Clifton Robinson 2019 Waterfowl Protection Officer of the Year

Since 1986, Lt. Clifton Robinson of Lawley has been protecting our natural resources as a Law Enforcement Officer in the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries division of Alabama’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Over the past 33 years he has been honored with several awards. For 2019, he was named the Mississippi Flyway Waterfowl Officer of the Year.

He was nominated for the award by Sergeant Alan Roach, who discussed Lt. Robinson’s character and background in his nomination:

Lieutenant Robinson has been with the Department since 1986. He is an avid outdoorsman. Much of his free time is spent in the woods enjoying the outdoors and small game hunting … Almost every week during squirrel season in Alabama, he can be found with a new group of young people giving them the opportunity to hunt that they otherwise would not have … He is a hands-on supervisor who leads from the front, as demonstrated by his own case load, which rivals the officers he supervises, even though that is not his primary duty.

He went on to list specific reasons Robinson was deserving of the honor (directly quoted from the award nomination):

1. WATERFOWLER EDUCATION
   Lieutenant Robinson goes above and beyond in educating waterfowl hunters in ethical and legal practices. He has engaged unethical duck hunters on social media and been able to educate them in such a way, as to change their behavior and attitudes about waterfowl conservation and ethical hunting practices. Lieutenant Robinson is especially adept at mediating waterfowl hunter and recreational/non-hunter conflicts by educating the non-hunting public about the ethical and honorable sport of waterfowl hunting in a manner, that these two groups learn to peacefully co-exist enjoying the same resource. Lieutenant Robinson has participated in the Department Hunter Education Program for over 30 years, teaching and educating young hunters on safety and hunting issues to include those involved in Waterfowl hunting, personally certifying over 2000 young hunters in Hunter Safety. He has also taught he NRA Eddie Eagle gun safety program to over 2500 students in area school systems.
2. WETLANDS PROTECTION
   Lieutenant Robinson has been in the forefront in our Department in wetlands preservation and acquisition for public hunting opportunities. He has nominated and facilitated the purchase of 1500 acres by the Forever Wild Trust, in Tuscaloosa County, which is part of the Sipsey River tract. A piece of property enjoyed and utilized by waterfowl hunters throughout the region. He has also been involved in making sure public land can be enjoyed by hunters. He was an integral part of making sure the Cahaba River Wildlife Refuge included hunting provisions and was added to the Department’s Cahaba River WMA. He is constantly on the lookout for new properties that can be nominated and purchased for waterfowl and all public hunting opportunities. He currently has nominated two different properties totaling 2400 acres in Lowndes and Bibb counties.
3. INVOLVEMENT WITH YOUTH IN WATERFOWLING
   Lieutenant Robinson is heavily involved in youth hunting of all types. He actively pursues opportunities for youths. He has been a board member of the Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officers Association for the past 6 or more years. This organization is a 5013c dedicated to the promotion, education, and protection of wildlife resources through education. The board reviews and approves money for scholarships, to fund deserving students in conservation professions. The board funds and operates youth hunting and fishing days, providing young people with the opportunity to go hunting and fishing to include waterfowl education and boating safety. Lieutenant Robinson has been involved with this organization since its inception.
4. PARTICIPATION WITH WATERFOWLING ORGANIZATIONS
   Lieutenant Robinson is a member of the Central Alabama Duck Hunters Association. As a member, he has personally built and placed wood duck boxes on the Lowndes WMA at his on expense. He has also challenged the duck hunter’s association to build and place over 100 wood duck boxes on the Lowndes WMA. They have accepted that challenge.
5. ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY
   This past Duck season, Lieutenant Robinson organized 5 details specifically targeting duck hunting on public land and water. The details were all successful in locating and arresting individuals for waterfowl related violations and other hunting violations. This was a follow up to last years same type details organized by Lieutenant Robinson. He recognized the need for them on the Departments WMAs because the wildlife section no longer has enforcement personnel assigned to these areas, and because of the large presence of hunters he noticed while small game hunting. Last year’s details, of which, there were only two, produced over thirty waterfowl violations and prosecutions of every type. This year’s details built upon that success in catching waterfowl violators, but also demonstrated the effectiveness of these details in gaining compliance and restoring order to these underworked public lands. Every detail resulted in multiple arrests for violations of the waterfowl statutes and regulations, on some as few as 6 violations were cited and others as many as 15.
   The fact that the violations have become less and less, even though the hunting activity has remained the same, is proof positive of Lieutenant Robinsons vision, leadership, and recognition of the problems on this public land and coming up with a solution to restoring order to what frankly had become the wild west. The details produced over 50 citations of all types to include, bait, over the limit, hunting during closed season, hunting without permission, hunting with shotguns capable of holding more than 3 shells [ no-plug], hunting without proper duck stamps, hunting without license and hunting without WMA license. These details also produced deer and small game hunting violations.

Congratulations, Lt. Robinson, on a well deserved award.