Hometown Hero - Marc Schultz

This week’s Hometown Hero is Marc Schultz of Onalaska. I personally selected Marc as this week’s Hero because of his outstanding commitment to conservation issues.

For years, Marc served as the Community Natural Resources and Economic Development (CNRED) Agent with the UW-Extension. As a CNRED agent, Marc worked to protect natural resources, promote economic development and encourage public involvement in issues such as local government housing grants, land use, and environmental protection. He worked with local governments and organizations to help educate the public and foster participation in governance.

His favorite part of the job was getting the chance to work with a diverse group of people to help out the community. He says one of his favorite projects was helping to organize the Lake Neshonoc Protection and Rehabilitation District, a multimillion dollar lake rehabilitation project. And his least favorite would probably be everyone’s least favorite: bureaucracy.

Marc has since retired, but his passion for the environment and community service hasn’t stopped. He currently serves as the Chair of the Town of Onalaska Shoreline Committee, a member of the Brice Prairie Conservation Association Board, Chair of the Joint City County Harbor Commission and the Chair of the La Crosse County Conservation Alliance. But wait there’s more: Vice Chair of the La Crosse Emergency Planning Committee, Chair of the Lake Onalaska Protection and Rehabilitation District, member of the Executive Council of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and Chair of its Mississippi River Committee, member of the Southwest Badger Resource Conservation District Board, and member of the Mississippi River Citizens Commission Board. Whew!

Marc’s passion for the outdoors started at a young age. He grew up in Chippewa Falls and spent his time hunting, fishing and skiing with friends and family. In high school, he volunteered on various conservation projects and while he was earning his degree from UW-Stevens Point he worked with Excel Energy to do conservation work on the Chippewa Flowage. After working in public health in the Air Force, he went back to UW-SP for a Master’s degree in Natural Resources.

Marc and his wife Sue live on Brice Prairie in the Town of Onalaska. Somehow, they manage to find the free time to travel and spend time up at the family cabin. They love to take their houseboat out on the Mississippi and enjoy just about every outdoor activity out there.

People like Marc set a great example for us all. He manages to be both a hunting and fishing enthusiast as well as a committed protector of the environment. Every day he proves that you can be an environmental advocate while enjoying our great Wisconsin outdoor heritage. It’s a challenging balancing act, but Marc does it expertly.

Congratulations to you, Marc! Keep up the good work and continue to be a Hometown Hero.

Hometown Hero is a weekly feature put together by Rep. Steve Doyle (D-Onalaska). If you have any suggestions of a Hometown Hero, send a short description of why you think this person should be a Hometown Hero and contact information of both you and the nominee to rep.doyle@legis.wisconsin.gov.