The Conservation Commission - 88 Years and Counting

“Each generation sees the world for the first time.”  James F. Keefe, The First Fifty Years

Very soon, Missouri’s newly elected governor, Mike Kehoe will have his opportunity to become part  of a conservation success story unmatched anywhere in the U.S. when he selects two non-Republican members to the Missouri Conservation Commission.

So, given the timing, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the history around the Commission since its beginnings in 1936.

I’ll not repeat all the history here, for those interested in knowing more I recommend Charlie Callison’s book, Man and Wildlife in Missouri (1953) and Jim Keefe’s book, The First Fifty Years (1987). Let’s just say prior to 1930, most fish and game management agencies were pretty disjointed, lacked professional guidance, and were run primarily by political patronage. At the same time, the field of conservation was evolving as old and new voices were coming together to propose a pathway for the restoration and management of our fish, forest, and wildlife resources.

An important moment occurred when the American Game Policy was adopted at the 17th Annual American Game Conference in 1930. This policy described a model for success calling for trained professionals to lead conservation work, broad thinking and cooperation among interest groups, and the need for adequate funding. The Policy also emphasized the need for agencies to have freedom from “political overturns” and influence, enough authority to govern its own work, and that the cost should be carried by everyone because the work of conservation results in “public betterments.”

Missouri took this message to heart eventually building a system often referred to as the Missouri Model of Conservation, and the cornerstone of the model is the enshrinement within the state constitution of a Conservation Commission with specific authorities. A wonderfully simple system of agency governance that has worked remarkably well for an extraordinarily long time.

On November 3, 1936 the voters passed Constitutional Amendment No. 4 by a margin of 71 percent, an amendment created and proposed by the citizens using the initiative petition process. Shortly thereafter, newly elected Governor Stark selected the first Commissioners to their prescribed terms, E. Sydney Stephens, Wilbur Buford (four-year terms), John Case (two-year term), and Albert Greensfelder (six-year term).

If we tease apart history a little bit an interesting picture arises regarding how the system has functioned over time, keeping in mind that it is built around the idea of minimizing political influences or least keeping the majority of politics to one side of the fence (i.e., the Governor’s power to appoint and the Senate’s power to advise and consent).

Number of Governors – Eighteen individuals have served as governor since 1937, most for a single term, a few serving two terms, and four serving partial terms. By party affiliation there have been Democrats (11) and Republicans (7), including Mr. Kehoe. During this time, 15 have had the opportunity to shape the Commission during their watch. One governor did not have an opportunity to make an appointment (Wilson) and another (Grietens) made an appointment but it was later withdrawn. Governor Kehoe’s opportunity to appoint two Commissioners arrives in July of this year.

Number of Appointments (62) Number of Appointments Confirmed (57) – It should be mentioned that being appointed is just the first step. When the constitution was amended in 1972, language was added requiring Commission appointments to be confirmed by the Missouri Senate. This change has made for some interesting moments on the political side of Missouri conservation. Subsequently, four individuals that were appointed did not become Commissioners, two of which failed to be confirmed (R. Talbot (Appointed 1974, withdrawn, appointed/confirmed later 1975); G. Dement (Appointed 1974 and unconfirmed); T. Dollar (Appointed 2013 and unconfirmed); N. Wood (Appointed 2017, 2018, withdrawn)).

Average Term (6 years) – Even when considering reappointments, the average term for Commissioners has been six years. The range of years served (1-15 years) has been influenced by a number of factors, for example, the first Commission had prescribed staggered terms at the very beginning with Stephens being the first to be re-appointed for a full term after completion of his first partial term. Two Commissioners (Gaylord, Talbot) died while serving their terms. Others were temporary, serving out vacated unexpired terms, and another (Pippin) served almost 16 years after being appointed three times by two different Governors.

Number of Commissioners Reappointed (10) – Reappointments were a little more common in the early years (seven by 1965). The reappointment of Stephens, his first term limited to four years, made sense during the time when it was important to have continuity in leadership during the infancy of the Commission. Subsequent reappointments were often more analogous to political reward and favor, merit, and personal desire. Since the 1970s, there have been only three reappointments (Powell, Gorman, Bedell).

