The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today graduated its first Diversity Change Agent Training Class, approximately 60 committed Service employees at all levels of the agency who will serve as mentors and advocates for workforce diversity.  Graduates of the course will be utilized throughout the Service as role models, spending approximately ten percent of their official duty time working to improve the Service’s capacity to attract and retain talented employees.

“The conservation legacy built by the Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners over the last century is at risk, imperiled by enormous challenges like habitat fragmentation and destruction, climate change and
water scarcity. At the same time, growing urbanization has weakened the ties that many Americans have with the natural world,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “In order to sustain our fish and wildlife resources for future generations, we need to bring new voices and ideas into our agency and do a better job of reaching out to the public, and I’m grateful that so many dedicated employees have volunteered to help us effect this transformation.”

Class members were nominated from across the country to participate in this five-day training seminar at the National Conservation Training Center, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.  The training will be facilitated by the Franklin Covey Group and John Burden, Chief Diversity Officer at the Department of the Interior. The training seminar was first developed and instituted by the Department of the Interior in 2010 to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace through employee engagement, cultural competency initiatives, training and development, and recruitment and retention across all bureaus.

Deputy Director for Operations Rowan Gould, along with each Regional Director is hosting a “Championing Diversity” workshop this week to reach a broad audience at all levels that will train and educate Service members on how to be champions of diversity.  This one day workshop is a component
within the five-day Diversity Change Agent seminar.

“Almost all of us, if we’re fortunate, can point to a person who, through their actions and integrity, had a profound influence on our life and how we view the world. That’s why this program is so powerful. As an agency, we are strongly committed to workplace diversity, but it is the effort and example of committed individuals that will truly enable us to realize this vision,” said Deputy Director Gould.

Participants in the Change Agents Course are senior executives, managers, supervisors and other employees who have been nominated by their programs and regional offices based on their leadership skills and commitment to diversity. Once they complete their training, Diversity Change Agents will
serve as a mentor and advocate for their peers, and new and prospective employees. They will encourage managers and supervisors to champion job shadowing and mentoring initiatives, and develop relationships with hiring managers, Human Capital staff and others in the community to help facilitate and promote the hiring of qualified, diverse employees.

As part of its commitment to diversity, the Service has also finalized and begun to implement a five-year diversity and inclusion plan which will allow the agency to progressively realize its vision of inclusiveness at all levels of the agency. The strategy is geared toward giving Service managers the tools and resources they need to recruit and hire talented, diverse people. Efforts now underway, in addition to the Diversity Change
Agent training, include:

Establishment of partnerships with the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs to bring on wounded military service members as part of the Operation Warfighter and Coming Home to Work programs; Development of an interagency agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to assist us with hiring individuals with disabilities through the use of a disability recruitment firm; and
Implementation of a scholarship program designed to attract students from diverse backgrounds, among other actions.

Through its diversity and inclusion work, the Service is proud to provide wounded veterans and those with disabilities with transition opportunities and appropriate work accommodations.  The Service’s efforts for veterans and people with disabilities garnered the “Best in Practice” recognition from the Department of the Interior, along with the Department’s “Diversity Partnership Award.” In addition, the Service was recently recognized by Virginia’s Department of Rehabilitative Service for its leadership in increasing employment and accessibility for people with disabilities, highlighting successful efforts by the Service to make the agency a model workplace.

In this third part of an exclusive interview with MidwayUSA CEO Larry Potterfield, Outdoor Hub’s President Steve Dooley gets to the heart of what makes MidwayUSA such a successful business, specifically highlighting the unique management practices of the company.

Part Three:

Click here to go back to Part Two of this interview, covering MidwayUSA’s entrance into television and the hunting market. Keep following Outdoor Hub for more interview clips with Larry Potterfield.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) leadership announced that today (Friday, Feb. 3) Capt. Bruce Cooper will take over for retiring Maj. Dave Pridgen as Regional Commander for the FWC’s Northwest Region.

