Discovering Alabama
‘The Best for Alabama’ Former Conservation Commissioner Jim Martin dedicated his career to serving the state he loves By Doug Phillips
A
dear friend of mine celebrated his 93rd birthday last year. Ninetythree years, and he still mows his lawn himself, does his own home repairs, and still deals in high circles proposing solutions to state and national issues. My friend, former U.S. Congressman and former Alabama Commissioner of Conservation, James D. Martin, is today retired (sort of) and resides in Gadsden with his lovely wife Pat, who was the reigning Miss Alabama during her senior year at the University of Alabama when Jim met her. And Jim still greets life with the boundless vigor and enthusiasm that have marked his career as an accomplished leader – military leader, business leader and congressional leader. As a young Army officer Jim led troops in combat during World War II. In the 1950s, as a savvy entrepreneur he advanced a small oil company into a major petroleum business. And, in the 1960s, as a widely respected civic voice he was elected to serve Alabama as a member of Congress. During his varied career Jim has kept company with famous generals, industrial barons and U.S. presidents. But for many of us, Jim is best appreciated for his love of Alabama, particularly his passion for AlaDoug Phillips is host of the Emmy-honored television series Discovering Alabama, a production of the Alabama Museum of Natural History/The University of Alabama in cooperation with the UA Center for Public Television and Alabama Public Television. Visit the series at www.discoveringalabama.org
16 MARCH 2012
Jim Martin was known as a leader
bama’s great outdoors. And it has been my good fortune to work closely with Jim on a number of Alabama projects.
Improved state parks
During Jim’s seven-year tenure (19871993) as Alabama commissioner of Conservation, he and I collaborated regularly as he sought to improve state parks, promote enhanced wildlife populations and implement new programs for conservation education. And as Jim has always acknowledged, his term as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) was quite challenging. Overseeing that department was a new kind of role for him, made all the more interesting because it is very large with many divisions and many administrative layers serving many important responsibilities throughout the state. So, true to Jim’s style, he often surprised the bureaucracy with his bold tactics to expedite targeted aims. In fact, it’s probably an understatement to say that Jim sometimes ruffled the feathers of those uncomfortable with his zeal.
Now, I hope my friend Jim Martin won’t mind if I confide that, on a couple of occasions, he and I also had disagreements. And I can attest, when pressed Jim can forgo his normally gracious manner and be rather blunt telling you what he thinks. But this shouldn’t offend anyone. Jim’s frankness stems from an uncommonly kind, sincere heart and strength of character that have consistently blessed his path in life, consistently bringing success in his many walks of life. Among the first challenges of Jim’s tenure as Conservation commissioner was to wrangle with oil companies over offshore drilling rights along Alabama’s Gulf Coast. When the dust settled, Jim’s boldness and business finesse, together with the help of capable legal expertise from within ADCNR, resulted in a doubling of Alabama’s share of royalty revenues from the oil companies. In 1991 Jim undertook his environmental initiative to establish a state program for purchasing and protecting critical Alabama wild lands, a challenge made especially daunting in a state where traditionally conservative voters are often suspicious of things “environmental.” Indeed, such skepticism had stymied earlier land-protection efforts.
Believed in conservation
But Jim believed that conservation should be a basic tenet of any sound conservative philosophy, and he took a different approach than earlier land protection efforts. Recognizing that Alabama’s natural assets are important for a quality future, Jim brought together a diverse range of interest groups – business leaders, sportsmen, foresters, farmers, environmentalists, agency officials and others – and conducted a process of cooperative input to craft an innovative land conservation program tailored to Alabama’s needs and suitable to all Alabama groups.
www.alabamaliving.coop