Bernie McHugh

Background

About Bernie McHugh

Motto:"Somebody's got to do something and it seems incredibly pathetic that it has to be us."- J. Garcia, 1988 Guiding Principles: Right now, in the wild on this planet there are Gorillas, Polar Bears, Tigers, 800 Pandas, 300 Right Whales, 57 California Condors and zero West African Black Rhinos. There are 7 billion humans. Do the math - then decide what to do with your life. A Brief Biography: I own W.J. Grosvenor & Co, a New England distributor of floor covering. In 1996, I took myself out of operations so I could expand my volunteer wildlife conservation work. I spent 12 years running a coalition of land trusts and have served on numerous non-profit boards. Although I remain fully engaged with WJG in strategic planning and financial oversight, the company now pays me not to show up and mess around with things I don't understand anymore. The only management books I've ever read are "Up the Organization" and "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun". After graduating from Watertown, Mass. High I wrestled a B.A. in Communications from the grasp of the Registrar at Univ. of New Hampshire in 1974. I have credits in Astrology and Utopian Systems along with less useful subjects such as Organizational Management and Theories of Persuasion. Where I grew up,"Silent Spring" was real. The only wild animals in my childhood were squirrels, pigeons and the ducks on the Charles River. Everything else in town had been poisoned by spraying. Until I married botanist Frances Clark and had to start spending time outdoors, I literally thought all the wildlife was in Africa or the Arctic. In 1984 I saw my first Wood Duck, which led me into the dark underworld of birdwatching. I've seen 637 North American species and counting. In 2011 we moved to Jackson Hole, WY to experience - and help protect - the most intact ecosystem in the Lower 48. My conservation efforts are dedicated to the preservation and protection of nature. Especially birds.