|
Massachusetts Fisheries & Wildlife
Board Members
The seven-member Fisheries
and Wildlife Board oversees the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
Members are appointed by the Governor. Under Chapter 21, the Board
supervises and controls the agency, having the authority to make regulations,
set policy, and oversee personnel appointments. The Board meets monthly
and holds public hearings as part of the regulatory process. All public
meetings and hearings are posted on the agency website
calendar as well as at agency facility bulletin boards.
*****************************************************************************************
George L. Darey, Chairman
Representing the Western Wildlife District, Mr. Darey of Lenox is a retired
teacher who has been an environmental advocate for the Berkshires since
returning from military service. Darey has a BA from the State University
of New York (Plattsburg) and an MS from the University of Massachusetts.
He served on the Lenox Conservation Commission as well as the Board of
the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions before being
elected to the town Board of Selectmen.
As Chair of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board, Mr. Darey has been instrumental
in generating public support for important wildlife issues including the
recent Biodiversity Initiative, funding of the Natural Heritage and Endangered
Species Program and the establishment of the Wildlands Conservation Stamp,
a $5 assessment to the sale of hunting and fishing licenses dedicated
exclusively for the preservation of open space.
In addition to his interest in fish and wildlife conservation, Mr. Darey
serves as Board Member of the Berkshire Natural Resource Council and Sportsmen
for Land Preservation. He was a founding member of the Housatonic River
Initiative, and was instrumental in forging forestland protection and
management partnerships between MassWildlife and the Nature Conservancy,
Ruffed Grouse Society and National Wild Turkey Federation. Mr. Darey is
active in historical and cultural preservation efforts for the Berkshires
and has played a major role in preserving the Edith Wharton estate and
securing a permanent Berkshire home for the nonprofit Shakespeare Company.
His leadership role in environmental stewardship was recognized in 1996
when he was presented a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Award.
Return
to top
John Creedon, Vice Chairman
Representing the Southeast Wildlife District, Mr. Creedon of North Easton
is an attorney by profession. He received his bachelor's degree
in Economics and Political Science from Boston College in 1966 and a J.D.
from Suffolk University Law School in 1969. He was admitted to the bar
in November of 1969.
Since 1969 Mr. Creedon has served as Assistant District Attorney for Plymouth
County, as a City Councilor and as President of the City Council of Brockton.
Currently he is a partner in the Brockton Law firm of Silverstein &
Creedon. He is Chairman of the Committee of Management for the Old Colony
YMCA and is a former Director of Old Colony Elderly Services. He serves
as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Cardinal Spellman High School, his
alma mater, and is president of the Horace Howard Trust. In addition to
representing the southeastern part of Massachusetts, Mr. Creedon provides
legal and regulatory expertise to the Fisheries and Wildlife Board.
Return
to top
Michael P. Roche, Secretary
Representing the Connecticut Valley Wildlife District, Mr. Roche lives
in Orange and is a professional educator. He has been a fixture at Mahar
Regional High School in Orange since 1974 and currently is social studies
department chairman. He is a graduate of Salem State College and holds
a Master's degrees in Administration and Organization from Endicott College.
At Mahar Regional, Mr. Roche teaches high school social science and has
taught forestry and wildlife management electives in the science department
in addition to coaching basketball and soccer. He serves as advisor to
the Mahar Fish and Game Club, believed to be the oldest high school fish
and game club in the Commonwealth and has coached teams in the Massachusetts
Envirothon. He took a four-year leave of absence in 1988 to work as the
Regional Director for Ducks Unlimited in Massachusetts. Over the past
twenty-five years, Mr. Roche has served as a volunteer hunter education
instructor, a member of Massachusetts' Project WILD advisory committee,
and was a staff member and director of the Massachusetts Junior Conservation
Camp. Roche provides the Fisheries and Wildlife Board with insight on
environmental education issues.
Mr. Roche is well known in the North Quabbin region as an outdoor writer,
writing a weekly column in the Athol Daily News for more than fifteen
years and having free-lance work published in various periodicals. He
is an active member of the New England Outdoor Writer's Association and
the Outdoor Writers Association of America. .
Return
to top
Ernest W. Foster, Jr.
Representing the Central Wildlife District, Mr. Foster of Worcester received
his Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Norwich University.
A native of Worcester County, he has since completed a number of post-graduate
studies at Northeastern University, Holy Cross, Clark University and Worcester
Polytechnic Institute. After serving industry for nine years, he
established his own business identity in the real estate development,
sales appraisals and management field; and as a general design/building
contractor. His extensive experience and knowledge of business, finance,
management and real estate operations as well as the unique entrepreneurial
insight he contributes, have proven valuable to discussions of budgets,
open space acquisition and protection, and many of the other complex issues
which confront the Fisheries and Wildlife Board on a regular basis.
During his tenure with the Board, Mr. Foster has served on committees
dealing with land acquisition, Wildlands Stamp Program and finance, and
the development of the nonprofit Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Endowment. He is or has been an officer, Director and/or member of the
Boone and Crockett Club, Professional Hunters Association of South Africa,
Safari Club International, National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited,
Boston Safaris, Ltd., NASxSa, the FAWN Society, Worcester County Fish
and Game Association, Rice Meadow Fishing Club, Boylston Sportsmen's Club,
Leicester Sportsmen's Club, Lee Sportsmen's Club, Western Mass. Bird Dog
Club and the Eight Point Sportsmen' Club.
