Steve Reifenstuhl to Retire

 

Steve Reifenstuhl to Retire in March

The following article is from the December 2019 FishRap.

 

On March 15, Steve Reifenstuhl, NSRAA General Manager, will retire after 40 years working with NSRAA. Scott Wagner, NSRAA Operations Manager, will take over at the organization’s helm.

“Steve is, without question, one of the most professional fish culturists and one of the most dedicated aquaculturists that I know – far and away,” says Eric Prestegard, Executive Director at Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC). “He will be sorely missed.”

“I am honored to have worked with Steve,” says NSRAA Board Member, Jim Moore. “To me he epitomizes effective leadership. Not only has he actively led and directed NSRAA in the truest sense, but has represented NSRAA and Alaska’s unique hatchery program in the broader arena of politics and policy.”

Athletic and trim, with piercing blue eyes and a thick head of wavy white hair, at 69, Steve looks – and acts – far younger than his age.

Originally from North Salem, New York, Steve came to Alaska in his early 20s not for a job, but for the adventure. He was an avid rock and mountain climber. “Alaska was the penultimate of that kind of adventure,” Steve says. Jobs were merely a way pay for his adventures.

Some of the words his colleagues use to describe Steve include honest, straightforward, intelligent, passionate, energetic, driven and dedicated. Steve describes himself as “weirdly analytical”, focused, energetic, intense. His friends and family tease him for being borderline obsessive in his planning. Steve admits he likes to make charts and analyze data. He was methodical in his plan to move to Alaska and his decision to settle in Sitka. As beautiful as it was accessible to climbing and adventure, Sitka was the perfect “base camp” for Steve’s adventures.

Considering his affinity for planning, it’s surprising to hear Steve say he never planned for a career in fisheries, nor his eventual rise through the ranks at NSRAA. Steve came to Alaska with a bachelors and a master’s degree in wildlife biology. He began working with NSRAA and Dick Crone, NSRAA Project Leader for coho lake rearing.

“Everything I learned about salmon I learned here on the job and reading and working for Dick Crone,” Steve says. “He was my mentor.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Steve sought adventure and found it, even on the job with NSRAA. “For the first 10 years, I would often say ‘I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this! I would do this for free,’” he says. In his first two years, Steve was part of the team charged with exploring 60 remote lakes. They navigated through wilderness, planned and built trails, man-made dams, remote camps and treehouses. “It was very creative, arduous, challenging and physical work. I just loved it.”

When not at work, Steve travelled all over Alaska in his quest for high-risk adventure. Over the years, those athletic accomplishments (he often led the pack, regardless of the competition) have earned him recognition as an adventure racer and sponsorships from companies including Patagonia and Montrail. He was selected as one of the first Patagonia ambassador.

These days, people hear the term ‘adventure racing’ and they think of the Eco Challenge, where teams of two to five people compete as they navigate a course together using various disciplines, including climbing, rafting, biking. Though Steve occasionally partnered with his brother, Rocky, he usually races solo. He’s raced 100-200 miles across Alaskan mountain ranges and wilderness with no checkpoints, no aid stations. He’s raced on the Iditarod trail. He’s raced 150 miles solo in an ocean kayak. He and Rocky set a record when they rode 365 miles from Fairbanks to Anchorage in 19 hours without once stopping to get off their bikes.

“I’m an intense person,” Steve says, laughing. “I’ve been lucky that I don’t need a lot of sleep and I just can’t really slow down. That kind of intensity and drive is a big part of success in anything.”

But while Steve was surely strategizing his next athletic endeavor, he didn’t plan his next career move. “It always surprised me that I would be asked to do something like a promotion,” he says. “I wasn’t looking to climb a ladder … it just happened along the way.”

In 2009, after a year at Silver Bay Seafoods, Steve returned to NSRAA as General Manager with a vision to grow the organization’s production by 40 percent. In just short of a decade under Steve’s leadership, NSRAA has expanded its programs and salmon production by 80 percent, with the addition of Southeast Cove, Crawfish Inlet, Thomas Bay and Gunnuk Creek Hatchery. It is arguably his greatest accomplishment.

“I appreciate how he mobilizes resources and staff to turn vision into the mission and accomplish it,” says Eric Jordan, NSRAA Board member and one of the founding members.

 

“Steve seems to thrive on challenges,” says Deborah Lyons, NSRAA Board member. “Under his leadership, the entire NSRAA staff was completely engaged with an urgent response (to run failures at Hidden Falls) and carried out his strategy of immediate diversification of the chum programs. Fishermen will reap the rewards of that response for decades.”

“Steve worked so hard to get the returns up for NSRAA and I’m just ever so happy for him,” Eric Prestegard says.

When asked what he views as his most rewarding moments at NSRAA, Steve refers to drone footage on YouTube that documented the 2018 record-breaking catch at Crawfish Inlet. “I couldn’t watch that video the first 10 times without tearing up, because it was representative of all we had poured into these programs to create this value to fishermen. It was representative of that and it was a very emotional thing for me.”

“I just feel very fortunate that I fell into this job – not just where I’m sitting now, but working for fishermen,” Steve says. “I really, truly love being the General Manager. NSRAA is woven through my fabric, there’s no question. It’s been a huge component of my life. It’s been hugely rewarding to work for a board of directors that is engaged and appreciative of what we do, and is visionary in how they approach staff and employees and growing the company.”

After 40 years, Steve is as much part of NSRAA’s fabric as it is a part of him. Though Steve has planned for his retirement carefully – he gave the board his notice four years ago, so NSRAA wouldn’t miss a step – it is a bittersweet to say goodbye. It will be no easier for Steve to walk away than it will be for others to see him go.

“What I think every commercial fisherman who participates in the forums that rule our lives will miss, is Steve Reifenstuhl, the “White-Maned-Lion” advocating with reason and integrity on our issues,” says Deborah.

“That our board of directors often faces divisive issues, yet somehow always seems to maintain our cohesiveness, is due in no small part to Steve’s vision and to his wisdom,” Jim says. “He commands everyone’s respect. One reason for that is that his heart is in his work. I have seen him tear up when reflecting on the phenomenal success of one of our aquaculture projects. It’s an honor to work with someone like that.”

“I feel convinced that we’re still going to see him participate one way or another for years to come,” says Eric Prestegard. “He’s not walking away from it 100 percent. I can’t imagine him not; he’s got too much energy.”

Needless to say, Steve’s retirement does not mark the end of his adventures. In fact, adventure – climbing, in particular – is one of the reasons he has chosen to retire now, instead of later.

“From all I can tell, I don’t think I’ve slipped at all – my mental faculties are still acute,” he jokes. “I still do all the things I’ve always done on the adventure competitive side of my life. I think I still have 10 years left in my body where I can do those things. That’s a good time to leave, when you’ve accomplished things and you still have a vision for what you want in your future.”

March 15th will be Steve’s last day with NSRAA. Scott, a longtime employee with NSRAA, will take over for the spring board meeting. Steve and board members are confident the transition will be seamless

“Steve matured into the role (of General Manager) by always giving his best in response to every challenge, learning from mistakes, and by empowering the staff,” says Deborah. “I expect Scott Wagner to do the same. NSRAA is not a culture that celebrates individuals so much as a culture that empowers individuals to succeed in the task of producing fish and strengthening the fishing community, wherever possible.”