New President of Boone and Crockett Club: Ben B. Wallace

Ben B. Wallace

A hunter, attorney, banker and businessman from Corpus Christi, Texas, Ben B. Wallace has been elected to serve as president of America's oldest conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club. 

Theodore Roosevelt founded Boone and Crockett Club in 1887. Its mission includes promoting conservation and management of wildlife and their habitats, upholding the highest standards of fair-chase sportsmanship and maintaining records of native North American big game species. 

Wallace becomes the Club's 29th president, following the tenure of Lowell E. Baier.

Wallace has served as a club officer and as a member of various committees. He also is active in Pope and Young Club, Lone Star Bow Hunter’s Association, American Hunting Club, International Game and Fish Association, Texas Wildlife Association, National Rifle Association and Ducks Unlimited.

The following is a statement issued by Wallace regarding his vision and direction for Boone and Crockett Club:

"As the 29th president of the nation's first national conservation organization, it is my responsibility to ensure efforts to address the major conservation and hunting heritage challenges the Boone and Crockett Club and our partners have been working on are carried through to completion and to set the course for the future.  

These challenges are clearly delineated in Wildlife for the 21st Century: III, the recommendations submitted to the Obama Administration as a result of the 2008 Whitehouse Conference on North American Wildlife Policy. 

One of my greatest concerns is that loopholes exist in certain federal laws and regulations intended for the greater good of wildlife and wild places, and that these loopholes are actually blocking sound, science based management on public and private lands. Another concern is that provisions in these laws are allowing taxpayer's moneys intended for wildlife management and conservation programs to be spent elsewhere. 

I also see the need for more like-minded groups to come together to address today's challenges. Those who generate money for conservation and wildlife management need to be more closely linked with those who spend those monies on the ground. Hunting and shooting industry manufacturers whose products generate excise tax revenues should have a clear line of communication with federal and state wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and other wildlife professionals who understand the science and how best to spend these monies to benefit wildlife and their habitats.

To this end, I am excited to be attending the 2011 SHOT show and meeting with industry leaders to learn how the Club can help facilitate these connections. 

Finally, the hunter-conservationist community has potential allies in agriculture, forestry, energy development and fisheries who are facing many of the same struggles that we do on a day-to-day basis. I would like to see these groups come together. The way I see it, we will benefit from strength in numbers in terms of collectively addressing current and future challenges."