“The guy is a true go-getter, and he cares so much about the cause that he will be there no matter what,” says RMEF Regional Director Tyler Wetterau about volunteer Ryan Stearns. Ryan is part of Wetterau’s four-person state leadership team which convenes once a month to help tackle any issues Wisconsin chapters and their regional director face. “He lives in Eau Claire, which is on the way far west side of our state, but if I need him anywhere, he’s always willing to help at chapter or recruiting events,” says Wetterau.
Ryan has been volunteering for RMEF since 2017, and it has become a family affair, including his brother and sister-in-law, his wife Katie and their three kids, Elsie (12), Max (10) and Violet (8). “I really value the mission, specifically the land conservation efforts,” he says. He has served as chapter chair for the Indianhead Chapter in Eau Claire for the last three years, leading the committee with a strategy of trying new techniques to bring in more money for conservation. “The committee figured it out together, we had a great year and took a lot of those ideas into the next year,” says Ryan about his first year as chair.
“He’s focusing on donations and getting more people in the room for the banquet, says Wetterau. “They got 30 or 40 more people the second year he was chair. He put together a grassroots effort of getting boots on the ground, shaking hands, talking to people, getting flyers out. He really wanted to make this chapter as good as it can be.” Those efforts paid off when the Indianhead Chapter achieved its most profitable banquet to date in fall 2024.
Ryan and Katie are always looking to step up their volunteering, including helping at RMEF’s Hunter and Outdoor Christmas in Las Vegas in 2023, and their kids can be seen scurrying around helping run raffles at their banquets. The kids are also getting out enjoying hunting with their dad, the two oldest each taking a wild turkey last season.
“The original founding members of the chapter from 30 years ago have had great things to say about Ryan and where the chapter is today,” says Kris Lofstrom, RMEF director of eastern operations. “He’s a rockstar that would never take full credit for anything because it was a team effort.”