Sept. 18, 2018 – Hartford, WI – Heavy hearts today at the Pike Lake office of the DNR as word spreads about the death of Forester Julie Peltier.
“She was extremely popular and had been at Pike Lake for years,” said DNR warden Bill Mitchell. “Every year she helped at the spring Fish and Game hearing and she was a hunter safety instructor.”
Washington County Conservation Congress chairman Brett Weir worked at the spring hearings with Peltier. “What I liked about her is when she spoke people listened,” he said. “She was very good at explaining things, she helped me with forestry questions and she had a personality where she was always approachable.”
Weir said he was shocked by the news. “What a loss; that is a big loss,” he said.
Peltier had been with the DNR since February 1997, according to a post on her LinkedIn account.
Peltier received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Resources from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and she worked as a Forestry Tech for nine years at the Black Hills National Forest, located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming,
Friends said Peltier had not been to work for a couple days. Police were called after she failed to appear at an event and she was found deceased at her home on Tuesday afternoon. Friends said the death is not considered suspicious.
More details will be released when information becomes available.
Friends are asking to keep Peltier’s family in your thoughts and prayers.
God Bless you Julie..when you see my Dad, Donald Hlavaty, who was also a forester, tell him hello for me! May your soul now be lightened and thankful for all you’ve had, rest in peace sister!
Truly a terrible loss! Julie was kind, smart and a great person to work with. She will be missed. Julie and her family will be in my thoughts and prayers. <3