Stephen Riley Haynes

Stephen Riley (Steve) Haynes, loving husband and great dad, 80, passed away peacefully on August 27, 2024. Steve was born October 7, 1943, in Manchester, Iowa, to Roy and Naomi Haynes. Steve graduated from Maquoketa Valley High School in 1961 and enlisted in the Coast Guard. He served as a photographer on the Great Lakes and at the Coast Guard Academy. Steve turned down the opportunity to attend the Coast Guard Academy and after being honorably discharged in 1965, he moved to Minneapolis where he met and married Georgia Mandis in 1966.

The two moved to Moscow, Idaho, where Steve studied wildlife biology, earning his B.S. in 1972, six months after the birth of his daughter, Nicole. After graduation, he was hired by Idaho Fish and Game as a Conservation Officer for Region 1 and the family moved to Cataldo, Idaho. In the days before wildlife rehabilitation, COs were often “gifted” wildlife that needed care and Steve was no exception. Two Great Horned owls, injured by vehicles and unable to fly, lived on their covered porch for months and the family nursed various orphaned wildlife, from foxes and fawns.

In 1976, Idaho Fish and Game appointed Steve to be the first habitat biologist and manager of the new Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area located east of Idaho Falls. Tex Creek quickly became a family affair. Steve’s wife and daughter learned how to set the straightest and strongest fence posts known to man and the family spent hours on horseback traversing the WMA while Steve took careful note of habitat conditions and checked on his various seeding and planting experiments. He was proud of his efforts to create habitat; his successful plantings from decades ago are still evident on the WMA. During his 18 years as Tex Creek’s manager, Steve was instrumental in the acquisition of additional properties, growing the WMA from 12,000 acres to nearly 30,000 acres by the time he retired in 1994. Steve’s efforts provided contiguous public land habitat extending from the summer range in the National Forest to the critical winter range in Willow Creek Canyon.

In 1997, Steve went to work for the National Park Service in Grand Teton National Park as a Vegetative Management Specialist, retiring in 2006.

Steve was preceded in death by his five siblings and his parents. He is survived by his wife, Georgia Haynes of Idaho Falls; daughter, Nicole (Sean) McCoy of Summerland Key, Florida; and grandson, Connor McCoy.

We are grateful for the attentive care of Lia in the ICU, the 5th floor staff at EIRMC, and Aspen Hospice.

The family is honoring Steve’s request for no funeral services. Arrangements are under the direction of Coltrin Mortuary, 2100 First Street, Idaho Falls. Condolences may be sent online at www.coltrinmortuary.com.