WASHINGTON - President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Statements from the National Wildlife Federation and the Georgia Wildlife Federation are below:

"As a hunter and angler, former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue understands the importance of wildlife conservation,” said Collin O’Mara, president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation. “He has a record of working with both Republicans and Democrats to advance innovative land conservation programs, increase water conservation, restore longleaf pine forests, and expand recycling programs. We hope that Governor Perdue will clearly state his support for science-based decision-making and address previous statements on climate science. 

“We look forward to working with Governor Perdue on critical issues facing USDA, including reducing wildfires and improving habitat by restoring our National Forests, protecting America’s grasslands that are being lost at an alarming rate primarily due to the corn ethanol mandate, expanding successful natural resource and farm bill conservation programs, reducing nutrient runoff that is polluting millions of miles of streams and fueling harmful algal blooms, addressing chronic wasting disease plaguing deer populations, leading the council responsible for administering more than $3 billion of the Deepwater Horizon fines for Gulf restoration, and integrating climate science into all the department’s activities. We expect Governor Perdue to oppose any efforts to transfer ownership or management of the nearly 200 million acres of national forests and grasslands.”

“Governor Perdue is a true sportsman and committed conservationist, who prioritized improving the natural resources of Georgia throughout his tenure,” said Mike Worley, President and CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, who has hunted quail many times with the Governor.  “A key part of Governor Perdue’s legacy was improving conservation on private working lands and engaging sportsmen to improve outdoor opportunities and expand important conservation programs, like the Georgia Wildlife Federation’s Hunters for the Hungry program.  He’s an outstanding wing shot and has always been a friend to hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts.”