By By DAVID RAINER
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Kenneth Johnson has seen the world of wildlife conservation change dramatically since he walked off the stage with his diploma at Auburn and into the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
That transition was literally continuous.
A native of Aliceville, Johnson is now firmly entrenched in the Andalusia area. During those 34-plus years in south Alabama, he has witnessed quite a transformation in attitudes concerning wildlife, especially when it comes to deer hunting.
Johnson served as District Supervisor for District VI, which encompasses a good bit of southeast Alabama, for 24 years.
In 2004, he was chosen to head the Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Unit, which was developed to provide technical assistance to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for implementation of certain aspects of the Farm Bill.
Johnson and his fellow wildlife biologists would provide the landowner with a digitized map on all the practices and provide a narrative explaining the plan and the time period laid out to do the work. It would also outline the costs and show how much the landowner would have to pay.
Johnson said he gained great satisfaction in helping landowners improve their wildlife habitat.