In 1982, Elizabeth Raikes was travelling across Kentucky Dam over the Tennessee River when she stopped and gazed out across the lake and the peninsula of land known as Land Between the Lakes.
“How cool would it be to work in a place like this,” she said at the time. Fast forward 19 years, Raikes would be hired as a wildlife biologist for the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.
After 37 years of service to the Forest Service, 25 of those at LBL, Raikes decided to retire. Raikes had served as the longest-standing wildlife biologist at LBL since its transfer from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1999.
Raikes grew up in Northern Ohio farm country, not far from Lake Erie where she enjoyed many outdoor activities. She then pursued interests in natural resources and travelling, taking temporary jobs with state and federal agencies in the Midwest, Southeast and Alaska. She would find permanent employment with the U.S. Forest Service as a wildlife biologist on the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois in 1989.
When the Forest Service took over management of LBL in 1999, Raikes looked to move to be closer to the lakes that remind her of her Ohio home. She continues to savor the plentiful recreation and natural resources enjoyment that the LBL region has to offer.
“During my 25 years at Land Between the Lakes, I enjoyed working with multiple resources and agencies using my many years of experience to support our internal and external publics,” she said. “I particularly enjoyed managing the open lands program and leading our recovery efforts of the federally threatened Price’s potato bean.”
Raikes accolades over the years includes the Habitat Management Program Award from the National Wild Turkey Federation in 2023, celebrating her work helping restore beneficial habitat across LBL.
