The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a one-day meeting on Friday, June 26. The meeting will be held at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Region II Ray Bell Building.
Due to the current and potential future Covid-19 concerns on large public gatherings, the agency will present an emergency rule to change the handheld drawing process for permanent duck blinds and sandhill crane tags.
Chuck Yoest, TWRA’s chronic wasting disease (CWD) coordinator, will present an update.
He will discuss the agency’s next steps for management of the disease.
An overview of TWRA programs will be given which recognize anglers when they catch their first fish, trophy fish, lake sturgeon, or a state record. These voluntary programs are intended to develop and maintain interest in fishing and identify quality fishing locations.
Many things are occurring around responsible recreation during this time. Outreach and Communications Chief Jenifer Wisniewski will provide an update on R3 (recruitment, retention, reactivation) efforts and other communications campaigns. These include the Tennessee Conservation Raffle which is underway, community fishing lakes, geofencing experiments, and other outreach efforts.
The meeting will be the first for Bobby Wilson serving as TWRA’s executive director. He moved into his new role after serving as deputy executive director and replaced Ed Carter who retired May 31.