Bern Shanks
Bernard Duane Shanks is an American environmental scientist, educator, public administrator, outdoorsman, conservationist, and author. He has been an outspoken advocate for public lands preservation and natural resources regulation. The author of several nonfiction books on topics related to the American West, Shanks taught natural resources management at Utah State University, served as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, sat on the boards of directors of The Wilderness Society and Defenders of Wildlife, and supervised regional research programs at the U.S. Geological Survey.
Early life and education
Bern Shanks was born in El Paso, Illinois, to Arthur Shanks and Grace Shanks. After graduating high school, he worked as a fire lookout in Yellowstone National Park for 12 weeks, later crediting the solitary post as giving him "time to think about the environment". Shanks served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and worked as a smokejumper with the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska and Montana. According to environmental historian Jedediah Rogers, "once introduced to the West he became a real outdoors enthusiast".Shanks later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Montana State University, thereafter going to work for the National Park Service analyzing grazing licenses at Grand Teton National Park. Disillusioned by government work due to what he believed were improper concessions being given to United States Senator Clifford Hansen, who grazed his cattle in the park, Shanks resigned from his job at the NPS. He enrolled in graduate school, earning a Master of Science in Earth Science from Montana State. He went on to complete a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Development at Michigan State University in 1974 where his thesis, completed under the supervision of Eckhart Dersch and inspired by the ideas of Ronald Horvath, was Indicators of Missouri River Project Effects on Local Residents.
Career
Early career
Shanks began his career teaching at Utah State University. At Utah State, he spoke extensively against the Sagebrush Rebellion, asserting that the movement was motivated by private interests and big business, and not a sense of patriotism as supporters claimed. Following a 1980 letter of complaint to the university president from some in the Sagebrush movement, Shanks departed Utah State. Shanks subsequently served as director of planning for the Arizona parks department and as policy advisor on land management issues in the office of the governor of California. He later spent five years as director of the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
In 1996, Shanks was hired as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He was described by Spokesman Review columnist Rich Landers as "the most open and accessible state wildlife chief in memory". The following year, Shanks assigned observers to commercial purse seiners to monitor bycatch; Shanks would later describe the findings of that survey — which reported significant bycatch of Chinook Salmon in a fishery intended to catch other species — as "unconscionable" and "obscene". That year, Shanks announced a draft policy intended to save Washington's collapsing wild salmon runs, blaming the department's own past management practices for the poor state of fisheries conservation in the state and warning that the federal government would attempt intervention if the department did not act.After Shanks moved to impose stricter regulations on the commercial fishing industry, pressure mounted on him from some members of the state's Fish and Wildlife Commission to resign, ostensibly due to a $17 million shortfall in the department's budget resulting from lower-than-expected fishing license fees. Dan McDonald, the Republican majority leader in the state senate, signaled his support for Shanks as did a coalition of 16 conservation groups, including the Audubon Society. Nevertheless, under increasing pressure, Shanks was compelled to resign in June 1998.
Writing in Salmon Without Rivers: A History Of The Pacific Salmon Crisis, author Jim Lichatowich describes the department's budget issues as an excuse to force Shanks from office while the real impetus was political pressure exerted by the commercial fishing industry. Spokesman Review columnist Rich Landers, meanwhile, notes that WDFW's budget shortfall was similar to what sibling agencies in Oregon and Idaho experienced during the same time and was the result of issues that predated Shanks' arrival; he described the move against Shanks as "political tricks" originating in the office of the governor of Washington. Bob Oke, chairman of the state senate's natural resources committee and a Shanks supporter, called Shanks' resignation "a dark day, the lowest ebb of the department". Reporting on Shanks' resignation, the AP's David Ammons wrote that he had a "reputation as a fierce advocate for dwindling fish and wildlife stock... pitted him against user groups, particularly commercial fishermen". According to The News Tribune, Shanks "lost his job on what many believe were trumped-up charges" after "he tried to bring the under control".