From staff reports
Leonard “Lenny” Hribar, a retired Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife conservation officer, and the late Raymond L. Cramer were inducted Sunday into the Venango County Conservation Hall of Fame.
Cramer, who passed away in 2006, was a lifelong conservationist with a knack for organizing and consensus-building. He put it to use on behalf of Pennsylvania’s wildlife, its forests, waters, hunters, and anglers.
A native of Armstrong County, Cramer’s interest in the outdoors and the natural world came to him in his childhood as he traipsed the fields and woods around his North Buffalo Township home in search of wildlife and adventure. He learned the art of taxidermy as a 13-year-old.
Cramer rallied support for the Oil and Gas Act of 1985 among the region’s hunters and anglers and made their voice on the issue known to political leaders and the public. He became well-known in Harrisburg as a force for conservation.
Perhaps his most remarkable accomplishment is the responsibility he took on for more than 1,000 individuals in the region, writing a letter to local legislators in support of protection in perpetuity of the 11,000-plus acres President Oil Tract in President Township.
The Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, now the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, thought so much of Cramer’s work that they named him to their Hall of Fame some years back.
He embodied the best of what one would want in a conservation officer — knowledgeable, friendly, fair, firm when needed, and foremost committed to the resource: Pennsylvania’s wildlife and habitat.
Hribar was an avid outdoorsman and nature lover as a youngster. Hunting and fishing was his thing. In college, he majored in biology and secondary education.
After graduation, Hribar began teaching but decided it wasn’t his calling. An uncle suggested he apply and test for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. He was accepted to the Ross Leffler School of Conservation, graduating in 1975 and finding his calling.
Throughout his career, Hribar was an ambassador for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the state’s wildlife and conservation in general. He talked about wildlife and habit, and the ecological linkages that support our natural world.
Over the course of his career and continuing into retirement, he has served as an inspiration to all those interested in conservation, hunting, and nature.
