Introducing Kyle Maki: IWF's North Idaho Field Representative

Joining IWF as the North Idaho Field Representative, Kyle is excited to begin working to help conserve the fish, wildlife, habitat, and outdoor heritage that we as Idahoans value so much.

Kyle grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where spending time in the outdoors was just another part of daily life. He does not remember the first fish he caught, started running a trapline off his bike at 10, and killed his first deer by himself with a bow at 13, so it’s easy to say that his passion for the outdoors goes way back. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife with a Fisheries Biology and Management Concentration from Michigan State University, despite the amount of time spent on the water chasing “Steelhead”, or lake run rainbow trout as many west coast anglers refer to them. After graduation, he spent the next two summers in Alaska working as a salmon and trout guide while pouring concrete and laying stone for a local mason in the offseason to make ends meet.

Moving to Idaho had been on his radar since he began reading articles about hunting out west in Field and Stream and Outdoor Life as a young child and in 2016, shortly after getting married, he and his wife made the move. For the next two years he worked as a Fisheries Technician for Idaho Department of Fish and Game with wild Salmon and Steelhead on the Lochsa River and Fish Creek, both of which eventually connect with the Selway River and form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River.

Having two young children makes it even easier for him to fight to protect the outdoor opportunities that we currently enjoy. “It’s not just about me and my hunting and fishing anymore. Now I think about my kids, and I want them to have to these same opportunities to hunt, fish, and spend time in the outdoors that I have had. Without them I know I wouldn’t have turned out to be the person I am today.”

Odds are if he is not working, Kyle is enjoying time in the outdoors either fishing, hunting, scouting, or hiking and camping with his family. If you’d like to get more involved, you can reach out to him at kmaki@idahowildlife.org.