Moran looks forward to new role

Friday, Aug. 10, 2001 | 11:01 a.m.

Most people see Las Vegas attorney John Moran Jr. in designer Neiman Marcus suits and ostrich-skin cowboy boots, defending high-profile clients in local courts or winning approval for multimillion-dollar residential and business developments before city councils and the Clark County Commission.

But few know the outdoorsman John Moran Jr., who is just as comfortable wandering the wilderness in a T-shirt, Levi's jeans and Danner hiking boots, or hunting wild turkey in woodland camouflage.

While the courtroom can be a challenging urban jungle, the wide-open spaces for Moran and many others is a source of great rural tranquility -- a welcome escape from the daily grind. As newly elected chairman of the Nevada Wildlife Commission, Moran says he will strive to keep it that way.

"People need to get out of the city into non-stress areas," Moran said. "That is why one of my goals is to improve the Overton Wildlife Management Area -- 17,000 acres less than an hour from here that not many Las Vegans know about. We already are making improvements like rehabbing the park and installing disabled-accessible restrooms."

Moran, 55, envisions the wildlife management area as a place where school children will visit by the busloads, and as a popular hunting ground for wild turkey, which are abundant, and geese, which recently were reintroduced to the area for a study.

Moran, a Democrat who was appointed to the commission a year ago by Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, believes there is room in the wildlife world for both the bird-watcher and the hunter. Along those lines, he collects hunting permit stamps and colorful duck lithographs that he displays on his law office walls alongside a huge wild turkey he shot in Texas and had mounted as a trophy.

At the commission meeting in Elko last Friday, the day Moran was elected to the top spot by unanimous vote of the other eight members, the board wasted no time in setting the hunting seasons for upland game like pheasant and dove, waterfowl and fur-bearing animals.

"There is a wide range of work we do on the commission -- conservation, protection, propagation of species, restoration, transplanting animals and management of the state's wildlife," Moran said.

"I look forward to these challenges because I am an outdoors kind of guy. I've hunted and fished all my life. And I feel I am well suited to serve as chairman because I have served as chairman of the Colorado River Commission (1987-89) and can address water issues as they affect wildlife."

However, the inner-peace Moran finds among wildlife at times will not exist as he navigates the board through tough issues regarding the future of wildlife.

"Wildlife is a controversial business -- there are always issues from use of public lands to endangered species," said Terry Crawforth, executive director of the state wildlife division, which employs 200 people including game wardens and biologists.

"But this also is a time of substantial opportunity for the betterment of wildlife."

Crawforth said that to better address all sides of important issues, wildlife board members today are selected to represent a range of issues and groups, including environmentalists, public recreation advocates, hunters and ranchers. They no longer represent individual geographic areas.

One of the big challenges facing the board will be enacting regulations in the wake of a drought, especially in Northern Nevada, that has significantly lowered the water levels of streams and lakes. A number of changes will involve limits on fishing seasons and limits on certain types of fish, Moran said.

Perhaps, however, the No. 1 fight expected during Moran's leadership tenure will be the establishment of wilderness areas on public lands in Southern Nevada. Moran supports such areas but is concerned that some factions may seek to make them too large, which could affect the public's ability to enjoy the beauty of some of those internal, pristine lands.

"You cannot build roads or use recreational vehicles in wilderness areas, so if you create a 4 million acre wilderness area you are going to shut off all access to the disabled and those who just don't want to hike 20 miles to see an Alpine lake," Moran said.

Another hot issue Moran expects to tackle is the practice of ranchers and farmers allowing hunters to access private lands to get to public lands. While a number of farmers allow the practice because hunters kill predatory animals that attack livestock, others are not so accommodating because some hunters have mistreated private property.

Wildlife Commission member Tommy Ford said he believes Moran has the skills to get the opposing sides together on that issue and others because of his experience at the helm of the Colorado River Commission and his proven leadership capabilities as an attorney.

"He took over his first meeting as chairman last week as though he had been running things for years," said Ford, a Las Vegas construction company owner who this week was traveling to Alaska to hunt Dall sheep. "I'd put my money on J.T. to get the job done."

Moran's other goals as chairman for the next two years include:

* Reintroduction of antelope to areas where they previously have been.

* Resurrecting and modifying an old plan to get an accurate count of the state's deer population and transplant some of them to areas where they are more likely to thrive.

Moran, a native Las Vegan, is the son of late Sheriff J.T. "John" Moran Sr. Although Moran Jr. has for 30 years made a name for himself locally as a high-profile lawyer, he says he hopes, "never to completely leave the shadow of my father. I look at his picture every day. He taught me about ethics and how to treat people. His influence on me reaches far beyond the grave."

Moran also credits much of his success to his wife of 31 years, Marilyn, and says he is proud of the accomplishments of his four children -- son J.T. Moran III, an attorney at his firm; daughter Addie Moran, a doctor in California; and two other sons in college, Zack Moran and Andrew Moran.

Moran is the first Clark County resident to head the wildlife board since fellow attorney Mahlon Brown held the position from 1989-97. Wayne Kirch, also from Clark County, served 17 of his 26 years on the wildlife board as chairman.

The Nevada Wildlife Commission began in 1877 as the state fish commissioner. In 1917, the Nevada Fish and Game Commission was established. In 1979, the Nevada Legislature changed the official name of the agency to the State of Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners. The name has since evolved into what is more simply called the Nevada Wildlife Commission.