This new leg of his career began with the traditional pinning ceremony in the FWC’s Panama City office, when gold oak leaves were pinned to his shirt and he became a major.

The Northwest Region covers 16 counties in the Florida Panhandle, from Jefferson County west. The area boasts a range of hunting and fishing opportunities, including commercial marine fishing communities all along the coast. Cooper will oversee all law enforcement efforts there as FWC officers patrol Florida’s woods and waters.

Cooper began his conservation law enforcement career in 1985 as a wildlife officer in Broward County. Since then, he has worked his way through the ranks across the FWC’s Northeast, North Central and Northwest regions as an investigator, training lieutenant, investigative lieutenant, patrol supervisor and captain. Most recently, as an area captain in Bay County, Cooper oversaw investigations for the entire Northwest Region.

“Capt. Cooper has been a valuable asset to the agency throughout his career,” said Col. Jim Brown, director of the FWC’s Division of Law Enforcement. “In each position, he has furthered the FWC’s mission to protect Florida’s people and its natural resources. We are looking forward to what he will accomplish in this next role.”

Cooper received his Bachelor of Science in Resource Management from Auburn University. He has also attended the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Leadership Academy.

“I have an enormous love for protecting the natural resources of the state and have done so for the past 26 years,” Cooper said. “To be selected as the Regional Commander for the Northwest Region is a tremendous honor.”

Cooper and his wife, Amy, reside in Panama City Beach. They have two daughters; one attends Emory Law School, and the other recently graduated from Troy University with a degree in psychology.

By Larry Saavedra

An overlooked aspect of a hunt test competition, besides training vigorously before the event, is clothing. Believe it or not, it does matter what you wear.

If you come to the starting line (where you release a dog) wearing a color or style of clothing that the line judges deem as inappropriate for competition, the judges will stop the competition and ask you to change your clothes to something more in-line with the hunting environment, typically of neutral colors and so forth. This overlooked detail is black and white in AKC, and UKC/HRC rulebooks.

If you’re a people watcher, the fun thing about judging a hunt test is that you see a lot of different personalities and styles of dog handlers. Some come to the line dressed for success with pressed camouflaged duds from head to toe, while others sport street sneakers and tees. Heck, I’ve even seen people wearing flip-flops, although it happens only rarely.

As a judge you learn to expect the unexpected. Everyone respects your tastes in duds, so long as your clothing doesn’t provide you with an unfair advantage in competition; technically you must be dressed in a manner favorable to hunting.

For those new to the retrieving game, learning what to wear comes with experience, and a careful study of the sanctioning body’s rulebook. My advice to the novice is to bring one change of dark shirts and socks for starters. You will get wet and muddy, especially during the water series. Also, say no to those designer jeans! They might look cool at the mall, but the moment a dog shakes after a dip in the pond, you’ll be soaked to the bone. A better choice would be Carhartt’s flannel-lined jeans, which incidentally go on sale in the off-season from Cabela’s.

If you really hate getting wet, and most of us do, look for waterproof chaps that typically fit over the leg the dog heels to, although some competitors use them on both legs.

Hats are a personal issue, not everyone wears one, but don’t wear a white one, because you’ll likely be asked to remove it before you get started! Long sleeve shirts are better than short-sleeved, and long pants are usually a good idea too, especially in snake country. Beyond it all, plan to be outfitted like you were going hunting, and exceptional footwear are a must have item.

Boots offer the best protection and while there are hundreds of models to choose from, I’ve learned that buying a cheap pair is a total waste of money. Aside from the lack of comfort, cheaper boots can’t standup to the types of loose impediments that are often found in the field.

I recently bought what I thought was a decent pair of boots at my local sporting goods store, only to find out that a small metal shard had pierced the sole and nearly dug into my foot. These boots were only two months old, and in one outing they were destroyed.

