Story Photos
 Photo Eric Kayne / The Seattle Times Rocky Spencer, a Longview native killed Saturday in an on-the-job accident, holds a cougar kitten he tracked near Snoqualmie Aug. 24. |
Longview native found his calling in the wild
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 7:05 AM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleWildlife biologist and Longview native Rocky Spencer always took time to share his love of the outdoors with others, his brother said Monday.
Spencer, the state's carnivore expert with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, was killed on the job Saturday. He walked into a helicopter blade while helping to relocate bighorn sheep near Yakima to a Washington State University research facility.
Monday, his brother Scott Spencer of Castle Rock said the 55-year-old had a life-long love of the outdoors and often bragged he had the best job in the world.
"He always told me he couldn't believe he got paid for it," Scott Spencer said. "He loved the job and the great bunch of people he worked with."
Spencer was raised in Longview and graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1970. He attended Western Washington University and volunteered each summer with the wildlife department to gain experience.
"He loved to fish and be outdoors, and his schooling was always directed at that type of work," Scott Spencer said.
He also played on local slow pitch softball teams for a number of years while growing up.
Spencer, who lived in Issaquah, also loved to share his knowledge with younger members of his family, taking his brothers' children along on elk counts whenever he could, Scott Spencer said.
And his classroom presentations were the hit of the school whenever he visited.
In addition to the cougar skulls and other displays children loved, Spencer found a unique way to demonstrate how he tracked cougars in the wild.
"He'd put a tracking collar on the teacher and have her leave then he and all the kids would run down the hallways looking for her with the radio tracker," Scott Spencer said, chuckling. "He was a good teacher like that."
Spencer visited the area frequently and kept in touch often through e-mail, said sister-in-law Peggy Spencer, who is married to his brother Duke, of Longview. He also was one of the presenters at the Youth Outdoor Adventure Expo this spring at the Cowlitz County Expo Center.
In recent years, Spencer became an expert on cougars and black bears, working with a rare Karelian bear dog to track them and their interactions with humans. The goal of a three-year cougar study was to find ways to minimize the danger when humans are approached by the wild animals, according to a Seattle Times article.
"Everybody I ever talked to said he was the best in his field," Peggy Spencer said. "And it didn't surprise me at all that he became the personality representing the wildlife department because he had such an engaging personality."
Spencer never had children of his own but doted on his brothers' children, Scott Spencer said. In addition to Scott and Duke, Spencer also leaves a brother, Jeff Spencer of Scappoose.
"He loved to play with the kids," Scott Spencer said. "Whenever he came down he'd grab them all, throw them in the rig and take them down to lake to feed the ducks or something."
"He was a wonderful brother-in-law, a wonderful uncle," Peggy Spencer added. "My telephone has been ringing all day with so many people who are just devastated. ... He's going to leave a huge void."
"He just always did the right thing," Scott Spencer said. "He was one of the good guys."
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