Bruce Buckson, who worked enforcing natural-resources laws in the Florida Keys early in his career, has been named director of the Office of Law Enforcement for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
In his new role at NOAA Fisheries, Buckson will direct more than 200 employees, including special agents and enforcement officers, who work out of national headquarters, six divisional offices and 52 field offices throughout the United States and U.S. territories.
He’s received numerous awards in his career for contributions to fisheries conservation and advocacy for consistency in fisheries enforcement, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Guy Bradley Leadership and Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award is named for a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was shot to death on July 8, 1905, while trying to arrest a poacher who was killing egrets for their feathers in the Everglades. Bradley was the second Florida Keys deputy killed in the line of duty, and the first wildlife officer in the U.S. to die while enforcing the law.
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