Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack have named Bob Model, long-standing member and chairman of Government Affairs for the Boone and Crockett Club, and seven other Club members to serve on a new Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.

The council is an official advisory group under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that will help to promote and preserve America’s hunting heritage for future generations. 

Club members appointed to the council include:

• Robert Model (Boone and Crockett Club) 
• M. David Allen (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) 
• Jeffrey S. Crane (Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation) 
• John Tomke (Ducks Unlimited) 
• Thomas Franklin (Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership) 
• Christine L. Thomas (College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin) 
• Steve Williams (Wildlife Management Institute) 
• Joanna Prukop (Freedom to Roam)

The eight Boone and Crockett Club members are among 18 individuals appointed to the council. Each will serve on the council for a two-year term.

"I am deeply honored and thankful to have been named to this council by Secretary Salazar and Secretary Vilsack," said Model. "I look forward to fulfilling the great responsibility of representing America's sportsmen and women and helping to secure the successful recruitment of the next generation of America's hunters, and improving public access to existing public lands."

Model added, "Secretary Salazar and Secretary Vilsack are deeply committed to our hunting heritage in this nation."

The newly created council will provide a forum for sportsmen and women to advise the federal government on policies related to wildlife and habitat conservation efforts that benefit recreational hunting, shooting sports and wildlife resources. It will also serve to encourage partnership among the public, the sporting conservation community, the shooting and hunting sports industry, wildlife conservation organizations, the states, Native American tribes and the federal government.

The council replaces the previously existing Sporting Conservation Council by expanding membership to include Native American tribes, the archery, hunting and shooting sports industries, as well as including broader representation from the nation's major conservation organizations. Model and Crane served as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the former Sporting Conservation Council.

Model and the other Boone and Crockett Club members look forward to helping the council on issues related to the important contributions that hunting makes to both wildlife conservation and our nation's economy. The hunting and shooting sports industries create over 160,000 full-time jobs nationwide, generating an economic benefit of over $20 billion annually.

"Inspired by the legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt, hunters long have taken the lead in the conservation of our nation's wildlife and its habitat, and I am pleased so many of the leaders in our nation's hunting and conservation community have accepted an invitation to serve on the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council," said Salazar. "At the recent America's Great Outdoors conference, President Obama said that few pursuits are more satisfying to the spirit than discovering the greatness of America's outdoors. I look forward to working with the council to help fulfill my generation's obligation to ensure that the next generation enjoys a thriving wildlife heritage."

"Maintaining and conserving wildlife habitat and water resources that are so important to America's hunting and angling heritage in the face of today's conservation challenges requires a coordinated effort between federal, state, and local officials and partners in the private sector," said Vilsack. "The members of Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council will play a crucial role in our ongoing efforts to improve the health and management of America's public and private lands."