Hunting Matters Ross Melinchuk

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Ross Melinchuk has been a member of Houston Safari Club since 2015. He is the Executive Director of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (SEAFWA). He is also the President and CEO of Melinchuk and Associates, LLC, an environmental and natural resource policy consulting firm based in Aiken, SC.

Ross previously served as Chief Conservation Officer for NWTF. Prior to that, he was the Director of Conservation Programs for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) where he oversaw the Land Conservation, Water Resources, Landscape Ecology, International Programs and Project Management Office. He also served as the Deputy Executive Director for Natural Resources for TPWD from 2009-2017, responsible for overseeing the department’s Wildlife, Coastal and Inland Fisheries Divisions.

Before accepting his position with TPWD, he was Director of Public Policy for Ducks Unlimited (DU), where he was responsible for providing strategic direction for public policy and state grant activities for a 15-state region in the South and Southeastern U.S. 

Prior to his 17-year career with DU, he served as North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) coordinator for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies from 1990-1992.

He began his professional career with Saskatchewan Environment, as a wildlife biologist in the late 1970’s, ending up as the agency’s NAWMP coordinator, a position he held until 1990 when he left Canada to work in Washington D.C. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and earned a Master of Science degree in 1983 from Lakehead University.

Ross is an avid hunter, angler and shooter and has hunted in Alaska, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Spain, New Zealand and South Africa.

TOPICS

SEGMENT 1

Upcoming HSCF EventsJune 9: Larry Weishuhn; Gordy & Sons Outfitters August 13: 50th Anniversary Party with Ox Ranch at Conroe TaxidermySeptember: Mike Arnold, professor, research scientist and author at the Petroleum Club of Houston; Hunting as a Conservation ToolOctober 6: HSCF Sporting Clays Tournament to raise funds for our youth programs. Join HSCF today: Membership and events info: wehuntwegive.org Our guest today: Ross MelinchukTell us about yourself: where you grew up, went to college/major

SEGMENT 2

Tell us about your early career in CanadaTell us about your time in Washington, D.C. You were involved with waterfowl initiatives with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Ducks Unlimited. Tell us about that. What is your opinion on the current state of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting in North America?

SEGMENT 3

You were with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for several years. Tell us about that. How does Texas rank vs. other states in regard to wildlife and habitat management? What is it about hunting in Texas that makes the state unique vs. other states?What are you doing these days?

SEGMENT 4

What is the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies? You have done work with EarthX. What is that? What is your favorite type of hunting?What has been your favorite international hunting destination and why?Lightning RoundFavorite guilty pleasureWeapon of choice in a Zombie Apocalypse? Strangest thing you have ever eaten. If you had one, what would your super power be? Favorite sport movie?

(Originally posted by HLNews)