Monday, March 28, 2005
Most demanding role yet for Sherry Crumley
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
“Madam Chairman.”
Those may be common words in many circles nowadays, but they are taking some getting used to at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
For the first time in the 89-year history of this male-dominated hunting, fishing, boating and conservation organization, there is a woman chairperson. Sherry Crumley, who lives along the upper James River in Botetourt County, was unanimously elected to that position at a DGIF board meeting in Richmond Thursday.
One of the highest profile outdoor women in the country, Crumley, 57, has been a member of the board since mid-2002. She assumes the chairmanship at a time when the storied agency is at a low ebb, troubled by front-page reports of fraud, waste and abuse that have divided constitutes, dashed the morale of employees and sidetracked the department from its mission.
Can Crumley restore the agency’s openness, ethics and purpose? To do so, she will have to “focus on what’s right and fix what’s wrong.” That was the advice of Daniel Hoffler, resigning board chairman who left the meeting amid turmoil and a standing ovation.
Crumley later would say that she talked with her husband, Jim, for hours about the idea of taking the chairmanship. Her final thought:
“If some of us aren’t willing to pay the price and invest our time and resources we are all going to lose. I care so deeply about what the department does and about helping everybody to enjoy the wildlife experience like I do.”
Crumley comes to the table as a staunch supporter of Bill Woodfin, the agency’s embattle executive director. She did not refute the purchases and travels of Woodfin and two game wardens, Col. Terry Bradbery and Maj. Mike Caison, which are under investigation by the state internal auditor. Crumley said the men had been in the public crosshairs “because of a personal agenda somewhere.”
Leon turner, former DGIF board chairman and longtime friend and neighbor of Crumley, called for the ouster of Woodfin, Bradbery and Caison. He carried the signatures of 15 other former board members who supported the request.
The three department employees survived the Thursday meeting, receiving an orchestrated endorsement from a long list of high-profile outdoor sportsmen, many whose programs directly benefit from the DGIF. Never has the outdoor fraternity been so split and is in such need of healing, a process that likely will take years.
The media ended up getting much of the blame for the DGIF caper. “I don’t feel like the press has been fair to the agency,” Crumley told a group of reporters. But she promised that she would act on any problems uncovered by the auditor’s investigation.
Critics of the agency would have been more at ease if she boldly had said, “Yes, the department has made mistakes and I intend to correct them, no matter who gets the boot.”
One of the major tasks of restoring the department will be to dissolve its inner circle of autocratic power and involve constitutes and talented employees who have been shut out of the process. To accomplish this, the board will have to become something more than a rubber stamp, and Thursday it showed welcomed indications that would be the case.
“I hope that all of the board members will become more visible,” Crumley said. “There is so much out there for us to accomplish”
Crumley’s background is one of accomplishments, although some have been disappointed with her tour thus far on the DGIF board. The highlight of her public service occurred in 2001 when she headed the successful campaign that resulted in a state constitutional amendment protecting the rights of Virginians to hunt and fish. The very day Crumley became DGIF board chairman, a judge in Nelson County upheld the amendment in its first real test.
She was the third woman ever to serve on the board of the National Wild Turkey Federation. She has been a leader in the Outdoor-Women movement, chairwoman of the Wildlife Foundation of Virginia and board member of Hunters for the Hungry.
She was vice president of Trebark Camouflage, a business headquartered in Roanoke that was founded by her husband, who is the father of modern camouflage. Trebark was sold to Mossy Oak in 2000, but Jim Crumley continues to be involved in the industry.
The Crumley’s have a history of pitching in and providing time, money and resources to worthy outdoor causes. Sherry Crumley’s biggest task yet will be leading the DGIF through tight revenues, expanding responsibilities and a befuddled and divided constituency.
