DNR manager made his mark in the area

Ran on Tuesday, July 10, 2007

DNR manager made his mark in the area

By Keighla Schmidt
Leader-Telegram staff

Wisconsin lost a natural resources historian when Dave Weitz died Sunday night, said people who knew the longtime Department of Natural Resources public affairs manager.
"The DNR, natural resources and communications truly was in his genes," said Dave Carlson, who hosts an outdoor show "Northland Adventures" on WQOW-TV (Channel 18). "Dave lived it, breathed it, talked it."
Weitz, 63, died unexpectedly Sunday night in his sleep, according to the DNR.
Buzz Sorge, a DNR lake management planner, worked with Weitz for 21 years and can't believe his friend died so suddenly.
"You talk to somebody on Friday, leave for the weekend and expect they're going to be there Monday," Sorge said. "In this case, David isn't going to be here."
His DNR work the past 28 years left a mark on people in the community, said Scott Humrickhouse, DNR regional director in Eau Claire.
"Dave was a deeply committed public servant, believed in what he did and he did it well," Humrickhouse said.
Humrickhouse knew Weitz for more than 20 years and worked closely with him for the past 15 years.
"Dave was a real professional, but more than that, he was a real friend," he said. "The folks in Wisconsin really lost a friend."
John "Duke" Welter of Eau Claire, chairman of the Natural Resources Board's Stewardship Reauthorization Subcommittee, knew Weitz for years.
"Dave was a person who had a first-rate understanding of the history behind a lot of Wisconsin resource issues," he said.
"What I found to be really valuable, when you needed some historic background on an issue. Dave could put his finger on that information."
Weitz's interest in the DNR may have stemmed from his father, Chauncey Weitz, who was a DNR conservation warden.
"He's always been about as loyal to the DNR as anybody I've ever met," said Jim Mense, chairman of the Conservation Congress in Dunn County.
Weitz was a newspaper reporter before joining the DNR