Colorado Parks and Wildlife names sole finalist for director job
The agency’s commission will consider appointing Laura Clellan, who has served as the agency’s acting director since December, to the role permanently in late February
Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Courtesy Photo
On Monday, Feb. 9, Laura Clellan was named as the sole finalist to become Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s next director.
Under Colorado state law, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the state wildlife agency, has to post the finalist for 14 days before an individual is considered for the director appointment. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will host a special meeting on Monday, Feb. 23, to make the final determination on whether or not to appoint Clellan.
Clellan has been serving as the state wildlife agency’s interim director since December. She came out of retirement to lead the agency following the sudden departure of Jeff Davis in November, who had held the position for just over two years.
Davis joined Colorado Parks and Wildlife in May 2023 from a conservation director position at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. His tenure coincided with, and was publicly consumed by, the controversial, voter-mandated reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado. In November, Davis resigned to avoid being fired, according to 9NEWS. He then transitioned into an advisor position within the Colorado Department of Natural Resources until starting a new role as the deputy director of Wyoming Game and Fish in February.
Clellan is a retired adjutant general and executive director of Colorado’s Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, with over three decades of decorated military service and multiple overseas deployments, according to a Department of Natural Resources press release. She became the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to lead Colorado’s National Guard in 2020.
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During her civilian career, Clellan also served as the chief for leadership and employee development at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Lakewood and worked at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Colorado began its search for a new director in December, receiving around 144 applications between Dec. 11 and Jan. 13. The applicants were narrowed down by Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, and Richard Reading, chair of the Parks and Wildlife Commission. Five finalists were then selected by the commission and reviewed by stakeholder and employee panels.
After the initial five finalists were interviewed by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, the commissioners voted to reopen the position at a meeting on Jan. 28 to allow for Clellan to apply.
At the January special meeting, Dallas May, a Parks and Wildlife commissioner, said that Clellan has done an “amazing job” and motioned to reopen the position, given an apparent possibility that she would consider stepping into the role permanently.
The position was reopened for one week, and the commission interviewed her as a final candidate on Feb. 2. The commission voted 8-2 to move her forward as the top candidate. According to state statute, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission is responsible for appointing the director with consent from the Department of Natural Resources director, currently held by Gibbs.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission will consider appointing Clellan as the agency’s director at a special, virtual meeting on Monday, Feb. 23, from 2-3 p.m. For more information, including how to watch the meeting, visit the CPW website.
On Monday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also appointed Chris Sichko to fill a sportsperson representative vacancy on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission left by Murphy Robinson, who resigned from the board in December. While the governor appoints individuals to the board, all commissioners must be confirmed by the Colorado Senate.
