In response to suit, transparency claims, wildlife board again names Storm

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – For the fourth time, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously has voted to name Rich Storm as the department’s new commissioner, despite facing pressure from a lawsuit requesting to remove Storm and re-start the search.

The Board’s chairman Dr. Karl Clinard says he hopes this will mean an end to all that.

“It is my fervent hope that now, after voting to appoint Rich Storm for the fourth time, I’ll say that again, for the fourth time, even those who disagree with the commission’s choice will turn their efforts and energy toward advancing the causes of good wildlife and resource management, that they will join us in preparing the road to the outdoors for generations to come and that they would abandon this time consuming and divisive endeavor,” Clinard said during Tuesday’s meeting.

Storm was first hired as commissioner in 2019 during the Bevin administration. The Beshear administration blocked the commission when it wanted to name Storm with a two-year contract instead of the one-year contract the administration wanted at the start of the pandemic.

The commission now has been sued in Franklin Circuit Court very the process and whether the bard has followed pen records standards in the hiring and contract process.