William Brown
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s governing body, now named the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission (TFWC), held its first organizational meeting Saturday evening.
Formerly known as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, the commission assumed its new name on July 1. The commission held a brief meeting to elect its officers for 2012-13.
William Brown, of Chattanooga (District 4), was named chairman, a position he held of the TWRC for 2011-12. Dr. Jeff McMillin, of Bristol (Statewide), was the TWRC’s secretary for 2011-12 and will now serve as vice-chairman. Jeffrey Griggs, of Lexington, (District 7), also a member of the TWRC, was elected as the TFWC’s secretary.
In addition to naming its officers, the commission also set upcoming meetings. The next meeting is Aug. 23-24 in Nashville at TWRA’s Region II Ray Bell Building. Other meetings scheduled are Sept. 27-28, also in Nashville and on Oct. 25-26 at Reelfoot Lake State Park near Tiptonville.
Twelve of the board’s 13 voting members were previously announced. The final appointment came from the Speaker of the Senate this week and is James Stroud of Brentwood, named to a term through Feb. 28, 2015.
Two members each are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Speaker of the Senate while nine appointments come from the governor’s office to represent the commission’s district across the state. Dr. McMillin is the other appointment by Speaker of the Senate Ron Ramsey
The prior appointees by Speaker of the House Beth Harwell are Tom Rice of Nashville to a two-year appointment and Jim Ripley of Kodak to a four-year appointment.
The TFWC has nine members appointed by Governor Bill Haslam to represent the commission’s districts. Along with the three officers, four others were also serving as TWRC commissioners and received appointments. Julie Schuster of Pegram (District 6), Harold Cannon of Lenoir City (District 2), Jim Bledsoe of Jamestown (District 3), and Trey Teague of Jackson (District 8)
The new commissioners receiving six-year appointments by the governor are Clayton Stout of Johnson City (District 1), Jamie Woodson of Lebanon (District 5), and Bill Cox of Collierville (District 9), who previously served on the TWRC from 2001-2007.
The 13 voting members of the commission are joined by the governor and the commissioners of Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment and Conservation who are ex-officio non-voting members.