While the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission had a busy agenda last Wednesday and Thursday at its meeting in Kingsport, there was an item not on their agenda that commanded the most attention.

   Gary Myers, one of the longest serving leaders of a state conservation agency in United States history announced his retirement as the executive director of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, effective March 1, 2009. Myers announcement came during the meeting Wednesday afternoon.

    Myers, 73, has been associated with the TWRA since 1974 when he came to Tennessee following 11 years with the Colorado Game and Fish Department. He served as TWRA Assistant Director of Field Operations.

    To say he has seen a lot of changes in his career as Tennessee’s top wildlife manager would be an understatement.

    I’ve watched him weather a lot of storms and the top spot was often a hot spot. Yet Myers had a cool demeanor and never seemed to rile at the long list of controversial topics that seemed to surface time and again.

    From political pressure and legislative challenges to budget restraints and uncertain futures for this or that program, Myers has kept the TWRA ship on course often times sailing unchartered waters in windy seas.

    He had dealt with a grocery list of problems and personalities ranging from governor appointed wildlife commissioners to a matrix of personnel issues. Through it all he remained calm and collective.

    I never saw him loose his composure. He seemed to know when talk and when to listen. Although not flamboyant, he has maintained a smooth style in a position that likely had fires to put out on a daily basis.

    Tennessee is a very diverse state and its sportsmen are sometimes hard to please. Demands on the resources are enormous but from bears to bass Myers has been the glue holding things together for over three decades.

    While he often surrounded himself with good people, apparently he did something right in not only choosing them but keeping them around as well.

    Personally, I’m glad to know he will remain for a few more months and assist with the transition. Any time someone has been around that long a replacement will have tough shoes to fill. Myers will leave quite a wildlife legacy when he sets sail in early March and puts Ellington Agricultural Center in his rearview mirror.

    He was named as TWRA Executive Director in 1978 and celebrated his 30^th anniversary in the position this year. Widely recognized by his peers and conservation organizations throughout the country, Myers has received numerous honors during his acclaimed career.

    Among Myers’ most recent awards was receiving the George Bird Grinnell Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Natural Resource Conservation. The Grinnell Award salutes a person whose career in conservation has been exemplified by integrity, leadership, foresight and achievement. This past summer, Myers was named the Tennessee Outdoors Sportsman of the Year which was presented during the annual Legends of The Outdoors National Hall of Fame Banquet.

    Myers is credited with leading the TWRA through a critical period in its history. He has also served on many national fish, wildlife, and boating committees during his tenure.

    The TWRC will conduct a search to find a replacement as TWRA executive director. The sportsmen of Tennessee have been well served by Gary Myers since first coming on board back in 1974 and the search committee will be hard pressed to find someone of his caliber.

    Keeping your cool when hot issues surface is but one of the attributes a new executive director will need at the top spot representing Tennessee’s sportsmen in the years to come.

    Maybe Myers will leave a few pages of his playbook hidden in a drawer where the newcomer can meander the mind of an old timer who has indeed been there and done that.

If I were his replacement I would only ask for one thing before he departed; that being his phone number!