A longtime military leader will serve as the next head of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, state officials decided Monday.
Laura Clellan will serve as director of the state agency following a unanimous vote during a brief meeting by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. Clellan had been serving as interim director of CPW since Dec. 1, when the previous director moved into another role to avoid being fired.
“I look forward to taking on this challenge,” Clellan said Monday after the commission approved hiring her during a four-minute meeting.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages the state’s wildlife species, administers the state’s hunting and fishing programs and operates 43 state parks and 350 state wildlife areas. The agency generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue every year.
Clellan takes the reins of the state wildlife agency while it continues to deal with controversy connected to its implementation of the voter-mandated reintroduction of wolves. In her interim role, she handled the agency’s response to challenges to the reintroduction program from the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. CPW is also charged with mitigating a zebra mussel infestation in the Colorado River, planning for the reintroduction of wolverines and creating a statewide beaver management plan.
“Her leadership over the last few months has been critical for this important state agency and I look forward to seeing the great work ahead,” Governor Jared Polis said in a news release about her appointment.
Clellan previously worked as the adjutant general and executive director of the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs before retiring in October. Her retirement capped more than 30 years of military service. She joined the U.S. Army in 1989 and, in 1998, the Colorado National Guard.
As a civilian, she previously worked as chief for leadership and employee development for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Lakewood and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Clellan was named the sole finalist for the director position earlier this month after the state concluded a nationwide hiring search.
The previous director, Jeff Davis, resigned the position in late November after Department of Natural Resources officials gave him the option of stepping into a different role at the agency or being fired. Davis began a new job as the deputy director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department in January.
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