Mr. Foster is an avid upland and big game hunter and fisherman having
pursued his love across the continent. He is also a competitive smooth
bore shooter in modern skeet and sporting clays. His knowledge of smoothbore
guns can be enjoyed in his quarterly article "Classic Upland Guns",
published in the Upland Almanac. Mr. Foster is the co-designer of the
Contender handgun and has been credited with other firearms designs for
military use.
He and his wife Audry have four adult children, including three sons
who are active in hunting, fishing and shooting. His daughter resides
in Chicago where she practices law and participates in outdoor activities
as time, work and family permits.
Return
to top
Joseph S. Larson, Ph.D.
As the Board's specialist in endangered species habitat, Dr. Larson of
Pelham serves as the Board's liaison to MassWildlife's Natural Heritage
and Endangered Species Advisory Committee, where he is a full voting member.
Dr. Larson holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Massachusetts
and a Ph.D. in zoology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He has held
research appointments with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
University of Maryland, as well as positions with state natural resource
agencies and private environmental organizations in Massachusetts and
Maryland. He is professor emeritus and former Chairman of the Department
of Forestry and Wildlife Management and Director of The Environmental
Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is professionally
registered or certified in forestry, ecology, wetland science and wildlife
biology.
Nationally, Dr. Larson has been involved as Executive Chairman of the
National Wetlands Technical Council and Chairman of the U.S. National
Ramsar Committee that represents non-governmental interests to the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. He received the national
Chevron Conservation Award in 1990. Internationally, he has been a member
of diplomatic delegations to the Ramsar Convention and has lectured and
conducted wetlands training seminars in India, China and Europe. He is
a member of the Commission on Ecosystem Management of the World Conservation
Union.
In Massachusetts, Dr. Larson has served on the Board of Directors of the
Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions and as a member
of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, where
he chaired the first science advisory committee. He drafted original legislation
to define wetlands in the Commonwealth and has served on all of the wetland
regulation advisory committees convened by the Department of Environmental
Protection. He was a member of the Secretary's Fisheries and Wildlife
Advisory Committee during the original establishment of the Executive
Office of Environmental Affairs. In 1997 the Massachusetts Wildlife Federation
honored Dr. Larson as Conservationist of the Year.
Return
to top
Brandi L. Van Roo, Ph. D.
Dr. Van Roo is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Framingham
State College (FSC) and is the Board's professional wildlife biologist
Originally from Rochester, NY, Dr. Van Roo obtained a B.S. in Environmental
and Forest Biology from the State University of New York (SUNY) College
of Environmental Science and Forestry and earned a Ph. D. in Behavioral
Ecology from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.
Dr. Van Roo is a resident of Douglas and an associate member of the Douglas
Conservation Commission. Dr. Van Roo conducts field research on breeding
behaviors in migratory songbirds in the Blackstone region. She teachers
upper division courses in Wildlife Biology, Ornithology and Ecology at
FSC and is the faculty advisor for the FSC Student Chapter of The Wildlife
Society. Dr. Van Roo was appointed to the Fisheries and Wildlife Board
in 2005.
Return
to top
Frederic Winthrop
Mr. Winthrop represents both the Northeast Wildlife District of Massachusetts
and agricultural interests on the Fisheries and Wildlife Board. He is
co-owner and operator of the family farm in Ipswich and is experienced
in wildlife management and land preservation issues.
Prior to his appointment to the Fisheries and Wildlife Board, he served
15 years as the Executive Director of The Trustees of Reservations, the
nation's oldest land trust organization, which preserves and manages places
of historic and ecological significance in Massachusetts. Mr. Winthrop
currently serves on committees for the Massachusetts Audubon Society,
the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Essex National Heritage Commission,
and is a Trustee of the Essex Agricultural and Technical Institute. He
has also been Chairman of the Ipswich Conservation Commission, Director
of the Ipswich River Watershed Association and a Trustee of the North
American Wildlife Foundation.
Mr. Winthrop served as Massachusetts' Commissioner of Food and Agriculture
from 1975-1985 and has received wide recognition for his contributions
to agriculture. He was awarded the New England Agricultural Adventurers
Award for initiating the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program,
the first such statewide program in the country. He has received the Soil
Conservation Society of America Award for "Significant Contributions and
Achievements in Land and Water Conservation", the Massachusetts Tree Farmer
of the Year award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Future
Farmers of America. He was elected President of both the National and
Northeast Associations of State Departments of Agriculture, President
of the Eastern US Food and Agricultural Export Council and Chairman of
the American Farmland Trust. He has led agricultural delegations to China,
Poland and Romania.
Mr. Winthrop is a graduate of Harvard University and served in the U.S.
Marine Corps Reserve.
Return
to top
Date Last Updated: October 23, 2006
Questions? Comments? Contact: MassWildlife at Mass.Wildlife@state.ma.us
Privacy Policy
|
