Louisiana Governor-elect Jeff Landry has named Madison Sheahan as his secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Sheahan, 26, comes to the department with a background in public service in Utah.
“I’m confident that with her and her team, she and they will reshape and rebrand the department,” Governor-elect Landry said in a press conference held in Monroe where he also announced several other appointments.
He also announced two other senior appointments for the LDWF. They are Ryan Montegut, who most recently worked on natural resource issues in the attorney general’s office, and Stephen Clark, who will be deputy secretary. Clark has worked for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Louisiana is known as the Sportsman’s Paradise,” Governor-elect Landry went on to say. “We want this department and the people of this department to be a first-class operation. We want people to come to Louisiana to hunt and fish and have a great time here. We want them to leave saying ‘You know what, Louisiana has got it going on.’”
Landry is an avid hunter and fisherman.
The LDWF has around 750 employees who work across the state. Currently, there are many serious issues that have gone unresolved during the past administration, including three directors in just eight years.
Sheahan acknowledged that the department has a morale and an image problem with many unresolved issues. She said it wasn’t the fault of the many employees, but the leadership of the past. She also stated that since Louisiana has always been the Sportsman’s Paradise, it is time to build a LDWF that upholds that same level of expectation and excellence.
