The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will have much the same look it has had the past two years when 11 commissioners will take oaths of office at the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s July 7 meeting: three appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue, four by Senate Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and four by House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenberg).
At least four of the commissioners appointed to Berger and Tillis already hold seats on the Commission, and Perdue is expected to re-apppoint three other commissioners.
Democrats will still have a majority on the Commission, and the Commission will continue to be dominated by members from the eastern half of North Carolina.
Berger’s at-large appointees to 2-year terms include Wendell Murphy Jr. of Duplin County, a Democrat who is already on the Commission; Thomas Berry of Guilford County, Mark Craig of Guilford County and Doc Thurston of Mecklenburg County.
Tillis’ appointees include John Litton Clark of Sampson County, John Coley of Wake County, Durwood Laughinghouse of Wake County and Mitch St. Clair of Beaufort County. Coley is the only new commissioner of those four.
State law required Berger and Tillis to appoint at least one member of the minority party to the Commission, which will give Democrats at least five of the 11 seats up for appointment, as well as the eight seats that will not change in 2011. The party has enjoyed a majority on the Commission for almost 20 years, dating back to the Gov. Jim Martin’s two terms (1985-93).
Perdue appoints nine commissioners – one from each district – to 6-year terms on a staggered schedule, as well as two at-large appointees for 4-year terms. She has yes to announce her three district appointees. Based on the residence of the eight commissioners appointed by Berger and Tillis and the districts whose commissioners are up for appointment by the governor, 14 of the 19 commissioners will continue to hail from Wake County and eastward.
Among Tillis’ appointees, Laughinghouse and St. Clair are Democrats who were previously on the Commission. Laughinghouse is a railroad lobbyist and a large landowner in eastern North Carolina; St. Clair is president of St. Clair Trucking in Washington. Tillis’ Republican appointees are Coley, a Holly Springs real-estate developer who has twice before served as a commissioner – having been previously appointed by house speakers Richard Morgan and Harold Brubaker – and Clark, who was already on the Commission; he, was first appointed in 2008 by Joe Hackney, a former house speaker. He owns and operates Sampson-Bladen Oil Company.
Murphy is a partner in his family’s hog business, Murphy Farms, the state’s largest swine producer. Berry, another Berger choice, owns Berico Oil Company and will serve for the first time on the Commission. Craig also is from Guilford County and owns a Budweiser distributorship. Berger’s final pick was Doc Thurston of Charlotte, owner of Thurston Motor Lines. Thurston is an avid big-game hunter and member of Safari Club International. He is a first-timer on the Commission and a Republican.
The choice of Berry and Craig is of some interest, because both are members of the N.C. Wildlife Habitat Foundation, begun by Eddie Bridges of Greensboro, a former commissioner who helped create the Wildlife Endowment Fund in 1981. The NCWHF also partners with the Commission and other agencies to purchase land for wildlife conservation and sponsors fish-and-game research projects.
Perdue is scheduled to appoint commissioners from Districts 3, 6 and 9 to 6-year terms before the July 7 Commission meeting.
Commissioners whose terms expire at the July 7 meeting include Eugene Price of Goldsboro, Maughan Hull Jr. of Elizabeth City and Bobby Purcell of Cary. Randy Allen of Charlotte, who was imbroiled in a controversial real-estate deal during the administration of Gov. Mike Easley, has resigned from the Commission.
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