Some handlers swear by ranch-style boots or even a soft-leather hiking shoe, but I favor a solid trail boot that’s preferably lined with waterproof Gore-Tex. The pair I’ve been wearing for nearly a year now is the Ranger GTX from Lowa (see image at start of article) with its above-the-ankle protection. These boots are handcrafted in Germany and they are made to fight off the elements, whether it be summer or winter. I can’t find another boot that even comes close to its superior quality.

The Ranger GTX is considered a mid-duty boot and they weigh about one pound each, and right out of the box they need to be broken in for a few weeks before they become comfortable enough to walk in. They aren’t the lightest boots out there, but they are definitely the most durable you will find.

The uppers are made of Nubuck leather and outsole is a Vibram Tactis DST, which gives you the stiffness you need and the sure-footedness you require in precarious situations. Because they are perforated around the top, any hot air trapped inside is released through these openings. So far, I’ve had zero issues with water.

The Ranger GTX has a lot of little features that make them the ideal field boot, like the tongue stud that prevents the padded tongue (with gussets on both sides) from moving off-center, offering a more equalized pressure once the laces are tied. There is a half-rand on the boot, which provides further support, especially in rocky terrain. The details make these boots in a class of their own. Lowa makes similar boots for women.

Although the Ranger GTX is a mighty fine boot, it’s not necessarily going to win your dog a title. You’ll have to do that with exceptional training methods. But at least the next time you run hunt test, you won’t have to worry about trudging through the water and mud. And they sure beat the heck out of flip-flops.

“There is still time for K-12th grade California students to participate in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp annual art competition,” says Marilyn Gamette, state program coordinator.

The deadline for entries is March 15, 2012. “California teachers are encouraged to submit their student’s work for consideration in this state and national competition. The program is a non-traditional pairing of art and science education,” Gamette noted. “It spans cultural, ethnic, social and geographic boundaries to teach awareness of our nation’s natural resources.”

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is a curriculum combining wetland and waterfowl conservation with the visual arts intended to teach wetlands and waterfowl conservation to students at all primary and secondary school grade levels.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) awards certificates of appreciation to all students who enter the contest. One hundred winners in four age categories and Best of Show receive awards as well as being published in the yearly California Junior Duck Stamp calendar. The Best of Show artwork from each state is sent to Washington D.C. to compete in a national contest, and the national winner is featured on that year’s Federal Junior Duck Stamp.

The Junior Duck Stamp competition is similar to the FWS’s prestigious Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (Federal Duck Stamp) national art contest. Migratory bird hunters are required to posses a Federal Duck Stamp. However, junior stamps are acquired solely for their collector’s and environmental education values. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps are used to fund conservation education, awards and scholarship programs.

Junior Duck Stamp Program entry forms and teacher’s guides may be obtained from the website: http://www.fws.gov/juniorduck/States/California.htm.

California entries must be postmarked March 15 or earlier and mailed to: Junior Duck, c/o Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, 752 County Road 99W, Willows, CA 95988.

Leatherman Tool Group, Inc., parent company to Leatherman® multi-tools and LED Lenser® lights is pleased to announce the appointment of Kris Hamper as Chief Financial Officer for global operations. Kris will be located in the Portland, Oregon headquarters and provide financial direction for both LED Lenser (Yang Jiang, China and Solingen, Germany) and Leatherman (Portland, OR). In addition he will oversee the Portland office’s Information Technology department.

“Anytime you can find both a candidate that is both an expert in their career field as well the company’s customer base, it’s a definite win,” said Leatherman Tool Group President and CEO, Jake Nichol. “His experience with early-stage, global-growth companies along with his responsibilities as Controller and Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis at Adidas, has prepared him very well to join our team,” adds Nichols.

With more than 15 years in the financial world, Kris began his career as a CPA for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He continued on to provide strategic and financial leadership for global brands including Doc Martens, Keen footwear and S Group where he most recently served as CFO before joining Leatherman.

“It’s exciting to not only be joining two well-known brands like Leatherman and LED Lenser,” says Hamper, “but to be joining at a time when they are just beginning to lay the groundwork for their new combined global financial processes. I am definitely looking forward to the challenge.”