The Oregon conservation community was shocked this week by the nomination of a big game hunter to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, saying the nominee has shown a disdain for animals and has conflicts of interest.

James Nash, a retired marine, hunting guide and rancher who lives in Wallowa County, was tapped by Gov. Kate Brown to serve as one of seven commissioners who oversees the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

His nomination, and conservation groups’ opposition to it, was first reported by Willamette Week.

The conservation groups — which included Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Sierra Club, among others — penned a strongly worded letter to the governor saying Brown had failed to make good on assurances she’d given the groups to nominate a “diverse, science-oriented” slate of candidates for the commission.

“Our organizations were stunned to learn that the proposed slate of appointees to serve on the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (Commission) follows the same broken model that has repeatedly failed wildlife and failed Oregonians,” the letter read. “Appointments have long adhered to an unofficial ‘one seat per interest group model’ that allows industry and special interests to drive fish and wildlife policy at the expense of science and the public interest.”

Among the five candidates up for commission seats, Nash’s nomination was especially troubling, the letter says. Soon after his nomination was made public, Instagram posts surfaced showing Nash posing next to a host of dead animals in what appear to be big game trophy hunts. Among the animals are a hippopotamus, a crocodile, and a zebra. In one photo, Nash poses with five coyotes he said he killed in one day.

A screenshot from the Instagram of James Nash, who was nominated by Gov. Kate Brown to serve on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission. Courtesy/Oregon Wild

“If you consume prey species, you have an obligation to hunt the predators of that species,” Nash wrote in the caption to a post promoting a hunting podcast. The accompanying picture appears to show the bloody teeth of a wolf.

In Idaho last year, a Fish and Game Commissioner resigned after pictures of him posing with dead exotic animals were made public, according to the New York Times. Nash changed his Instagram profile to private after conservation groups started raising questions about them.

Like most other things concerning state wildlife regulators, wolves add another layer of contention to Nash’s nomination. James Nash is the son of Todd Nash, who serves as a Wallowa County Commissioner and treasurer of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, a group that advocates for ranchers, of which James Nash is also a member. The elder Nash has appeared before the Fish and Wildlife Commission on numerous occasions to urge the agency to relax regulations on when wolves can be killed for attacking livestock. The commission is set to vote on the controversial wolf management plan June 7.

“James Nash has a personal conflict because his father … has been a vocal and powerful opponent of wolf conservation in Oregon,” the conservation group’s letter read. “However, we are equally troubled by Mr. Nash’s public advocacy in favor of wolf hunting in Oregon and embrace of trophy hunting.”

The governor’s office said it expected Nash comply with rules that mandate recusal on any votes that presented a conflict of interest. In an email, Nash said he admired his father and often turned to him for advice, but “I am my own person with a life history very different from my dad’s.”

“I would not recuse myself from those votes (that concerned the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association), because this commission represents wildlife’s interest in the state of Oregon,” Nash said. “All Oregonians stand to benefit from properly managed wildlife, including cattlemen.”

He also did not shy away from his stance on recreational wolf hunting, saying that, as the wolf populations increases, it will eventually reach a level where it needs to be reduced.

“The North American Model for Wildlife Management uses recreational hunting to manage wildlife populations, and generates revenue from the sale of license dollars to continue managing wildlife,” Nash said. “This is the most effective model in the world.”

A representative of the governor’s office told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the governor was unaware of Nash’s social media posts when he was nominated, but that he was an appealing candidate precisely because of his background as a hunting and fishing guide. The commission needs to be a mix of rural and urban voices, the governor’s office said, and Nash had previous experience working on public policy issues.

Not all of the nominations were met with concern from environmental groups. Two of the nominees, Mary Wahl and Jill Zarnowitz, have extensive backgrounds in wildlife conservation and habitat restoration. Overall, though, the slate of nominees still represented an imbalance, the environmental groups wrote.

“While we were encouraged to see two women with science backgrounds among the nominees, we were dismayed to see so many appointees who represent the very industries the Commission is supposed to regulate,” their letter read.

Kate Kondayen, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Brown hadn’t backtracked on any assurances she made to conservation groups.

“The idea that Governor Brown has changed course on this topic is not in line with her track record,” Kondayen said in an email, adding that Brown has been a leader on may environmental issues including a second attempt at implementing a cap and trade program to cut greenhouse gas emissions, banning offshore oil drilling and protecting the Migratory Bird Act from federal attempts to weaken it.

“Governor Brown has always kept balance and diverse experiences and backgrounds at the fore of her considerations of any board or commission in Oregon,” Kondayen said. “The nomination process is designed to bring forward more information about candidates, which is why the Senate also has a role to play in confirming appointments.”

All of the nominees for the Fish and Wildlife Commission will be considered by the Senate Rules Committee on May 8.

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048

@sfkale

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