What matters to me today is the future of CDFW without Director Bonham.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s selection of the next Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) may prove one of the most consequential appointments of his remaining term—and perhaps of a likely 2028 presidential run. The vacancy will follow the departure of long-serving Director Chuck Bonham as he heads to The Nature Conservancy. Director Bonham’s direct-engagement, hands-on management style defined an agency often stretched between ambitious environmental mandates and limited resources.
But Bonham’s exit comes at a moment when CDFW is facing a surge of high-stakes, politically sensitive decisions. Implementation of AB 1319—a controversial new law that could inundate CDFW’s already limited resources and impose sweeping regulatory restrictions statewide—will require steady leadership capable of navigating both stakeholder conflict and litigation risk. At the same time, the California Fish and Game Commission is considering whether to list several species with major land-use and economic implications, including Crotch’s bumble bee, the western burrowing owl, and other candidate species currently enjoying full regulatory protection under the law.
With mounting regulatory pressure, heightened public scrutiny, and national attention on California’s environmental policies, Newsom needs a Director who is both scientifically credible and politically adept. The right appointment could solidify the Governor’s conservation legacy and demonstrate executive competence on the national stage. The wrong one risks compounding uncertainty at a time when California’s wildlife, industries, and communities can least afford it.
That’s what matters to me today in 250 words or less. What matters to you? I’d really like to know.