Bob Duncan, executive director of the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries, is the new chairman of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative’s Management Board.
Duncan replaces Dr. Jon Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources, who recently resigned to accept a position with the Wildlife Management Institute. The NBCI board is comprised of the commissioner/director of each of the 25 state wildlife agencies in the NBCI region, or their designees. Meeting twice a year, their role is to provide high-level policy guidance to the national effort to restore wild bobwhites.
Duncan, a Radford, Virginia, native who has spent 36 of his 40-year wildlife career with the department, served as chief of wildlife for 18 of those years after initial stints in both Kansas and Tennessee. A certified wildlife biologist, he has served as president of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and as president of the Southeastern Section of The Wildlife Society. The Virginia chapter of The Nature Conservancy recently honored Duncan with its Conservation Leadership and Partnership Award, and the Virginia Chapter of Ducks Unlimited named him Conservationist of the Year in July.
“The NBCI is providing critical national leadership and coordination for restoring wild bobwhites, a high conservation priority for Virginia and many other states,” said Duncan. “I’m excited and pleased for this opportunity to chair the NBCI Management Board that supports and helps guide this important state initiative, and work with the superb NBCI staff as we continue accelerating the pace of restoration.”
“While we are certainly sad to lose Jon Gassett’s leadership on our board,” said NBCI Director Don McKenzie, “Bob Duncan is a very respected, highly visible and influential figure in American wildlife management. He’s been very vocal about the importance of coordinated state efforts through the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative to restore wild bobwhites and we look forward to working closely with him in his new role.”
