California's longest-tenured wildlife department chief steps down after 15 years

""After 15 years, I just felt like I gave all I could to public service, and it was just the time for change,""

""gut-wrenching decision""

""I feel like it's affected my health. It's been miserable, but it is the balance of the two things that are happening,""

"There's the "beautiful recovery" and "what our rural communities are going through.""

Charlton 'Chuck' Bonham will step down as director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at the end of the month and will become California executive director of the Nature Conservancy starting Jan. 26. Appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2011, Bonham served 15 years as the agency's longest-serving director, overseeing roughly a $1 billion budget and more than 3,000 employees. His tenure involved contentious issues including the recolonization of gray wolves and plummeting salmon populations. Managing wildlife required balancing animal conservation with public safety and economic needs. The department euthanized members of a Sierra Valley wolf pack after unprecedented livestock attacks, a decision that affected his health and highlighted tensions between ecological recovery and rural community impacts.

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