Displaying items by tag: tennessee fish and wildlife commission

Tennessee State Parks

BUCHANAN — The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission will return to Paris Landing State Park for the first time in 15 years for a one-day meeting on Friday, Sept. 20. The meeting will start at 9 a.m.

A new video titled “Safe Boating Near Locks and Dams” will be presented. The video was produced by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in partnership with, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard and Hardin County Emergency Management Agency.  

Retired TWRA Wildlife and Forestry employee Mark Gudlin will be recognized for his induction into the National Bobwhite and Grasslands Initiative Hall of Fame. He served in a variety of roles during a 38-year TWRA career and was serving as Habitat Program Manager upon his retirement in 2021.

Will Bowling from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will be recognized for a donation from the Foundation and the Mildred T. Edwards Trust. The gift will go toward purchasing a 1,322-acre tract at North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area.

There will also be a preview for rules and regulations governing licenses, permit fees and boating certificates.

A Tennessee deer with Chronic Wasting Disease.  Tennessee Wildlife Federation

In a lawsuit filed against the agency, the former employee claims officials misled the public about the rate of a neurological disorder in deer, changing protocols to avoid admitting mistakes.

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

NASHVILLE — A former state biologist claims he was confronted in his home by law enforcement officers with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on the same day he sent his boss’s superiors evidence the state was falsifying data on wildlife diseases.

After his cell phone, laptops and other items were confiscated, the biologist said he was then subjected to hours of questioning by officers — among them the husband of his immediate supervisor.  

James Kelly (video link features Kelly at 10 minutes), a wildlife biologist, led the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s deer management program, chaired the agency’s Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Deer Management Standing Team and served as a wildlife biologist until he was fired in 2022.

In a whistleblower lawsuit filed this week, Kelly alleges state officials manipulated data and misled the public about the prevalence of chronic wasting disease, a fatal and infectious disease that attacks deer populations.

(TWRA would not comment on the specific allegations in the filing, but said its data was solid).