Kentucky Fish and Wildlife staff receive national awards

​FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 28, 2024) — Three employees with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources were recently honored by national organizations for their longtime contributions to wildlife conservation and boating safety industries.​​​

Derek Beard, Wildlife Program Manager, Wildlife Division
Franklin County, 21 years​​​​

The Kentucky chapter of Ducks Unlimited presented the 2024 Jim Moynahan Award to Derek Beard at its state convention in June. Named after one of the first biologists to work for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife in the 1940s, the award has been presented annually since 2006 and is given for outstanding contributions to the cause of migratory waterfowl conservation and the preservation of North America’s waterfowl heritage for generations to come.​​​

An assistant director in the Wildlife Division, Beard oversees the agency’s public lands across the commonwealth and manages wetland conservation and waterfowl habitat projects on those properties. As part of his role, he has developed important projects that allow conservation organizations like Ducks Unlimited to support and fund.​​​

Beard has dedicated much of his 21-year career with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife to conserving and managing wetlands and associated habitats for North American waterfowl. He encourages the agency to identify wetland improvements and works to help find sponsors for worthwhile projects that would be unfunded.​​​

​​​“Derek encourages his staff to creatively think of projects that benefit waterfowl and wetlands and helps them implement projects from start to finish,” said Ben Robinson, Wildlife Division director. “When we are in budget deliberations, he remains a strong voice for both.”

Founded in 1937, Ducks Unlimited is the largest private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization in North America. It works to conserve important sites across the United States, Canada and Mexico, through a series of partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, scientific communities and others.

Game Warden Marcus Bowling, Law Enforcement Division
Mercer County, 25 years

The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) announced Marcus Bowling as the southern regional winner of the 2024 Pamela S. Dillon Boating Educator of the Year award. This award was established by NASBLA in 2011 to honor educators who excel in engaging students and boaters, raising awareness and making boating education initiatives relevant, comprehensive and exciting.

Bowling has served as the boating education coordinator for the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division since 2019, bringing invaluable knowledge and experience to the position after holding different roles at the agency for 25 years.

As the state's boating education coordinator, Bowling teaches 15 to 25 classes annually for people seeking their Boating Education Certificate. His classes reach a diverse audience, including search and rescue units, high school bass fishing teams, marina patrons and summer camp children, among others.

In 2021, Bowling launched the Life Jacket Loaner Program with three stations. There are now 15 stations, with five more planned, that provide loaner jackets to adults and children at rivers and lakes across Kentucky. He also instituted the state’s new BUI/DUI (boating under the influence and driving under the influence) campaign this year, leading a collaboration between local, state and federal officials to bring more awareness to this safety issue.

"We are very fortunate to have Warden Bowling as our Boating Education Coordinator and we are extremely proud of his commitment to educating the citizens of Kentucky on safe boating,” said Maj. David Marques with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s Law Enforcement Division.

Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, NASBLA is a national non-profit organization that works to develop public policy for recreational boating safety, representing the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and the U.S. territories affecting nearly 85 million American boaters.

Dan Crank, Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Division
Perry County, 24 years

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) has awarded the 2024 Excellence in Elk Country Award to biologist Dan Crank. This award recognizes an individual scientist or wildlife biologist whose career has demonstrated dedication to benefit the scientific management of elk or elk habitat. Crank is the first elk manager in the eastern United States to receive this annual award.

After working with the Nebraska elk herd as part of his graduate studies, Crank came to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife in 1998 as a technician on Kentucky’s early elk restoration project. He was a key member of the capture crew during the elk translocations from western source populations to Kentucky, performing intensive monitoring of the animals

As an elk field biologist for 24 years, Crank has played a key role in Kentucky elk management policy, including hunting seasons and management zones. He has also worked to conceptualize, plan and implement elk research projects and has co-authored many journal articles and conference proceedings directly related to this work.

“Dan’s work speaks for itself. He has earned the respect of his peers in the wildlife and conservation profession,” said Karie Decker, RMEF director of wildlife and habitat. “His life work highlights a commitment and devotion to the conservation of wild, free-ranging elk, other wildlife and their habitat.”

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, RMEF is a leading conservation organization in the United States that has conserved or enhanced nearly 9-million acres of wildlife habitat through more than 14,000 conservation and hunting outreach projects.