Walter E. Scott was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in February, 1911. He received his B.A. in biology in 1933 and an M.A. in biographical philosophy in 1955, both from Kalamazoo College. In 1965, he received an M.S. in political science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
As a young man, Scott worked for almost ten summers as a conservation and nature studies counselor at the Milwaukee Boy Scout Camp. In 1934, he began his professional career in conservation as an employee of the Wisconsin Conservation Department (later the Department of Natural Resources), where he was employed for over forty years without interruption except for service in the South Pacific and Japan in the Army Counter-Intelligence Corps during World War II. From 1934 to 1936 Scott worked as a game warden; from 1936 to 1948 as a game management supervisor; from 1948 to 1950 as an editor; and finally from 1950 to 1977 as administrative assistant to the director. As part of his responsibilities he reorganized the Conservation Department's administrative procedures.
During his career Scott was involved in numerous conservation efforts, including the organization of the state's first game management wildlife research projects (Pittman-Robertson) and the acquisition of Horicon Marsh and the first public hunting grounds at Deansville Marsh. He also served as liaison with the Wisconsin Conservation Congress for several years and was involved with the State Historical Society in a Natural Resources History Project. Scott served as a member of the Natural Resources Committee of State Agencies, 1968-1975, and as assistant to the secretary of the State Recreation Committee. In addition, he was president of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (and founder and editor of the Wisconsin Academy Review), co-founder and president of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation, and founder of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Alliance. While engaged in these pursuits, Scott wrote many speeches for himself and others on conservation topics. For an even more complete listing of the organizations with which Scott was affiliated, see the biography in Box 1, Folder 1.
Walter Scott died in 1984.
