Board of Game Commissioners Selects Roe As Agency’s Next Executive Director

HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today voted unanimously to select Carl Roe to serve as the agency's new executive director.  Roe will succeed Vern Ross, current executive director, when he retires on Dec. 31.  Ross announced his retirement at the Board's meeting on June 28.

"We believe that Carl Roe will be an excellent chief executive officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and that he will be able to build on the agency's long list of conservation accomplishments," said Board of Game Commissioners President John J. Riley. 

"I look forward to this new opportunity and new phase in my professional career," Roe said. "I plan to work with the hunters and trappers of Pennsylvania, as well as other conservation-minded organizations, to further the agency's wildlife management objectives and habitat improvement projects.

"There are many challenges on the horizon, not the least of which is the agency's current fiscal situation, but I firmly believe that this agency and its many dedicated men and women will be able to pull together and overcome any obstacle."

Roe currently serves as the agency's Bureau of Administrative Services director, and has spearheaded the effort to implement an electronic license sale system, commonly referred to as "point-of-sale."  In 2001, Roe joined the agency as its first ever long-range strategic planner, and has continued in his current position to oversee the implementation of the agency's Strategic Plan.

After serving with the U.S. Army from 1970 to 2000, Roe retired with the rank of colonel, and had taken part in two combat tours in Vietnam and El Salvador. Other overseas tours included Germany and Panama.  His last position was as director of Americas Studies at the U.S. Army War College's Department of National Security Strategy, where he taught strategic planning for national security.

Prior to that, Roe served as garrison commander at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.  While there, he was responsible for nine directorates that included Environmental Resources, Education Services, Public Works, Community Activities, Logistics, Human Resources, Information Management, Contracting and Law Enforcement.   At Fort Bliss, Roe also had responsibility for wildlife management practices impacting more than 2,000 species on more than 1.1 million acres of land.

At Fort Bliss, Roe developed, executed and managed operating budgets of $120 million and capital improvement budgets of $140 million.  He also selected, trained and led teams of inspectors in performing quality control evaluations in a full range of individual and team tasks.

Roe earned a master's degree in public administration from Penn State University; a master's degree in management from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island; a master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas; and a bachelor's degree in political science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Roe, 57, served as a board member on the American Red Cross, El Paso Chapter; Rio Grande Council of Governments; and the Economic Development Committee of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Wayne, Montgomery County, Roe grew up hunting and fishing in Pennsylvania, and continued these activities during his young adulthood on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  He is a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the National Rifle Association.

Roe currently resides in Carlisle with his wife, Ines.  They have two daughters: Courtney and Ashley.

"Having worked some already with Mr. Roe, we are quite pleasantly surprised and look forward to working with the agency under his directorship," said Ed Wentzler, of the United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania.

"Carl is a very personable and knowledgeable individual, and I think he is going to be a very good fit with sportsmen, the agency's employees, Commissioners and legislators," said Ted Onufrak, of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs.  "We look forward to working with him, as we have in the past.  There's a lot to be done and he can certainly expect the PFSC's support and cooperation in his efforts."

Shortly after Ross announced his retirement, the Board of Game Commissioners announced a nationwide search to select a replacement.  The Game and Wildlife Code, the state law from which the Game Commission derives its authority, states that the Board "shall select a director," and that the "director shall serve as such at the pleasure of the commission."

To begin the selection process, the Board advertised the position in various national publications, including those targeting wildlife management professionals and business leaders.

The Board received nearly 70 applications from throughout the country prior to deadline of Oct. 22, and the entire Board reviewed all applications on Oct. 26.  After narrowing the field of applicants, the Board interviewed the top five candidates on Nov. 16 and 17.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the more than 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat.  The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs.

The Game Commission does not receive any annual General Fund state taxpayer dollars.