EAST LANSING, Mich. — A century after President Theodore Roosevelt visited Michigan Agricultural College, an exclusive organization he founded will establish an endowment to cultivate future leaders in wildlife conservation and management.
The Boone and Crockett Club, established in 1887 to conserve North American wildlife and the fair chase ethic, has announced $1.4 million in gifts and pledges and $350,000 in planned gifts to create the Boone and Crockett Club Professorship in Wildlife Conservation at Michigan State University. This represents half of the $3.5 million goal Boone and Crockett has set for the endowment.
According to Bill Demmer, prominent Lansing businessman and the Boone and Crockett Club vice president for conservation, this endowed chair will work to create both the future leaders for state, tribal, national and global wildlife resource management agencies and a public more informed about wildlife conservation.
“We are delighted to partner with Michigan State University to establish this endowed professorship,” Demmer said. “The individual selected will not only be a national and international leader in science-based wildlife management and conservation, but will establish exemplary teaching, research and outreach programs that will develop tomorrow’s visionaries and leaders.”
The Boone and Crockett Club chair will be housed in the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and will collaborate with other units across campus; the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR); other state, federal, tribal and international resource management agencies; as well as nongovernmental wildlife conservation organizations in Michigan and across North America.
"It's only appropriate that the Boone and Crockett Club and the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife have taken on this role," said Rebecca A. Humphries, DNR director. "The DNR is proud to be a partner in this venture. We have a solid working relationship with MSU and a strong connection with the Boone and Crockett Club. This professorship is a tremendous opportunity to bring the very best science and apply it to groom the next generation of conservation leaders."
“This professorship will attract the best and brightest young minds to Michigan State University – for both undergraduate and graduate study,” said William Taylor, chairperson of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. “The work done here will strongly influence state and national wildlife conservation and management policy for decades to come.
“The fact that the Boone and Crockett Club has selected MSU for this endowment is a wonderful tribute which underscores our strong tradition of forging partnerships with organizations with similar missions and values,” Taylor said. “The establishment of the Boone and Crockett Club Professorship in Wildlife Conservation at Michigan State University demonstrates the essential nature of this great land-grant institution, innovatively bringing together citizens, policymakers and the academic community to develop the public leadership which will serve to enhance the ecological, social and economic well-being of Michigan and North American wildlife resources in the years to come.”
The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Mont. The club has more than 11,000 associate members and an exclusive group of 100 members worldwide that includes three Michiganians. The Boone and Crockett Club was the first organization pledged to the science-based conservation of North American wildlife.
MSU’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has a reputation as a national and international leader in education, research and outreach focused on the conservation and rehabilitation of fish and wildlife resources and their ecosystems.
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