ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is a very important entity for the state of Kansas in preserving the state’s natural resources, and recently, the announcement came of a new name to helm the agency with Chris Kennedy.
As Kennedy tells it, it has been a rather winding road to get to this point.
“It was about two days out of high school when I started my career in conservation, which was many years ago. I started as an intern with the Fish and Wildlife Service, which was through the University of Arkansas, and we started working on an anti-pollution project in Kansas,” Kennedy said. “So my career started in Kansas close to Topeka, and that's also when I discovered my love of fisheries, and I learned I wanted to spend the rest of my career working in conservation, and that was roughly 33 years ago. I've worked on a wide variety of research projects throughout my career, and back in college, I'd also developed an affinity for duck hunting and trapping and all of that, so I got a wealth of knowledge while I was in school. Backing up a little bit, I'm originally from St. Louis, but even growing up there, my grandfather owned a farm, so I was well acquainted with hunting and fishing and respecting nature. I'd always enjoyed the outdoors, but growing up, I didn't know there was a career pathway I could embark on that would have me working with the outdoors, and it took me until college to figure out what I wanted to do.”
Kennedy then landed his first major position.
“I landed my first professional position in Missouri and started out as a fishery specialist working with landowners and farmers. I did that for about five years, and then I was promoted to being a fishery biologist and got the chance to continue working with landowners while also being responsible for managing larger resources like streams and larger lakes, and I also helped with some educational aspects,” Kennedy said. “Then, I was promoted to being a regional supervisor and had other fishery biologists under my umbrella, and we were looking out for the aquatic resources for a 16-county area in Missouri including the Mississippi River, the Black River, the St. Francis River and other bigger reservoirs. I was in that role for about 25 years and then for the past four years, I've worked in administration and been part of some significant projects that helped reorganize the state agency and some of that. I've been in a wide variety of roles and worked on a variety of projects ranging from fisheries to rivers and everything in between, and I still have an affinity for working with those resources and helping the staff reach out to the public and to landowners.”
Kennedy said his interest in helping with conservation efforts began at a young age.
“I come from a construction background – my father owned a construction company and when I was 14 years old, I went right to work with him but quickly realized I didn't want to spend my life working in construction, it just wasn't for me,” Kennedy said. “But he did impart on me a good work ethic, and when I was a senior in high school, I started doing some thinking and I knew I wanted to have a career in something I truly enjoyed and something in a field I was passionate about. Two days after graduation, I started working at a fishery and it was there when I realized I was happy in what I was doing and I couldn't believe people could do that type of work for a living. I realized I wanted to spend my career conserving fish and the forests and wildlife and serving the citizens of the state, and being in this position will help me show the citizens the major benefits of our office and what we bring to the state.”
All of that, Kennedy said, led to his desire to work at a higher level.
“Working at the government level was always a goal, because I'd started my career with my internship with Fish and Wildlife Services,” Kennedy said. “When I graduated from college, I hoped my work would lead to a federal job, but at that time, Bill Clinton was in office, and during his tenure was one of the first government shutdowns I'd experienced, so I started looking more at state-level jobs where I could still apply my skills. I've been able to develop a lot of special skills that allow me to do what I do, and I know a lot of people this day and age don't fully approve of what the government's doing, but I hope I can rebuild some of that trust and show people the value of our office and what we do.”
There is also a lot of excitement surrounding some upcoming projects, Kennedy said.
“There's a lot of work going on, and I'm looking forward to all of it. Something I really hope to do is make the public more aware of what we do because I feel like there's a good chunk of the public that isn't entirely aware of what we do or the expertise it takes in order to do what we do,” Kennedy said. “We're not just driving around the state doing nothing, we're out and about throughout the state managing wildlife communities and fish communities and working with landowners and helping them so everyone is benefited. We want the public to be more aware of what we do and help with that education. Something else I'm thinking about is, as I'm leading this agency going into the future, I want to increase the teamwork because we don't have as many resources compared to some other states, like Missouri. I want to increase collaboration and strategic alignment and our efficiency. I'm on a mission to evaluate where we are now and what we're doing, and what we can do in the future and how we can measure our success so we can continue to improve on the work we're doing. We should never resist asking ourselves 'How we can we be better?' whether at an individual level or as an agency. I would absolutely love to travel around the state and talk to people, I know there are ways we could improve our resources and do a better job with our work by talking to people, that is essential. We need to be relevant in the eyes of the public – we're here to maintain and protect the state's resources, but we also have to make sure the public cares about those resources, which requires consistent engagement. Even at the administrative level, we plan to get out and travel as much as we can in order to ensure people keep us in mind.”
Overall, Kennedy said, he is excited to be in his new role and get to work.
“I'm excited about the various projects we have going on throughout the state, and I'm amazed at our ability to manage the state's public lands the way we do and the media presence we have. And keep in mind, I'm coming from a state that had 1,800 staff members in this office, and they also had three times the budget we do, so I'm amazed about what we're able to do with the staff and resources we have, and doing that work effectively,” Kennedy said. “I'm looking forward to shining more of a light on what we do as an agency and what we can continue to do in the long run. I just want to thank Gov. Kelly for this opportunity and for the faith she has in me and my abilities to do this job. I also want to thank the public, and I want to emphasize we need their help to maintain and protect the resources within the state, so I hope they look forward to working with me as much as I am with them. We look forward to continuing working with people, and anyone with any questions is more than welcome to contact our office, and we'll be happy to help.”
