Wading Out Of Trouble Fishing Feud With Tribe Set Tone For Just-Departed State Fish And Game Chief

Just days after Jerry Conley took over the reins as director of the Fish and Game Department in July 1980, he waded right into a nasty salmon-fishing dispute with the Nez Perce Tribe.

Salmon fishing had been closed for four years in Idaho, but several Nez Perce teens had broken the closure on Rapid River, near Riggins. Fewer than 1,450 fish had returned to the Rapid River Hatchery, and at least 2,700 were needed for spawning.

Then-Gov. John Evans pulled out the state police from the scene, fearing bloodshed. But the Idaho Fish and Game Commission wasn’t going to back down. Conley called in his enforcement officers from around the state, and asked them if they were willing to put their lives on the line. They said they would.

“I told them that I’d lay my job on the line because they were laying their lives on the line,” said Conley.

As tribal elders prepared to cast lines into Rapid River, Conley told them, “The minute your line hits the water, you’re in handcuffs and you’re in Grangeville (in court).”

The Nez Perce backed off.

It was a moment that caused great tension between Indian tribes and Fish and Game over salmon fishing. But in many ways, the incident set the tone for Conley’s 16-year tenure as Fish and Game director.

It ended earlier this month when he left for a new job, heading a comparable agency in Missouri.

When faced with politically hostile challenges, Conley and the commission defended the department’s charter to protect, preserve and perpetuate the state’s fish and wildlife, even if it meant going against the grain, even against the governor.

Witness all six members of the Fish and Game Commission refusing to resign soon after Gov. Phil Batt took office.

Witness the Fish and Game Commission publicly opposing former Gov. Cecil Andrus’ plan to build a new Air Force training range in the heart of the Owyhee Canyonlands, a key refuge for California bighorn sheep, antelope and sage grouse.

Witness Conley and department officials getting publicly flogged in nearly every legislative session.

Somehow the affable director survived many political skirmishes over his 16-year tenure, the longest anyone has held the position in Idaho.

“You know we’ve been through a lot over the last 16 years, but we’ve never lost a big one,” says Conley, 55. “We’ve never had to compromise our principles. People may not like us, but they don’t accuse us of being dishonest, of not doing our homework.”

State Sen. Laird Noh, a Kimberly sheep rancher who has presided over the Senate Resources and Environment Committee since the mid-1980s, said Conley’s communication skills and his ability to meet issues squarely made him a master politician.

“One thing that always helps Jerry a lot is a fine sense of humor,” Noh said. “Unlike many people who pursue the area of biology and wildlife management, he very much thrives on human communication. I always thought he was exceptionally good in making his case in a positive, constructive way and keeping personalities out of the issues.”

Fish and Game issues draw broad attention in Idaho because more than half the state’s residents (600,000) hold fishing licenses, and a quarter of them hunt. In running for governor in 1994, Batt said he heard more comments about Fish and Game issues than anything else.

It may be fortuitous timing for Conley to leave Idaho when the department is on the brink of yet another political battle. The Republican majority on the seven-member commission appears bent on making major changes to erase a $3 million budget deficit.

But Conley says it isn’t the latest controversy that caused him to accept what wildlife professionals call the most prestigious job in the nation: director of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

He says it’s the opportunity to preside over a department that’s flush with a $140 million budget funded partially with dedicated sales tax funds in a state that reveres wildlife conservation.

Plus, it means returning to his home state, where he also got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fisheries and forestry.

“To have a dedicated source of funding makes a world of difference,” he says. “It gives them an ability to keep the department out of politics.”

John Powell, chairman of the fourmember citizen commission that sets policy for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said they recruited Conley as part of a national search. All of Conley’s achievements in Idaho, including a string of national awards and his past leadership of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, put the man on top, Powell said.

“Jerry seemed to be the very best that we could find,” he said. “We feel very fortunate.”

Powell said the Missouri Department of Conservation used to battle its state Legislature until citizens passed a constitutional amendment in 1976 to devote one-eighth of 1 percent of its sales tax to the department. Now, the department submits its budget and legislators can’t touch it, he said.

“It’s our money,” he said.

Conley ticked off his favorite accomplishments as well as the most painful moments as director of Idaho Fish and Game.

On the positive side, Conley touts the department’s information and education program. “We’ve taken it from ground zero and built it up into one of the best programs in the country,” he said.

Information and education programs include certifying about 6,000 adults and youths each year with 1,000 volunteer instructors; Project Wild, a wildlife education program for public schools, the “Idaho Wildlife” magazine, the “Incredible Idaho” TV show, Conley’s weekly radio talk show on Monday nights, Fish and Game’s free tabloid newspaper for license vendors, and the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center.

Conley also helped start the Citizens Against Poaching toll-free hotline. He oversaw the doubling of Fish and Game land for hunting and fishing. He helped start the Habitat Improvement Program, and launched an upland bird and waterfowl stamp to fund habitat improvements.

He extols the virtues of the Idaho Wildlife Congress in 1988, which attracted about 1,000 people and resulted in the formation of regional wildlife councils and a state wildlife council. Public involvement has been enhanced in developing five-year species plans, too, Conley said.

“We have more involvement in the development of our fish and wildlife plans than any state in the nation,” he said.

As for his most painful moments, Conley instantly recalls the murder of two conservation officers in 1983 at the hands of renegade outlaw Claude Dallas, who was convicted of manslaughter.

“That whole thing was a real drag on the department for a long time,” Conley said. “I don’t know how many disgusting people there were out there who’d call and complain about something, and if they didn’t get their way, they’d say, ‘You guys are so bad, I can see why Dallas had to shoot those guys. We know why your officers got killed.’ It was a lot more than an occasional call.”

Even so, Conley said the department always appeared for Dallas’ parole hearings, and employees made sure the families of the slain officers were cared for over time.

All in all, it’s been a good ride, Conley says.

“I certainly feel kind of bad leaving at a time when we’re having some budget troubles, that kind of bothers me, but I know the department will work through that and move on…”

Conley won’t be leaving Idaho for good. He’s got a daughter living in Boise, and his wife’s family lives in Orofino. “I’ve got a lifetime hunting license in Idaho,” he said, smiling. “You can bet I’ll be back.”