Date: 04/23/09
Contact: Kelly Clark
Phone: (775) 688-1555

WILDLIFE DIRECTOR RECEIVES PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD

Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) Director Ken Mayer will be awarded the Pope & Young Club’s Lee Gladfelter Memorial Award, which recognizes a wildlife professional who has made significant contributions to bowhunting and wildlife conservation.

Mayer will be presented the national award on Friday, April 24, at the Pope & Young Club’s Annual Awards banquet in Denver. Mayer, 56, is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and lifelong hunter with a passion for archery and bowhunting. Mayer’s contributions to bowhunting and wildlife conservation have been noteworthy throughout his professional career, including:

• Selected as 1999 Professional of the Year by the Western Section of The Wildlife Society;
• Selected California Bowman Hunters Professional of the Year, 2002;
• The California Department of Fish and Game representative on the National American Archery Council, Professional Wildlife Management Advisory Committee (1990-2001);
• An invited guest speaker: Missouri Department of Conservation Manager's Meeting Archery Hunting and Animal Rights Activism (1992);
• A member of The Wildlife Society Technical Review Committee - The Use of Bowhunting in Wildlife Management (1994-1996);
• Co-editor, Proceedings of the 1St National Bowhunting Conference, St. Louis MO, 2001;
• Served as a speaker and general session chairman, at the First National Bowhunting Conference in St. Louis MO, 2001;

“The governor’s office congratulates Ken on receiving this significant award. We are pleased to have such an accomplished individual serving as our state Wildlife Director,” said Governor Jim Gibbons.

The Pope & Young Club is a nonprofit scientific organization that advocates and encourages responsible bowhunting by promoting quality, fair chase, and sound conservation practices. It is recognized as the official repository for records on bow-harvested North American big game animals. Together with the Boone & Crockett Club, the Pope & Young Club maintains the universally-accepted scoring system and sets the standards for measuring and scoring North American big game taken with bow and arrow.