More Fellows and Friends

I knew Jim Range not as a conservationist, a fisherman or a hunter but as a brother-in-law. He was such a sensitive, caring, wonderful man, and oh, those dinners!!

Jim and Lizzie provided a beautiful safe haven in Montana for several summers for my two boys who at that time needed love, attention, nurturing, guidance and just a wonderful place to be other than with their mother. For that, I am truly grateful and will never forget what it meant to them or to me. It meant everything.

I will miss just knowing that you're there Jim.

With love,

Linda Schueler Brown

Message to the Jim Range family and friends

As a Montana cattle rancher, privileged to provide stewardship over some of the finest Sharptail Grouse habitat in the country, I have enjoyed hosting Jim Range and friends during the past two hunting seasons.

My daughter, Mary Hanson is with the Montana Land Reliance and developed a friendship with Jim while working on various conservation issues. She told me he was a special guy, and asked permission to bring him and a few friends to the ranch to hunt birds. Our lands are open to unrestricted public hunting and I don't get excited about providing special treatment to anyone. However, within minutes of meeting Jim Range, I knew I liked this guy, I liked his friends, I liked his dogs, I enjoyed hunting with him, and I invited him back.

This past year, Jim and his crew stayed at one of our remote cow-camps and after he tended to his dogs, as we were unloading bed rolls, hunting gear, and groceries, he picked up several sacks of produce and said "home grown taters, home grown tomaters, and home grown onions from my garden at Craig - boys this is livin' - let's go find some birds" followed by "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this privlege".

Jim Range, the privilege was mine; I have been looking forward to hunting Sharptails and sipping Jack Daniels with you as an annual event, but keep in mind, your friends will always be welcome and we will memorialize a annual hunt. Your cots and bed rolls are in safe storage at the "stone house".

Your friend

Steve Page

I had the very distinct pleasure to be mentored by Jim while he

chaired the National Development Committee of Ducks Unlimited. One

memory that stands out is a retreat we enjoyed in and around his

Ranch. We had the opportunity to spend a few hours casting about and

even landed one or two fish.

Jim had that down home country feel but was as sharp as tacks and we

accomplished a tremendous feat under his leadership.

Jim, may you have tight lines and eagle eyes, on your next journey.

With fondness and deep sorrow,

Jim Konkel

Ducks Unlimited, Inc. & Ducks Unlimited Canada

As the word ofJimmy's passing winged it's way across the Americas, so many of us sat in stunned silence. How could this happen to our friend who was still so young, vibrant, and full of passion. Matt was kind enough to share an incredibly personal with me that he had sent to Jimmy on Monday, and reminded me of Coy Johnson's adage "God always takes the prettiest flower". Matt captured to a tee the Jimmy that we know and love. Wednesday morning I read it to my husband Jim while sitting by the fire having coffee, surrounded by our dogs. It's such a reminder that life is so short. Coy is spot on about the "prettiest flower". Jim and I had Peter Carton from Canada down hunting over the New Year. Peter had not had the opportunity to meet Ranger, but he knew of the legend. As the whiskey flowed, Jim regaling him with wonderful stories about Ranger and his escapades at WAT (Wetland America Trust) meetings. It seems they were often housed away from the rest of the group due to their propensity for "living life to the fullest". Jim always admired Ranger because he could "drink more, snore louder, and be more profane" than him (no small feat). It's with heavy heartsthat we will load the dogs and guns in our suburban, and head to the ranch for our last days of the season. As we trudge through the countryside, we will quietly remember the last 25 years of friendship with a most extraordinary man. Follow Jimmy's lead and live life to the fullest. One never knows when God may need a bouquet from Coy's garden. We'll miss you Jimmy. Love, Jean and Jim Hulbert, Longview, WA. ( Jim is Chairman of the Board of Ducks Unlimited)

January 25th 2009

I was deeply saddened to read on Thursday morning of the passing of my

old friend Jimmy Range.

Over forty-five years ago when we were both high school students in

Johnson City, Tennessee, Jimmy’s character and courage taught me a

lesson I have never forgotten in the intervening years. Although it has

been almost fifteen years since I last saw him, the lesson remains a

vivid one.

Now, I scarcely know one end of a fishing rod from the other and know

next to nothing about the causes that Jimmy made his life’s work. But I

am not surprised at all to read of the many accomplishments that

characterized his professional career and personal passions.

Jimmy Range cared a lot about people. I remember visiting him in New

Orleans not long after Kimberly and Allison were born. He was most

concerned that I not get lost going back from the Garden District to my

hotel. He had explicitly written out directions of what street car to

take and what stop to exit. Since this was my first visit to New

Orleans, I appreciated the assistance. More so, I appreciated the time

and effort he took. But that would be so typical of the fellow named

Jimmy Range.

To Allison and Kimberly, to Dr. Bud Range, to his brothers, and to all

his extended friends and family, I share your sadness and offer my

sincere condolences.

While we mourn his passing, we can also rejoice for the life he lived,

full and rich, albeit all too short. Much of him lives on afterwards,

as Shakespeare noted:

He hath left you all his walks, his private arbours, and new-planted

orchards…

He hath left them you, and to your heirs for ever,

Common pleasures, to walk abroad, and recreate yourselves.

The elements were so mixed in him,

That Nature might stand up,

And say to all the world,

This was a man!

Steven H. Blackwell Alexandria VA

When I heard that Tennessee “twang”, and saw those sparkling eyes, I knew that Jim had passed through the looking glass. There are places in Washington insulated from the pathways of power or the offices of influence. Jim was escaping those so familiar stations, for just a bit. If not for the unfortunate invention of the cell phone, Jim, like so many of us, might have truly been able to set the inner kid free.