Political Party of all Commissioners Past and Present – Republican (32); Democrat (21); Independent (4). The dominant political parties over time have always been the Republican and Democratic parties. Of course, there are many other recognized political parties in Missouri but none of these have ever played a significant role in the state politics. The declaration of being independent is a bit of an enigma. First of all, independent is not a political party, therefore, it’s a non-declaration. The question has been, are so-called independents really a Republican or Democrat in disguise, thereby allowing a governor to game the system and stack the deck contrary to the spirit and intent of the constitutional requirement that no more than two Commissioners shall be of the same political party.

Gender of all Commissioners Past and Present – Men (52); Women (5 – Gorman, Metcalf, Plattner, M. Bradford, Eckelkamp). It’s taken a long while but women have played a substantial role on the Commission during the modern era (1990 – present). Since 1993, the Commission has had at least one woman serving, except for a brief period between M. Bradford and Eckelkamp.

Race of all Commissioners Past and Present – White (56); African American (1 – Johnson). This an area where Missouri has fallen short. Commissioner Johnson was a dedicated member of CFM and an outstanding member of the conservation community before he was appointed Commissioner and continued in that vein during his term (2007-2013). Prior, he earned his B.S. degree in zoology from Howard University and was an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam war.

Commissioners from Primarily Urban Areas (27) – Generally, St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, Jefferson City, Joplin, St. Joseph are considered urban areas. This is a little hard to pin down without doing substantial research and parsing but for the sake of providing some contrast, I include this descriptor because there has often been a debate about urban versus rural representation on the Commission. I’d say the historical split between urban and rural Commissioners is roughly 50/50 keeping in mind places like Jefferson City, Joplin, and St. Joseph were once probably more rural in character than today. The main point here is that most Commissioners historically have hailed from communities with a strong rural connection.

Most Commissioners Appointed and Confirmed by a Single Governor – Bond (6), Starke, Hearns, Parson (5), Teasdale, Ashcroft, Carnahan, Nixon (4). Before 1965, governors could only serve one term, so their opportunity to make appointments was limited. Starke had more opportunity because the original Commission had staggered terms at the onset. After 1965, two-term governors got multiple opportunities with Governor Bond being the first with nonconsecutive terms expanding his opportunity.

Number of Directors Appointed by the Commission (10) – One of the most important responsibilities of the Commission is the authority to select the Department’s Director. The Director subsequently selects agency staff. This is an important piece of the firewall that minimizes the role of politics within Department operations. The Commission has selected nine men and one woman to serve as Director, in order: Irwin T. Bode, William E. Towell, Carl R. Noren, Larry R. Gale, Jerry J. Presley, Jerry M. Conley, John D. Hoskins, Robert L. Ziehmer, Sara Parker Pauley, Jason Sumners. The last “political” director was Wilbur Buford (pre-1937) who was later appointed to the first Conservation Commission.

Average Years Served by Directors (8) – When considering the environment of public service at the highest levels, longevity is not a word that gets used very often. In fact, the inside joke used to be that the average lifespan for a fish and wildlife director nationally was about the same as a pheasant in South Dakota. Because of the authority given to the Conservation Commission and its relatively political-free nature, Missouri has selected well when it comes to directors, and those directors have performed well enough to maintain their positions for a respectable amount of time, giving the Department unprecedented stability in leadership. The range of service for the eight directors has been 5 – 19 years with I.T. Bode (1937-1956) serving the longest, followed by Noren, Gale, Presley, Pauley, Hoskins, Ziehmer, and Conley.

The Next Commissioners (2) – Prior to becoming Governor, Mr. Kehoe portrayed himself as pro-conservation and supportive of the Missouri Model; however, folks sometimes go through an interesting transformation when they sit in the chair of governance. As he makes his selections, hopefully he'll be mindful of the legacy he inherits and the spirit and intent of that history. I look forward to seeing the legacy continue.