Fred Williams

Fred Williams was interviewed by Bill Schneider and Dave Krupa on October 20, 1993 at his home in Copperville, Copper Center, Alaska. Fish Bug Lane is what he called his road. A 1964 snowmachine sat in the front yard: he just had it all overhauled. Fred and his wife, Halle, have three springer spaniels. Fred is a major collector of rifles; he has a whole room full of them. In this interview, he talks about his experiences as a fish and game biologist in the Copper Basin area. It is clear that he loved the time that he spent out in the field, which amounted to 75% of the work then. Now biologists spend 25% of their time out in the country. A large part of his job involved taking fish surveys from aircraft. His back room is stocked with antique guns which he says he can't resist. The basement has many testimonies to his interests, history books, animal trophies, and a display of his old Fish and Game badges from Alaska and Wyoming where he also worked. In this first part of a two part interview, Fred talks about his job as a fisheries biologist, subsistence, federal and state regulations, and his feelings about land preservation, the National Park Service and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.