1930 – 1995
Inducted 1997
“Hank taught the value of working with the public, not telling the public, but leading the public.” – WCHF
At the tender age of 26, Henry “Hank” Liebzeit was elected to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, serving Outagamie County. Liebzeit was born in Plymouth, Wisconsin in 1930. He started working for a family-owned dairy business at 13 and continued until after high school. His first became involved in Wisconsin conservation in his early twenties when he was elected secretary of the Outagamie Conservation Club. From this point until the time of his death in 1995, Liebzeit worked for conservation and gaming rights throughout Wisconsin.
Hank went on to serve the Wisconsin Conservation Congress as secretary-treasurer, then as vice chairman. Liebzeit served on many committees for the congress including an Ad Hoc committee on the OARP, or Outdoor Recreation Act Program. Also, he provided leadership as chair of big game, fisheries, forestry, legislative and rules study committees.
Devoting much of his life to hunting rights, Hank organized and founded the Twin City Rod & Gun Club, now Black Bear Hunting. Hank was known in the state capital by many legislatures, senators, assemblymen and several governors. Liebzeit helped provide direction to place the black bear on the big game hunting season, rather than as a socalled pest or vermin as had been the previous status.
A firm believer in equal access to the state’s natural resources, Hank represented the Twin City Rod & Gun club in CARE – Citizens Alliance for Resource Equity, Inc. – an organization to protect, conserve and manage natural resources for all citizens and to provide succeeding generations equal access the state’s natural treasures.
As chair of the big game committee of the Conservation Congress, Liebzeit provided support for unit boundaries and over-winter goals for whitetail deer management. Hank was a strong supporter of both youth and adult outdoor education programs such as hunter safety, water safety, outdoors skills and trapper education.
In 1996, his wife Verla wrote, “He was an active conversationalist, enjoying beautiful Wisconsin. He was a hunter, big and small game, a fisherman, and avid sturgeon spearer, a snowmobiler, a boater… He spent most of his adult life concerned about the future of natural resources in this fine state, representing persons with the same interests…He pledged to defend land, air, water and the fish and wildlife that use them.”
Resources
Henry Liebzeit Legislative Citation
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress Gets the Gold, booklet (see page 10), 1984
Photos
These images may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.