Templeton sportsman, gun rights advocate named head of Mass. Fish & Game Dept.
By
Andy Metzger, State House News Service
Posted Jul 5, 2017 at 1:34 PM
Updated Jul 5, 2017 at 11:07 PM
BOSTON — Gun rights advocate and sportsman Ronald Amidon of Templeton
will take over as the Baker administration’s fish and game
commissioner.
Mr. Amidon is president of the Gun Owners Action
League and has worked on identifying “cold water refuges for trout and
the restoration of upland bird habitat,” according to the Baker
administration, which on Wednesday announced Mr. Amidon’s appointment to
head the state Department of Fish and Game and the retirement of
Commissioner George Peterson Jr. of Grafton.
“Ron’s been around
the sporting and outdoor world for an awful long time,” GOAL Executive
Director James Wallace said. “He’s certainly got his heart into it.”
GOAL is based in Northboro.
Mr. Amidon will succeed Mr. Peterson,
a U.S. Army veteran who spent about two decades in the House as a
Republican representative, rising to the position of assistant minority
leader. Mr. Peterson previously worked as a commercial fisherman.
The
Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs credited Mr. Peterson with
preserving land, assisting the commercial fishing industry with an
industry-based survey, and leading construction of a water pipeline and
hydropower turbine at the McLaughlin Fish Hatchery in Belchertown.
Mr. Amidon’s professional experience is in construction management, according to the Baker administration.
For
the past few years Mr. Amidon has been working at McCourt Construction
as a construction superintendent on the Whittier Bridge project along
Interstate 95, according to Steve Frick, vice president of operations at
McCourt. Mr. Frick said Mr. Amidon has worked for the company for four
years.
A LinkedIn profile for Mr. Amidon said he was general
manager for Deloury Construction, where he overhauled business
processes. The profile said he had management positions at The Case
Companies, J. Derenzo Construction, and Marois Bros. in addition to
starting his own company.
Mr. Wallace said GOAL will hold a
meeting soon to select a new president. He said Mr. Amidon has held the
top position for less than a year.
“Ron knows the commonwealth’s fisheries and wildlife as well as land
protection responsibilities, and I look forward to working with him to
continue the Baker-Polito administration’s support of the commonwealth’s
wildlife, open spaces, and outdoor educational programs,” Energy and
Environmental Affairs Secretary Matt Beaton said in a statement.
Mr. Amidon hunts and fishes, and “looks out for the entire environment” as a conservationist, Mr. Wallace said.
According
to the administration he has spent 30 years “actively involved in the
commonwealth’s sportsmen community,” including as president of the Otter
River Sportsmen’s Club, board chairman for the Worcester County League
of Sportsmen’s Clubs, and moderator of the Massachusetts Conservation
Alliance, which worked on restoring fish and wildlife funding years ago,
according to Mr. Wallace.
“I am confident in Ron’s ability to
lead the department, and I wish him continued success as he works to
protect and enhance the commonwealth’s outdoor resources,” Mr. Peterson
said in a statement.
Spencer Democrat Sen. Anne Gobi, who
represents Templeton and co-chairs the Environment Committee, said she
has known Amidon for 15 years. In a statement she praised “his reasoned
and ethical approach to dealing with issues” and said “his absolute love
of the outdoors will serve not only the sportsmen and women but all in
the Commonwealth.”
The department manages fisheries, including
shellfish harvesting, and wildlife resources and works on ecological
restoration and land protection. It oversees the Division of Marine
Fisheries, which manages recreational and commercial harvesting of
saltwater finfish, shellfish, lobster and crab.
“We have enjoyed
our collaboration with Commissioner Peterson on conserving wildlife
habitat and we wish him well,” said Wayne Klockner, state director for
the Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. “We look forward to a
productive partnership with Commissioner Amidon.”
Good for Mr. Amidon. It will not hurt our area to have a local person in this position. Bev.
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