U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Skipwith Thanks Boone and Crockett Club Members for Conservation Leadership

B&C Chief of Staff, Tony Schoonen (left) and B&C President Tim Brady (right) welcome USFWS Director Aurelia Skipwith to the Club's annual March dinner held in conjunction with the North American Wildlife and Management Conference.

Omaha, Neb. – Last night, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Aurelia Skipwith addressed more than 125 professional and regular members of the Boone and Crockett Club during their annual dinner at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. The Club has been holding the dinner since the early 2000s as a way to honor its professional members, considered to be the brain trust of the organization. Since that time the invite list has expanded to include state and federal agency leadership, senior administration officials. During her remarks, Skipwith recognized the importance of hunting and fishing to conservation and praised the Club’s historic engagement on the most important conservation issues faced in this country.

“Some call hunting and fishing a way of life, I call it – and my family calls it – living. Hunters and outdoors enthusiasts know that effective conservation is as much about people as it is about wildlife,” Skipwith said. “Now more than ever, the challenges we face are going to require an unprecedented level of collaboration and cooperation among federal, state, tribal governments, and conservation organizations like the Boone & Crockett Club. The Club, through Theodore Roosevelt and other early leaders, saw a crisis in humanity’s impact on wildlife and their habitats and called upon people to take action to change America’s direction.”

Skipwith discussed the Club’s leadership on what has become known as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the premise that fish and wildlife belong to all Americans and need to be sustained for future generations to enjoy. She emphasized that these concepts are what unite all who work on conservation issues and conservation is a big part of this nation’s economy.

“The strength of state and federal partnerships and our unified mission has led to the creation of the world’s most extensive and interconnected network of protected public lands and comprehensive protections for native wildlife and habitats across North America,” she continued. “We continue to work together to further the support for public lands today and to improve access to those lands for all Americans. Since the beginning of the Trump Administration, we have opened 1.7 million acres of Service managed lands and waters for hunting and fishing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other Interior bureaus are also working closely with state partners on implementing Secretarial Order 3362 to improve western big game winter range and migration corridors, and to support developing the scientific knowledge of big game migrations and movement.

“The financial support, the political support, and the scientific and communications support that Boone and Crockett Club provides its members places the Club in a unique position. Unlike other conservation organizations, you are able to successfully address all of the challenges we are facing today and what we will face in the future,” Skipwith concluded. “The Boone and Crockett Club is a constant reminder to hunters and conservationists about how far we have come while challenging ourselves to not only protect our investment in hunting and conservation but also to invest and advance it for our future generations.”

“The Boone and Crockett Club fully supported Director Skipwith’s nomination,” said Timothy C. Brady, President of Boone and Crockett Club. “After hearing her message last night, we are confident this was the right decision and the Director is proving to be a competent, visionary and committed leader for the US Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2019, Skipwith had been serving as the Department of the Interior’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks since 2017. She earned her master’s degree in molecular biology from Purdue University and a law degree from the University of Kentucky and served as general counsel for agriculture-based companies. Skipwith is the first African American director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

About the Boone and Crockett Club

Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation organization in North America, which helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, hunter ethics, as well as many of the institutions, expert agencies, science, and funding mechanisms for conservation. Its contributions include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone, and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the framework for modern game laws. The Club continues to be the leader in the hunter-conservationist community through its work in conservation policy, research and education programs at major universities, hunter ethics, and collaboration with similarly focused organizations. The Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.