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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.”