After seven years as a seventh-grade science teacher at the Jefferson City School District, Ethan Regan decided to make a change in 2022.
He was hired as conservation educator with the Missouri Department of Conservation, giving him an opportunity to combine his passion for education and his love for the outdoors with six counties in Missouri, including Montgomery.

On July 2, Regan visited both the Montgomery City and Wellsville public libraries within a two-hour span to share his knowledge about wildlife. He brought plenty of animal furs so participants will get a chance to touch them.

“I always like to tell this to my groups,” Regan said. “I didn’t kill these animals, but these are real furs from real animals in Missouri. A lot of them come from trappers, some of them were road killed or trapped or shot legally.”

Regan’s visits were part of the summer reading programs the Montgomery City and Wellsville libraries are holding until the end of July. Regan said it was essential for the young students in Montgomery County to learn about wildlife.

“I think it’s very important for people in the state to learn about their resources that they have here to be familiar with them,” Regan said. “Then, they can start to learn and care about them and understand them better.”

Regan first visited the Wellsville library for an hour. Then, he drove down Highway 19 to Montgomery City to visit its library for an hour.

In both libraries, Regan talked about how popular deer hunting is in the state. Last year, about 346,000 deer were shot throughout Missouri.

“I work in Columbia, but I live in Jefferson City,” Regan said. “So I’m on I-70 for work. Unfortunately, I see a lot of deer get hit on the side of the road, especially on I-70. We have a lot of these in the state, sometimes they cause problems for farmers. They might eat their crops.”

Regan said he has made many visits to Montgomery City.

“I know (director) Gaylee Harris, the supervisor, so I teach a lot of hunter education up here,” he said. “I’ve done turkey hunting programs as well. It’s a great resource here in the building to utilize to get the community involved.”

Born and raised in Jefferson City, Regan joined MDC as a volunteer at Runge Nature Center before joining the organization full-time. He was named Volunteer of the Year in 2015 after working more than 1,000 hours of volunteer service.