BRADFORD, Vt. (WCAX) – Seventy-seven-year-old Gary Moore is a man who finds peace on his land in Bradford.
“I grew up playing in these woods,” Moore said. “When you get fresh snow, it’s always nice.”
At first glance, the winter woods appear frozen in time, but it’s 58 acres of memories. Noise from nearby Interstate 91 brings the sounds of the outside world to Moore’s doorstep. It also cuts through his childhood family farm. His family sold the property east of the interstate but Moore still owns on the west side. “Vermont and more specifically Bradford is my home,” he said.
The landscape has changed but not Moore. “Part of the Boy Scout oath is to help other people at all times. I’ve tried to live by that part of the oath,” he said. He became the first Eagle Scout ever in Bradford. From there, he went on to a diverse career.
Reporter Joe Carroll: You were also commissioner of Fish & Game — not Fish & Wildlife — way back when.
Gary Moore: In the early ‘80s, yeah.
At that time, the Abenaki tribe staged a subsistence fish-in on the Missiquoi River contending that Indigenous people didn’t need fishing licenses on their native land. “We realized there wasn’t going to be any violence. They just wanted to get the tickets so it could go into the court system,” Moore said.
Moore later resigned to take a job as Assistant Headmaster at Saint Johnsbury Academy. “It paid a lot better than commissioner paid,” he recalled. Moore would walk the campus as much as he could. “You never know what you’re going to see, birds, wildlife.”
His jobs have leaned toward the environment, where he says he finds inspiration in the outdoors. The avid outdoorsman writes about anything to do with the outdoors for newspapers and online publications. “I’m always working on them,” he said. “This is my 48th year of never missing a week, 52 weeks a year.”
Moore’s resume is too long to fully mention. From chair of the Vermont State College Board to one-time chief of the Bradford Fire Department, where he’s still active. He served on various committees and commissions for every governor from Phil Scott on down. “Every governor since Dick Snelling,” he said.
Reporter Joe Carroll: So, you get along with both parties.
Gary Moore: Yup, oh yeah.
“I commend him for all his service,” said Linda, Moore’s wife for going on five decades. “He’s going to go until he can’t. I mean, that’s just who he is.”
Another check on the resume — Moore travels the country teaching hazmat preparation to firefighters. But it is in Vermont though, where he feels grounded. “There’s a lot of nice places, but there’s nothing like Vermont,” he said.