by The new “professional opportunity” to which Corey Mason will transition is as the Executive VP for Conservation and COO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. It appears that he will remain with the Dallas Safari Club over the next month before moving on to the new position.
The Wild Sheep Foundation announced his hiring yesterday.
BOZEMAN, MT — The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) is pleased to announce that Corey Mason of Texas will join WSF as Executive Vice President of Conservation, effective August 12, 2024. In this capacity, Mason will lead WSF conservation efforts to conserve and enhance wild sheep and their habitat worldwide. He will also serve as Chief Operating Officer, supporting the foundation’s current and future programs and strategic initiatives.
“Corey has served the conservation and hunting community with distinction as CEO of Dallas Safari Club (DSC) for the past seven years and as a Regional Director, Program Leader, and biologist roles for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department for sixteen years before leading DSC,” stated WSF President and CEO, Gray N. Thornton. “He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist®, and a recognized industry leader in promoting sustainable use, not only in North America but around the globe. Corey has worked extensively with state, federal, and international agencies and conservation industry NGOs. He brings talent, capacity, relationships, and additional leadership to the WSF staff – he is a blue chip hire, a franchise player, and a force multiplier to our team. I am thrilled, and we are honored to have him join WSF.”
Mason has a BS and MS in Wildlife Management and has served as an organizational lead for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and CITES Conference of Parties and Animals Committee meetings. He also serves on the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation Board and state advisory committees for bighorn sheep, mule deer, and whitetail deer and was a member of the National Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council.
Corey will work closely with WSF Vice President of Conservation Kevin Hurley, a 50+ year wild sheep conservation leader and veteran who on July 1st transitioned to part-time with WSF as he nears retirement. As COO, Corey will work alongside WSF President & CEO Gray N. Thornton to expand current programs as well as help launch innovative WSF initiatives.
“I could not be more excited to join WSF’s incredible team. I have admired the organization’s focus on strategic initiatives and programs, and having worked in the conservation space for decades, I have seen that WSF’s leadership is widely recognized and respected and that the professionalism and efficiency of the staff are appreciated by members and partners worldwide,” Corey Mason stated. “I am eager to support the important mission of WSF and look forward to serving its members,” Mason added.
“As the world’s leading wild sheep conservation, advocacy, and hunting organization, WSF directed $9.2 Million to Grant in Aid, education and outreach programs, and our state, provincial, and tribal agency partners during our 2023-2024 fiscal year ending June 30th. This is $1.7 Million more than the $7.5 Million we directed in fiscal year 2022-23 for an incredible $16.7 Million to mission programs in just two years. Adding Corey Mason to our team will help ensure that those dollars make an impact on the resource, and with our agency and chapter and affiliate partners, Put and Keep more Wild Sheep on the Mountain,” Thornton concluded.
From what I can gather reading comments on various forums made by long time DSC members, there has been a fight going on between those who wanted DSC to remain a “hunting club” and those who wanted it to progress into more conservation and advocacy for some time. A number of board members and the President-elect resigned over it. There was a dissident faction in 2019-2020 that floated an effort called “Save DSC” that some have called an attempted coup. The “Save DSC” group forced a vote on changing the bylaws which only got 18% in favor of it. As I have only been a member of DSC since 2022, I am somewhat ignorant of all the forces at work behind the scenes, what happened in the past, and who is who. This all could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for Mason who decided it was time to leave for greener pastures. I will say that in the couple of meetings I was in with Mason that he seemed like a breathe of fresh air after enduring some of the stuffiness of the NRA’s hierarchy.
I do hope that all goes well for him at the Wild Sheep Foundation and DSC can find a new Executive Director and CEO that can take it into the future.