Jerry Conley, the longest-serving director of Idaho's Department of Fish & Game, has died at age 71. Conley, who headed Idaho Fish & Game from 1980 to 1996, then became head of the Conservation Department for his native state of Missouri; he retired in 2002 and returned to Idaho. Among the initiatives he spearheaded as director in Idaho were the successful introduction of wild turkeys to the state; the nongame income tax checkoff; Citizens Against Poaching; the Idaho Wildlife Congress; and the MK Nature Center, which he continued to visit regularly with his grandchildren almost until the day he died.

You can read Conley's obituary here in the Idaho Statesman; in lieu of flowers, he requested that donations in his memory be made to the MK Nature Center, 600 South Walnut, Boise, Idaho 83712. A memorial service will be held Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Rockies, with a reception to follow.