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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and Missouri Conservation Commission posthumously honored retired MDC Assistant Fisheries Division Chief Lee Redmond by inducting him into the Missouri Conservation Hall of Fame. Redmond, formerly of Lohman, was honored on July 14 following the Commission’s open meeting. Redmond died Sept. 20, 2022, at age 83.
He was nominated by former MDC colleague Ron Dent Jr. of Cole Camp. Redmond’s wife, Marge, accepted the award on Redmond’s behalf.
Redmond is the 47th inductee into the Missouri Conservation Hall of Fame. The award honors deceased citizen conservationists and former employees of the Department of Conservation, other conservation-related government agencies, universities, or organizations who made substantial and lasting contributions to fisheries, forestry, or wildlife resources, including conservation law enforcement and conservation education-related activities in the state. Learn more at mdc.mo.gov/about-us/awards-honors/hall-fame.
Redmond joined MDC in 1963 as a fishery research biologist. He then became a fisheries management supervisor and assistant fisheries division chief before his retirement after 37 years in 2000. While at MDC, he implemented fish size limits for lakes throughout the state and was instrumental in establishing MDC’s urban fishing program, one of the first in the nation. Redmond also drafted MDC’s original Municipal Lakes Program, which later became the Community Assistance Program (CAP).
“Thanks to Lee Redmond’s work on our original Community Assistance Program, we now work with hundreds of communities around Missouri to provide fishing opportunities at their local lakes,” said MDC Director Sara Parker Pauley. “CAP funds provide boat ramps, parking areas, disabled-accessible fishing docks and jetties, and other major infrastructure.”
Redmond also garnered federal funds for MDC for sportfishing. Those funds helped establish the first nationally recognized stream management program, Streams for the Future.
He also led research on fisheries management techniques, authored many nationally recognized scientific papers on the topic, and gave numerous presentations.
He was regarded as an expert in fisheries management and was a leader in the American Fisheries Society (AFS) where he served in several capacities, including as president from 1994-1995. He was very active in the state, national, and international AFS and was honored by the AFS through numerous awards. He was a charter member of the AFS Missouri Chapter, which created the Lee Redmond Citizen’s Award in his honor for persons who make substantial contributions to Missouri’s aquatic resources. He was elected to the Fisheries Management Hall of Excellence in 2001.
“Lee Redmond was undoubtedly one of the most highly recognized fisheries scientists nationwide,” said Pauley. “His ability to try new management techniques and report the results nationwide to other fisheries professionals was one of his hallmark traits that earned him and MDC recognition as leaders in fisheries management.”
