so remote he told the Idaho Statesman in 1980 that “we were so far up the creek we called rhubarb fruit.”
He went to Utah State, got a degree in range management and graduated in 1942. He briefly worked for the BLM’s predecessor — the U.S. Grazing Service — in Idaho before joining the U.S. Army.
Following World War II, Mathews spent more than a decade serving as BLM District Manager for the Burley and Boise districts, and spent the 1960s working for the Department of the Interior in Washington D.C. — visiting the Soviet Union in 1969 to study watershed and wildlife programs — before moving back to Idaho.
After he retired in 1979, Mathews did some contract work for the BLM, was active in the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and spent about 15 years volunteering and helping transport elderly and disabled Boiseans to doctor’s appointments. He became an avid prospector, taking family members into the mountains to pan for gold, and theorizing that every day spent in the mountains added another 90 days to his longevity, Sipe said.
Bill Mathews met Donna MacRae while they both worked at the BLM Burley District office. They were married on Dec. 27, 1951.
Bill Mathews died Aug. 31, 2011, surrounded by family.
He is survived by his wife; their daughters, Kali and Lisa; five grandchildren and five great grandchildren; his sister, Janet Higham; and several nieces and nephews.
In Remembrance is a weekly profile on a Treasure Valley resident who has recently passed away. To recommend a friend or loved one for an In Remembrance, email newsroom@idahostatesman.com.
