Michal Fowlks is the director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Mike earned his Utah Police Officers Standards and Training in 1993 and worked in the Division’s Law Enforcement section for more than 20 years.

Before becoming director, Mike served at the Division as the deputy director for five years, chief of the Law Enforcement section for eight years and legislative liaison for seven years. He also served as a liaison with other professional law enforcement agencies, including county sheriffs and the Utah Department of Public Safety. In his different liaison roles, Mike has helped develop and write law enforcement policy and draft proposed statutory language.

Mike received his B.S. degree in Zoology/Animal Biology from the University of Utah. He has also graduated from the FBI National Academy for Law Enforcement Administrators and the National Conservation Leadership Institute.

Rory Reynolds is an assistant director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Rory started with the Division in 1990 as the habitat manager for the Northern Region. Since then, he has worked for the Division and the Utah Department of Natural Resources as the Habitat Section chief, Southern Region supervisor, habitat initiative coordinator and director of the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative. He specializes in management systems and planning, conflict resolution, partnerships, land health restoration, native plants, animal behavior and cultural anthropology.

Rory’s work has focused on developing and implementing partnership-driven conservation efforts. These efforts concentrate on managing land in a way that balances integrity and capacity by paying attention to cultural values for wildlife and the need for the land to provide for an economic return. He has worked closely with elected officials, state and federal natural resource agencies, non-government organizations and the private sector.

Rory was raised in rural, northeast Texas and graduated from the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences program at Texas A&M University. Before coming to Utah, Rory worked for eight years helping farmers and ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma improve their performance and income by integrating wildlife- and range-management practices into their agricultural operations.

Michael Canning began his career with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in 1998, and he has served as the Division’s assistant director since 2013.

In his many years in the Division’s Habitat Section, Mike played a key role in implementing Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative. The initiative has now restored well over 1 million acres of crucial wildlife habitats in the state. He also placed a priority on improving the condition of the Division’s Wildlife Management Areas for the benefit of wildlife and wildlife enthusiasts. Mike also serves as a member of the Fish Health Policy Board

Mike has a B.S. degree in Ecology from the University of Arizona and an M.S. degree in Aquatic Ecology from Utah State University. Prior to becoming assistant director, Mike worked as an information manager for the Utah Natural Heritage Program, as the conservation data and GIS coordinator, and as Habitat Section chief. Mike also completed training at the National Conservation Leadership Institute in 2009–2010.

In the news

• Mountain View Corridor land swap benefits schools, wildlife, commuters
• DWR looking out for certain species
• State works to repair flood-damaged Wildlife Management Areas across Utah