Ted Upgren Jr.  – A gift for the written word

Ted Upgren Jr. has a way with words especially when it comes to land conservation, an issue that is near and dear to his heart.

Born and raised in Bismarck, Upgren developed an interest in the outdoors that inspired him to attend Dakota College at Bottineau (then the North Dakota College of Forestry) in 1960.

“It was the kind of school that suited me,” Upgren recalled. “They were heavily into conservation issues and I got a strong foundation in botany and forestry there. Students came from all over the region because the school was so well-respected.”

One of Upgren’s instructors was John Molberg who left a lasting impression on Upgren.

“He was one of those teachers that made you want to come to class, because you could see he had so much enthusiasm for the subject and that made his students excited to be there,” Upgren said.

Also, during his time at DCB, Upgren corresponded with an eccentric writer from Bismarck, by the name of Norman, who had a talent for bizarre and comedic prose. Norman’s letters became famous amongst Upgren and his dormmates.

“Whenever I got a letter from Norman, my roommate and friends would make me read it out loud and we’d laugh until we were nearly in tears,” Upgren remembered. “By the end of the year I had to get on top of a chair because there were so many guys packed into our room to hear Norman’s letter.”    

It was during this time that Upgren recognized the power of the writing in communicating ideas to other people.

After completing his studies at DCB, Upgren attended Utah State and earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Resources. He then spent a year as a seasonal park ranger in Alaska before returning to North Dakota.

In 1984, Upgren was hired as the Chief of Information Education where he created conservation initiatives and oversaw the state’s efforts to educate the public with programs such as Hunters Safety and Project Tree.

Upgren’s position allowed him to explore his interest in writing and communication while capitalizing on his hands-on experience in conservation. He joined the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America in 1985 and served on the board of directors and, later, as president.  

In 2000, Upgren won the North Dakota Award, the highest award presented by the North Dakota Chapter of The Wildlife Society. The award is given to an individual or group that has made an outstanding contribution toward the aims of professional wildlife endeavors in North Dakota.

Upgren’s career with the North Dakota Game and Fish was unexpectedly cut short when he contracted West Nile Virus in 2002. He was the first diagnosed case in Bismarck at the time.

After spending three weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Upgren was able to return home for further treatment. His recovery would take nine months, and to this day he still struggles with partial paralysis in his right arm as a result of the virus.

Upgren continued to write about conservation issues after he retired from the Game and Fish. He served as executive editor for North Dakota Outdoors, and was a contributor to Dakota Country Magazine where his column—This Prairie Life—was regularly featured.

“I relished writing that column because I was retired from the Game and Fish,” Upgren said. “I was no longer constrained and was able to be a little more-straight forward in my opinions.”

Upgren is also a published author. His book “Across the Wheatgrass,”  a collection of stories about North Dakotans and their interactions with the land was released for the state’s centennial celebration.

To this day, Upgren continues to write, and manages his own publishing designation, Wind Feather Press. He is currently considering the subject for his next book.

“People tend to wonder what they were put in the world for, I like to think I was gifted with the ability to write,” Upgren said.