Fly Fishing People: Mike Finley

October 18, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

Formerly Yellowstone National Park superintendent and now president of the nonprofit Turner Foundation, Mike Finley oversees millions of dollars of conservation grants that touch everything from salmon habitat restoration to crane nesting grounds near the Korean DMZ. It all started with his dad taking him hunting and fishing. “The child of the Cold War graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1970 from what is now Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where he met his wife. He fought wildfires for two summers as part of an elite hot-shot crew based in then-Rogue River National Forest to earn money for college, then spent two summers as a seasonal firefighter at Yellowstone National Park.” Paul Fattig on MailTribune.com.