He was a Colorado native. He loved the outdoors. He knew every road, lake, creek, hill and mountain in Boulder County. He thought the beaver was the best conservationist on the earth. He was a master storyteller and prankster. He was respected and feared. He was dedicated to the land and to his community.

Brownlee Guyer lived his life in such a way that 14 years after his death people still remember him and smile. They still remember his stories, his jokes, his impact on the communities he lived in and his influence on Colorado’s Division of Wildlife.

The Boulder Museum recently honored Guyer with a pop-up display, this means a small temporary display. The display showed visitors photos and stories written about Guyer. His name plate, patches, badges and the dress uniform jacket from the years he worked with Colorado’s Division of Wildlife were also there to view.

He did not just work a few years with the Division of Wildlife, Guyer was the lone Game Warden and then Conservation Officer (the name of the position changed) in Boulder County from 1937 to 1970.

Take the span of those years in your mind for a moment, 1937 to 1970. The city of Boulder went from a population of just under 13,000 in 1940 to just under 67,000 in 1970, according to the US census records. Think of how housing, habitats and the environment changed during that time.

Thirty-three years is a long time to be the lone man covering an entire county. Add to that the population growth and the geography and size of Boulder County...saying that the game warden has a challenging job is an understatement. The Rocky Mountains meets the Great Plains in Boulder County and the knowledge that anyone who holds this position has to have to be successful is awesome. Mountain terrain to wetlands and everything in between is their responsibility. Guyer covered the territory in a Model T Ford.

He loved to fix up old cars. In the summer months he would use horses to patrol into the high country.

If you met Brownlee Guyer he was not someone you soon forgot. He commanded your attention with his height and his deep voice. He knew so much about so many things. He saw his work as part law enforcement and part educator. Guyer always carried with him a deep respect for nature and a deep respect for the ethics of the work he did.

In 1977 Guyer was interviewed by the Boulder County Library for an oral history project they were doing. During this interview he spoke about how in the early days of being a game warden in Boulder County much of his work was law enforcement. Then, the work moved into public relations and education as well as law enforcement. Guyer led many hunter safety courses, and gave many speeches and seminars to different groups in the area. He developed a program about beavers that he would present to schools and other interested organizations. Guyer was passionate about teaching others, especially youth.

Any time he had an opportunity for a teaching moment with a kid he would do it. If he caught a kid hunting without a license he would give them a week to study the laws. Then he would meet up with them again and test them. They always passed the test. Guyer was also a Scoutmaster, and an Eagle Scout himself. One of those Boy Scouts whom he helped along the way happened to grow up and become the second American to orbit the Earth and the fourth American to go into space, astronaut Scott Carpenter.

Brownlee Guyer did not do this all alone. In the age before cell phones, calls would be going to his home 24/7. His wife Lois Guyer, like so many spouses of conservation officers, answered the phone and did work behind the scenes.

The Guyers bought a home in Nederland in the mid-1950s and spent the summers in Nederland with their two daughters. They did this so Mr. Guyer did not have as many miles to travel everyday.

Much of his summer work was up in the high country. The family also loved the cooler weather and grew to love the community of Nederland.

They became an integral part of the Nederland Community Prebyterian Church (NCPC) family. When the church built an addition Mr. Guyer, being a licensed electrician, assisted in making that addition a reality for the congregation. Mrs. Guyer, a skilled writer, would write notes to people who would visit the church. In his later years Mr. Guyer greeted everyone on Sunday morning from “his” chair with the bulletin and a greeting and a smile.

Lois Guyer loved to garden. Mrs. Guyer had gardens in Nederland and in Boulder. Betty Guyer Nelson, the oldest Guyer daughter says that being a farmer’s daughter, soil was part of her mother’s soul. In their later years the Guyers raised money with NCPC to establish what is known as the Guyer Garden behind the church. It is a beautiful space with the creek, trees, and flowers that church members lovingly continue to maintain today.

Neither of the Guyers ever really retired in the sense of sitting around. Mrs. Guyer was always out helping people and taking a meal to someone in need. She served as an election judge and a precinct captain in Boulder County. Mr. Guyer played his tuba in senior citizen bands and in the Barker Brass band in Nederland. They both were substitute teachers in the Boulder Valley School District for many years. Mr. Guyer retired from substitute teaching when he was 89 years old.

When Gary Berlin was the training supervisor for the Division of Wildlife he would ask his friend and colleague Mr. Guyer, who was retired at the time, to speak to new trainees. Guyer would more than happily agree. Berlin would pick Guyer up and take him to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants like KFC and then retired Conservation Officer Guyer would talk to the new trainees about the old times in the field. Always in his Division of Wildlife uniform and hat. Some of the stories he would tell only the people in this profession would understand and believe.

When I asked Mr. Berlin to remember spending time with Brownlee Guyer he said, “Brownlee could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. He was a smooth talker.

I would visit him in his home and he would pull out his old scrapbooks and he would tell stories about the old times. He’d laugh and laugh, slapping his knee and say, ‘Gosh, that was fun, gosh.’ He was a character.”

Brownlee and Lois Guyer loved the land and the communities of Boulder and Nederland. The way they lived their lives speaks to this. Mrs. Guyer, a teacher, helped students in the school district with special needs before there was a special education program. Mr. Guyer used his skills as an electrician to bring electric power to Ward. He helped educate the community on conservation of the land and the importance of wildlife. This beloved couple left the world in a better place because of who they were. They gave of themselves and inspired those around them to be more loving and respectful.

As mentioned above Brownlee Guyer interviewed with the Boulder County Library in 1977 for an oral history project they were doing at the time. He spoke passionately in this interview about the land, the beaver and the importance of topsoil.

Mr Guyer was so devoted to the land I would like his words to conclude this article.

“It’s fascinating country and if we could just get the public to realize what a precious amount of land we have here and what they’re doing to it and if we put a stop to it...why we could preserve the land for a good many years. I’ve always believed in the Indian way of looking at things. They always seem to say take what you need. And with some of the experiences I’ve had with the white man why they seem to have the idea to take every darn thing you can get and the heck with the other guy.

“And when you stop to think about how many thousands of years that the Indians have lived in this country and what the white man’s probably been here...150 years. And look at this country after 150 years.

“We have a lot to learn about how to take care of the land. And I think it’s time we’re knuckling down and starting to preserve some of these natural resources. Because one of these days we’re going to wake up and it’s going to be too darn late and we’re going to be out of luck.”