Page 4 - 2019 MAR/APR Outdoor Oklahoma

Off the Beaten Path

Off the Beaten Path

NOT ES ON WILDLIFE • OU T DOOR TI PS • R EA DERS’ LET T ERS • EN V I RON MEN TA L NEWS
C OM PILED BY DON P. BROW N
BREWSTERS HONORED WITH DSC’S CAPSTICK AWARD DSC’S CAPSTICK AWARD

Bill and Suzie Brewster were honored done more to protect and introduce
Jan. 19 with the Peter Hathaway Cap- new people to our hunting heritage,
stick Hunting Heritage Award at the whether in Oklahoma or abroad, than
annual Dallas Safari Club convention Bill and Suzie Brewster. It therefore
and expo. makes abundant sense that this formi-
The award honors people who have dable team earned Dallas Safari Club’s
shown long-term support and commit- prestigious Capstick Award, and we are
ment to the hunting heritage through proud and fortunate to call them part
various avenues such as education, of our ODWC team.”
humanitarian causes, hunting involve- The Brewsters, who are married
ment and giving. The award pays trib- and live in rural Love County, set fine
ute to the late Peter H. Capstick, whose examples as stewards of the hunting
love of hunting and respect for wildlife heritage. Together, they have taken
fueled his desire to promote a hunting legacy that ensured the hundreds of youths on first hunts from deer and turkey to
conservation of our wildlife resources. doves and geese, and even took 10 people to Africa for their
Since 2015, Bill Brewster has served as the District 3 repre- first time. They have successfully owned and managed ranch-
sentative on the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission, es for wildlife conservation in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico
the eight-member governing board of the Oklahoma Depart- and Maryland, developing food plots, marshes and a 20-acre
ment of Wildlife Conservation. lake for habitat conservation. Both are extremely experienced
Wildlife Department Director J.D. Strong said, “No one has hunters in their own right.

FISHERIES HALL OF FAME Department’s Florida largemouth
bass stocking program and helped
INDUCTS ODWC VETERAN develop a statewide Black Bass Man-
agement Program. He published
Gene Gilliland of Norman was recently inducted into the numerous manuscripts and became
American Fisheries Society’s Fisheries Management Hall of a leader in black bass management
Excellence. Currently employed with B.A.S.S. as its national across the southeastern United States.
conservation director, Gilliland spent 32 years with the Okla- He has always been an avid angler,
homa Department of Wildlife Conservation, retiring in 2013 as becoming a member of B.A.S.S. in
assistant chief of the Fisheries Division. 1969. His work as an agency-angler
Hall of Excellence (HOE) inductees are selected for their Gene Gilliland liaison was recognized in 2004 with
significant contributions in fisheries management, research, the AFS Excellence in Fisheries Public Outreach Award and by
administration, education or the promotion of fisheries resource the Fisheries Management Section’s Award of Excellence in 2005.
conservation and protection. Gilliland is the 61st inductee for His research on improving survival of bass released following
what is recognized as fisheries management’s highest honor. fishing tournaments led to his co-authoring the booklet “Keep-
“Being inducted into the Hall of Excellence is a humbling honor, ing Bass Alive” with Dr. Hal Schramm, a fellow HOE inductee.
and I am very appreciative of this recognition,” he said. “Many of This publication has become the defining document for modern
the early inductees were men whose books I used in college. Oth- tournament fish care.
ers were my advisers and the mentors who guided my career. Still Gilliland now oversees the activities of 47 B.A.S.S. Nation
others are colleagues that I work with in my current position with chapters, serves on numerous national boards and councils,
B.A.S.S. I count many of them as close personal friends.” including the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, the
Gilliland was a research biologist and fisheries management Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, and the Sport Fishing
supervisor earlier in his Wildlife Department career. He developed and Boating Partnership Council.
and evaluated black bass length limit regulations, formalized the (Bassmaster.com)

2 Off the Beaten Path

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