I really only knew Jim from his time at Fletcher’s. And that was a good place to know him. His coffee was just as bad, his boat just the same, the chill on the water a shared experience with the other anglers. Did I know he had met with Presidents and worked the halls of Congress? Sure… but on the river we were all just fishin’ buddies, soaking in God’s awesome creation and hoping for the big one to take our bait.

JR and his frequent fishing partner Mike Bailey, a.k.a. “Beauty” (Jim) and “The Beast” (Mike), also known as Animal, would wail-away on those fish more often than not. But you could tell on the good days as well as the unproductive ones, that catching was great, but it was the being there that truly mattered. That, I found, very likeable in a man of Jim’s broad accomplishments and travels. On a day of crossing paths with Jim, I always had that… “I want to have a beer (or more likely, a shot of J D) with him” feeling.

Characters like Jim Range are cherished at Fletcher’s. We’ve had so many, with so many unique stories over the decades. We openly embrace them. I worry sometimes that the supply of characters, odd-balls and eccentrics might dry up in the future. Jim’s untimely death leaves yet another big void in the “character” department.

On a chilly Spring morning, with the promise of warm sunshine to come, I’m going to row an empty red rowboat out on the Potomac River and anchor it in Jim’s favorite shad spot. Then we can imagine that his spirit will get one last crack at a big roe, fresh from the ocean, bay and river that he loved and worked to protect.

Dan Ward

Although I only met Jim briefly a few times over the past decade, I

would like to thank him and Susan for giving me two of the most

wonderful friends I have ever had - his daughters Kim and Allison. Both

Kim and Allison have the best of both of their parents in them, least of

which is their love of dogs. I will never forget meeting Plague and

Jambo in the backyard, a common area for condo owners in Arlington

Village. I remember thinking about how wonderful it was to FINALLY meet

a family who knew about how to breed GOOD labs! I was tired of the

skinny inbred versions, and Jambo and Plague blew me away. Jim was tops

when it came to breeding dogs. I met more Range dogs over the years:

Lilly, Zeke, Plague (again), Tench, and Skye - all awesome.

How ironic it was, then, when I got a call from Allison the day before

Jim died, to come and help her and Scott (Kim's husband) take Zeke to

his final resting place after he had suffered seizures all night. I

knew that it was time...good ol Zeke was getting ready to meet his

master at the gates so they could go in together. Jim is now surrounded

by his bouncing dogs, slogging through the brush and swamps headed for

the flocks. May they all rest in peace together. Kathy Bellows

To Kim and Allison

I only knew Jim through his daughters. To those of you have written and

read about Jim and the friends he made through his adventures, I will surely

tell you he is not really gone at all. You only have to know his daughters

to feel the adventurous spirit of their dad. With a good splash of family

responsibility mixed in from their mother, these women are jovial and well

grounded people who enjoy everything life has to offer. So, when you are

missing or thinking of Jim, call or meet these two wonderful people that

carry his adventurous and environmentally caring genes. The traits are

there and well defined. They, like their father, have never met a person who

wasn’t their friend.

Yes Jim, what I have read about you, I sense strongly in Kim and Allison.

These qualities are the part of you that do and will continue to exist.

Jim, I raise my glass to you. Be assured that your legacy will endure

through your daughters’ curious nature and sparkle. Have a glorious journey.

I am blessed to know you through Kim and Allison.

Love Julie and all the 2 and 4 legged creatures at Hobbie Horse Farm.

I first met Jim in early 1977. I had just taken a position as majority (then Democratic) counsel to the House Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation Subcommittee. Jim was then counsel to the Republican members of the Senate Environment Committee. Jim and I spent a lot of time together over the next several years dealing with the political firestorm surrounding the Supreme Court’s Tellico Dam decision and the resulting legislative amendments to the Endangered Species Act. Jim epitomized everything that House staff despised and envied of Senate staff. He was smart, self-assured and extremely effective. Most gallingly, Jim appeared to have limitless authority to speak and negotiate for a broad spectrum of the Senate Committee. Or so Jim would have had us believe. I returned to California to practice law, but Jim and I stayed in touch. Several years later Jim (in his capacity as the DC representative of a major corporation) hired me to help avoid a conflict between a new waste management facility and a population of an endangered butterfly. With Jim’s prodding, the corporation agreed to what was then considered a novel conservation plan committing the company to the preservation, restoration and long-term management of the butterfly’s serpentine soil habitat.

Jim. Thanks for entering my life. I will miss you.

Rob Thornton

It’s hard to imagine things being the same in the conservation and wildlife legislative world in Washington, D.C. without Jim Range. After having the privilege of working with Jim and others at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) for more than 2 years I often have said that I could learn more about Washington politics spending an hour visiting with Jim – than in a week or month with anyone else.

I also experienced the compassionate and sensitive side of Jim after he met my dad on a hunting trip and filming of a pheasant hunt on my farms in South Dakota. After we returned to Washington Jim and I were visiting about the trip and he told me, “ your dad is a good man isn’t he.” After I wholeheartedly agreed he went on to say, “ I could tell because he has kind eyes.” No one ever said that to me about my dad before, and although not in the best of health, my dad is still with us in South Dakota. Every time I’ve visited him since then and I look into his eyes I see what I experienced growing up with him as a father and what Jim perceived by looking into his eyes – that he is certainly a kind and good man. Jim also taught me that I could learn about someone by looking into their eyes.

Jim taught me that being passionate and caring about protecting our land and water and the God-given fish and wildlife that inhabit it isn’t just something we should do – we have to do it, not only for ourselves but also for the generations to come.

Thanks, Jim, for what you’ve taught me. Lynn Tjeerdsma

Click here to read from "Fellows and Friends"

A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO JIM

SEE JIM RANGE PHOTO GALLERY

SEE MORE PHOTOS AFEILD

JIM'S Obituary

A thank you.

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