The southeast citizen advisory team: Who they are

Here are short biographies of the 21 members of the southeast citizen advisory team, provided by the DNR. The team will make recommendations to the DNR regarding deer density goals in their region.

Mark Bauman, Rochester

Bauman has hunted whitetail deer for over 30 years in SE Minnesota, using both bow and shotgun. He has had a number of experiences across a wide spectrum of deer hunting and deer management perspectives, from farmer to landowner to being a guest on others' land. Bauman has been working at IBM for over 32 years.

Cynthie Christensen, Rushford

Christensen is a landowner and partner in Oak Ridge Farms for the past 21 years. She is president of the Houston County Farm Bureau.

Ken Fetterly, Spring Valley

Fetterly and his family live and hunt along Spring Valley Creek. He is a public at-large member of the advisory team, without a group or state agency affiliation.

Gates is a southeast landowner who enjoys deer and deer hunting. He is a vegetable grower and also manages the natural communities on his property.

Collin Johnson, St. Charles

A lifelong resident of southeast Minnesota and avid outdoorsman, Johnson is a member of several conservation organizations including Bluffland Whitetails Association, Quality Deer Management Association and Minnesota Deer Hunters Association. He is a registered nurse who resides with his wife, daughter and son in St. Charles.

Chris Kolbert, St. Charles

Kolbert is a freelance outdoor writer and a lifelong outdoorsman who hunts whitetail deer in southeastern Minnesota during the archery, firearm and muzzleloader seasons. He hunts in multiple permit areas each year and believes that recent zone 3 deer management strategies have altered the dynamic of the fall deer harvest.

Kolbet is a pharmacist and local hunter from Rochester.

(Victor) Vong Lee, Roseville

Lee is an active hunter and a conservator of the environment.

Quintin Lohse, Chatfield

Lohse lives and hunts on ten acres west of Chatfield. He is also an officer of the Chatfield Fish and Game Club.

Miller is a family farm owner/operator in Olmsted, Fillmore and Winona Counties. She also serves on the Fillmore County Farm Bureau Board and is a member of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

Anne Morse, Dakota

Morse is a lifelong resident of rural Winona County and a longtime apple grower. She works for Winona County. She is a senior planner in the Planning and Environmental Services Department and is staff to the county's Parks and Environment Advisory Committee.

Mark Popovich, Welch

Popovich has deer hunted in Minnesota for 38 years. He started as a gun hunter, now hunts archery and hopes to someday hunt with a muzzleloader. He owns a small orchard in Welch and is also a landscape contractor. He also enjoys fishing, turkey hunting and waterfowl hunting.

Rosenthal has been a deer hunter (archery, shotgun, rifle) for over 30 years and is also on the committee that makes recommendations to the Red Wing City Council for the annual city archery hunt to keep the deer population from getting out of hand within the city limits. He's interested in keeping deer numbers at a healthy level from a hunter's standpoint so there are ample hunting opportunities, but also understands there are numerous reasons to keep the herd from becoming too large.

Tom Ryan, Byron

Ryan is a lifetime sportsman and a lifetime resident of SE Minnesota. He is a resource manager for Olmsted County Parks.

Jim Siewert, Lake City

Siewert has served as an elected officer of the 250-member Frontenac Sportsman's Club for 10 years. He enjoys whitetail hunting and annually bow, gun, muzzle and shed hunts. He is a landowner, avid outdoorsman and father to three young boys who will begin the whitetail hunting experience this year. Improving and sustaining the whitetail hunting experience for present generation and future generations are his primary motives for being on the advisory team.

Simons has been an avid hunter of whitetail deer with bow and firearms for 40-plus years in Minnesota, hunting primarily in the zone 300 areas.

Terry Spaeth, Rochester

Spaeth is an avid deer hunter and a member of Minnesota Bowhunters, Inc. In his job with the City of Rochester, he also has experience in dealing with urban wildlife management issues, so as a committee member, he will be representing those interests.

Len Strapp, Rushford

Strapp has spent nearly 30 years enjoying the various woods and waters of Minnesota, engaging in activities such as deer hunting, ice fishing and filling bird feeders in the backyard. Many hours have been spent teaching his wife and two children about the natural world in southeast Minnesota. Even though he has a background in biology, he has spent 20-plus years working for an industrial supply company, currently as a business analyst.

Stubstad has owned an archery store for 37 years, which gives him a connection to hundreds of hunters each year.

Mark Timm, Altura

Timm is a lifetime resident of Winona County. He is a fifth-generation farmer of his family farm and is an avid turkey and deer hunter.

Jim Vogen, Chatfield

Vogen has been deer hunting for 40-plus years, has been a member of the Southeast chapter of MDHA for 26 years and served as its secretary and president. Vogen has been the regional director of MDHA for eight years and has chapters in Winona, Hayfield/Rochester area, Albert Lea and Waseca, and has been on the membership, endowment, and habitat community at the state level and is currently co-chairman of the habitat community.