Game and Fish Department director announces retirement
CHRIS MERRILL Star-Tribune environment reporter | Posted: Saturday, March 8, 2008 12:00 am
The director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Terry Cleveland, gave the governor official notice Friday that he will retire this summer at the age of 62.
It was a "bittersweet" decision, Cleveland said, after almost 40 years with the agency.
"I'd been contemplating it for a while," Cleveland said. "I'm still young enough, and there are lots of things I'd like to do. What it comes down to is, we all have only just so many days on this good old earth."
Cleveland started his career as a game warden before becoming a regional wildlife supervisor in 1978 - a position he held for nearly two decades.
He served as the agency's Wildlife Division assistant chief for seven years before Gov. Dave Freudenthal appointed him to oversee the department in December 2003.
In a letter to Game and Fish employees Friday, Cleveland called himself "one of the lucky few," because he's been able to look forward to going to work on a daily basis for almost four decades.
According to his official notice to the governor, Cleveland's retirement will be effective June 30. The director's annual salary is $137,150. He has been eligible for retirement for nine years.
The Game and Fish Commission must now begin the process of choosing three nominees to replace Cleveland.
The director's job for Game and Fish is based in Cheyenne, but Cleveland's wife has remained in Casper, the couple's longtime home, since he took the position. Cleveland returns to Casper on weekends to be with his wife, he said, and this regular separation was a factor in his decision to retire.
Also, he said, he just feels the time is right.
"If you look back in the history of directors in this state, the average tenure has been about four years, and the average tenure for directors nationwide is three," Cleveland said. "I'm looking forward to hunting behind a good bird dog, fly fishing, traveling with my wife and spending more time with my family."
The Game and Fish Department has had many achievements during his tenure that he is proud of, Cleveland said, but all of them have been the fruit of hard work and effort put in by Game and Fish employees, the Game and Fish Commission, the governor and the Legislature.
Among the agency's recent milestones, he said, are the delisting of grizzly bears and gray wolves, and the securing of federal and other types of funding for sage grouse work, wolf management and the management of nongame species.
"We've been addressing programs and species that benefit far more than just hunters and anglers," Cleveland said. "And we need to recognize the contributions that private landowners make to wildlife conservation here. To a large degree, the future of wildlife in this state is tied to the future of agriculture."
Walt Gasson, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, worked with Cleveland at the Game and Fish Department for more than three decades before taking his current position.
Gasson told the Star-Tribune Friday that Cleveland is the best leader he's ever met.
"His retirement is a major sea change for Wyoming," Gasson said. "I have worked with literally dozens of Game and Fish directors, and Terry Cleveland was the best of them all. He has absolutely unimpeachable integrity, character and vision."
Gasson, whose last post with Game and Fish was special assistant to the director, said Cleveland built important relationships with people in the minerals and agricultural industries, and with a number of other "important stakeholders," all in the name of wildlife conservation. His commitment to building these types of relationships is what made him successful and what will be his legacy, Gasson said.
"Terry always said wildlife conservation is all about relationships, and I believe that myself," Gasson said. "He built credibility for the department. No matter who you are, if Terry says it, you always know he's being 100 percent truthful."
The new director should continue to build on the associations Cleveland has developed, Gasson said, and carry on Cleveland's quest to "broaden the agency's funding portfolio," in order to ensure that it continues to be more than simply a hunting and fishing agency.
"You've got to be as good at managing bats as you are at managing bears," Gasson said.
Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, said he believes the Game and Fish Department under Cleveland has begun to take necessary steps toward improved wildlife conservation, although it's had a "mixed record." It's done well with sage grouse, for example, but not so well with bighorn sheep, Molvar said.
"Overall he presided over a Game and Fish Department that started to become more active in land management issues," Molvar said. "And I hope the next director will take an even stronger role in being an advocate for wildlife conservation, particularly where energy development is concerned."
Bryce Reece, executive vice president of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association, in a written statement Friday declared that Cleveland's retirement announcement is "sad news" for Wyoming's agricultural community.
"Most certainly we have had differences of agreement between ourselves and Director Cleveland over issues regarding the management of wildlife, particularly as regards livestock," Reece wrote. "But in my 14-year association with Terry, those differences have been few and far between, and have in almost every case been worked through and solutions reached."
Cleveland deserves much of the credit for the elimination of rancor between the livestock community and the Game and Fish Department, Reece wrote, where hostility had been paramount prior to Cleveland's appointment as director.
"His willingness to listen, respect and understand the livestock and ranching community's perspective, and his paying more than just lip-service to our issues and concerns has fostered an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding between two communities that had long been at odds," Reece wrote.
This willingness to reach out to stock growers, Reece believes, has benefited both wildlife and agriculture in Wyoming.
Environment reporter Chris Merrill can be reached at chris.merrill@trib.com or at (307) 267-6722.