The Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame has selected William Lunney, Keith McCaffery and Neil Paine as its 2026 induction class.
Payne grew up in Sheboygan County and was the first of his family to graduate from college, earning a bachelor of arts in zoology in 1961 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, master of science from Virginia Tech in 1964 and a doctorate in wildlife science from Utah State University in 1975 (dissertation on beaver).