Still playing Smokey
Ranger retires from forestry commission after 38 years
When James Wagner graduated from Sheridan High School in 1977, he tried factory work. However, it wasn’t a fit. “I just couldn’t do it,” Wagner said. “I have always liked the outdoors and rode horses through the woods, and I hunted for years. I always loved the outdoors.”
Luckily for Wagner, four years later, he found a career that allowed him to call the forests of Grant County his office for 38 years.
“I was working my last fire, and the dispatcher called in announcing my retirement,” he said. “I teared up. She told me later, she did, too. We are just a big family.”
Wagner started off as a forest ranger for the Arkansas Forestry Commission. He moved up to county ranger after 16 years and retired in that position Nov. 30, 2019. In all, he dedicated 38 years to preserving and protecting the forests and educating citizens in his home county.
“[The job] was very important to me because I got to meet people from all over the county,” Wagner said. “We are a small county with around 18,000 people, and with my years of service, if I haven’t met all, I have met close to all of the people in the county. There are a lot of people who know me, and I enjoy working with the schools doing fire-safety programs.”
It was through the firesafety programs that Wagner became well-known in the area communities. He visited with students and also appeared as Smokey Bear, spreading a fireprevention message. In his career, several families had at least two generations hear Wagner’s message and recognize him around town as “Mr. James.”
“I visited one class, and one of the moms told her daughter, ‘Mr. James came to speak to my class, too,’” he said. “I thought, ‘Man, I am getting old.’
“I love being Smokey and seeing the reactions from the adults and the kids.”
Wagner plans to continue to play Smokey in retirement after the commission gave him the option.
And while the outreach responsibilities were fun and rewarding, there was a serious part to his job description, he said. He is proud that the largest fire under his watch was only 600 acres. He also helped the Traskwood Fire Department track down two arsonists.
In addition, he worked with land owners on prescribed burns and a timber-grant program that helped replant trees on private land. Wagner was also called on to help with search-and-rescue operations and severe-weather events by other law enforcement agencies.
He was a volunteer firefighter and served on the Grant County Rescue Department for 16 years. Not surprisingly, he conducted the educational programs for the Fire Department.
“I couldn’t have lasted as long and done as much and done what I did if it hadn’t been for the volunteer fire department and their members here in the county,” Wagner said. “They’ve worked hand in hand with us doing what they do. The word ‘volunteer’ is almost gone out of fire departments. They have so much training now.”
Even though the job has presented dangerous situations, Wagner escaped nearly 40 years unscathed, he said. However, three years ago, he emerged from the woods covered in ticks. He was concerned about Rocky Mountain Fever, which is carried by some ticks. He was tested and diagnosed promptly. He began prescribed antibiotics, which worked well.
“Thank goodness I kicked it,” he said. “I am negative on all of the tests. Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and my knee is sore, but that’s it.”
Wagner said he never wanted to leave his home county. He was laid off once but was rehired. Even so, he said, he would have enjoyed his job anywhere in the state.
“I believe that the way the job is, if I had done it somewhere else, I would have had equally as much fun,” Wagner said. “No two things were the same. Some speeches you gave were the same. I’d wake up on a day when the weather was good and say, ‘I get to go to the woods today.’ That would have been fun no matter where in the state I lived.”
Wagner has spent some of the winter getting over a cold virus, but he has enjoyed the spontaneity of retirement. He said his wife was often irritated when he canceled family dinners because the weather conditions were ripe for a forest fire, and he wanted to be at the ready. He said he will spend more time with her and his sons, who live in Sheridan, and a daughter, who is in Oklahoma. He also has a young grandson.
Wagner will also spend a lot of time volunteering, he said. He was recently appointed to a lifetime position for the Grant County Mutual Aid Association.
“That means I will continue to be able to help the volunteer fire departments,” Wagner said. “I didn’t even know they had a position like that. I am looking forward to helping them. I have some good ideas for helping.”