Meet Jim Wolfe: Cresco's Newest City Councilor

CRESCO - He didn’t go looking for a seat at City Hall. Retired and content with a full life—longstanding community ties, and a conservation farm that keeps him busy—James (Jim) Wolfe figured he had plenty on his plate. Then two city council members called and asked if he’d consider stepping in. He paused, weighed the timing and the need, and said yes getting his nomination pages in right before the deadline. A month and a half in, he’s surprised by how much he’s enjoyed it.

   Cresco has a new representative for Ward 2 in Wolfe, who was elected to the City Council on November 4, 2025 and sat for his first City Council meeting on January 5, 2026. He succeeds Amy Bouska, stepping into a role that will put him at the center of decisions on streets, utilities, public safety, parks, housing, and the community’s long-term growth. The work is concrete, —visible, practical, and deeply local—just the way he likes it.

   Wolfe, comes to the council with a public-service résumé that stretches across decades and continents. He spent 35 years with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) an agency of USDA, including 20 as a District Conservationist, working side by side with farmers, landowners, and local governments to steward soil and water. A resident of Ward 2, he has been active in providing a cleaner, safer environment for his neighbors throughout his career, experiences that has helped shape his view that local government’s most important work often happens closest to home.

   That instinct for his community forward point of view was born on a dairy farm in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, near Waumandee. The farm was large for its time with about 70 cows —small by today’s standards—set among the steep, rolling hills of the Driftless Area. Those hills taught him patience and attention, the kind of care that keeps farms thriving from one generation to the next. There were six boys in the house then—Wolfe and his five brothers—working, arguing, laughing, and learning together, each day tied to the rhythms of the farm. One brother has since passed away, a loss that’s part of why the remaining brothers are writing a book about their life there. It’s a way to honor their shared history: the long chores at dawn, muddy boots by the door, and the quiet joys of a family farm that asked much and gave much in return.

   His father set the tone. A gifted conservation farmer, he was ahead of his time in protecting soil and water while keeping a farm productive. His father installed many contour strips, grass waterways and dams to control soil erosion.