Doyle Tripp was born in Blanchard, Iowa, Jan. 3, 1912. He was hired as secretary to the Commissioner of Fisheries in early spring 1939. Tripp, a stenotype operator, joined the newly appointed Commissioner and a congressional committee on a trip to Alaska that summer to hold public hearings in communities so fishermen could voice their opinions regarding the fishing regulations being promulgated in Washington, DC.

In 1940, Tripp visited Alaska, again, for public hearings, this time with Dr. Ira Gabrielson and Charlie Jackson. Gabrielson started the trip as Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey and Charles Edgerton Jackson was Commissioner of the Bureau of Fisheries. During the trip, the two organizations merged, with Gabrielson becoming Director of the new Fish and Wildlife Service and Jackson becoming his Assistant Director. Although the trip to Alaska’s coast was primarily a business trip to get acquainted with the personnel and problems of the newly formed Fish and Wildlife Service, Gabrielson, as an ornithologist, had a special interest in Alaska. Gabrielson’s log notes (filed with album and in Master File) correspond with the photographs in the Doyle Trip Collection.

Shortly after Dec. 7, 1941, Tripp joined the U.S. Navy and served for the duration.

After the war he worked five summers as head bookkeeper for Alaska Packers Association at the Chignik cannery.