Family, friends, and colleagues were stunned and grief-stricken upon learning that Los Padres Wildlife, Range, and Botany Program Manager Patrick Lieske suffered a fatal injury while mountain biking April 15. Patrick had gone out for one of his grueling rides Monday evening and was reported missing early the next morning. Search and rescue teams from Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Kern counties located him on April 18 along the Santa Ynez River.
Patrick was a wildlife biologist who’d worked for U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Alaska, Hawai’i, and Oregon before joining Los Padres National Forest in 2012. Born in North Canton, Ohio, he’d enlisted in the Army for four years, then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point to study biology, completing his graduate work at North Michigan University in 2004.
Patrick had a passion for putting nature first — the planet needs hard workers to heal. He had a strong sense of duty, and he never took shortcuts. No boiler-plate documents for Patrick; each was his own and flawless. He was unwaveringly honest and forthright. He said what he meant and meant what he said.
While in Los Padres, Patrick was a key player on the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team and collaborated extensively with his partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Ventura. Patrick and Kristie went on many fires, resource damage assessments, and aerial fire-retardant misapplication missions together. “I enjoyed working with him on these assignments,” she said, “because I knew that we would do it the right way and produce solid work that we could stand by.”
Although Patrick was a modern-day Saint Francis of Assisi for his love of all animals — wild and domestic — for a while, the fallout of his divorce made him harsh at moments. The divorce was so hard on him — emotionally and financially. But then he met his soulmate, Anh Nga Johnson. The funny, sweet, caring individual his colleagues at other agencies knew came back. He’d gotten to the other side of his hurt feelings.
But Patrick remained a skeptic, acting on what he knew. An excellent birder, Patrick refused to look up during a trip to Frazier Mountain when people in his group called out, “Condor!” He told them several times, “It’s not a condor. They’re not around here.” After repeated calls and pointing, when he finally did look up, he was nonplussed and said in disbelief, “That is a condor!” It was one of the few times that his assumption was askew.
While his colleagues knew Patrick was a skilled martial artist, having achieved his black belt in karate, we learned of his hidden talent, “rolling rocks,” at the annual Holiday Bowling Party held in Goleta. Patrick showed off this ability by consistently placing among the top finishers each year. Donning his beanie propeller hat, Patrick approached each frame with steely determination and largely avoided the gutters his colleagues often found themselves in.
In his last many weekends, Patrick was retrofitting his van for glamping with Anh Nga. He’d visit Goleta Building Materials and Channel City Hardware, talking with the shop owners about what he was doing and the best tools and fittings. He was looking forward to hitting the road with Anh Nga, all amenities in place.
There will never be another Patrick Lieske. He understood the life histories of so many biota, including the California condor, anurans, and most bird species of the Americas, to name a few. He was unique in so many extraordinary ways — from his walk to his laugh, his eating habits, his writing, his booming voice, his voluminous and long sighs at his desk, and his lack of blinking. He was a top-notch wildlife biologist and an even better person.
We will miss Patrick dearly.
