Virgil J. Muench, attorney and conservationist, was born in Algoma, Wisconsin, in 1904. After graduation from the Marquette University Law School in 1927, he practiced law in Green Bay until his retirement in 1953. A man zealously devoted to causes, he was an advocate of free trade during the 1940's, and during the 1950's, an environmentalist. The Green Bay Trade Independent Association of which he was a member and executive secretary, 1943-1944, was an organization of small businessmen, who promoted the cause of local ownership and opposed the chain stores and “integration” of businesses.
Muench's interest in conservation grew from his activity in the Izaak Walton League of America. As fishermen and sportsmen, members of the League actively sought to preserve the streams and fields of Wisconsin. As president of the Brown County Chapter, 1948-1949, and of the Wisconsin Division, 1949-1950, Muench became a key element in this battle. In 1949 the Namekagon Hydro Company sought permission to build a dam on the Namekagon River in Washburn County. The Izaak Walton League sought to block the dam; as an officer of the League and as an attorney, Muench was involved with the litigation, 1949-1954. He remained active in conservation causes after his retirement and stayed abreast of water pollution problems and solutions, fishery problems on the Great Lakes, conservation legislation, the changing status of the Menomonee Indians, and many other things. In 1957 he was appointed both to the Advisory Committee for Lake Michigan for the United States Section of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and to the State Water Resources Committee of the Joint Legislative Council.
