Alabama’s conservation agency will change leaders on October 1, when Ben Stimpson Jr. becomes commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources after Chris Blankenship retires at the end of September. Governor Kay Ivey announced the succession plan September 15, giving the department a short but defined transition period.
Stimpson is moving into the job from the department’s Conservation Advisory Board, a post he resigned to take the cabinet-level appointment. He previously directed corporate operations for Scotch Gulf and Canfor Southern Pine and served on the Alabama State Port Authority board, including as its chairman in 2023. Ivey also appointed Gulf Coast Truck & Equipment owner John “Bo” Cross to the advisory-board vacancy, effective immediately.
The handoff matters beyond personnel. The department manages hunting and fishing programs, state lands, marine resources, wildlife, boating access and the state-park system. Its current public-facing operations include the sale of 2026-27 hunting and fishing licenses and statewide wildlife-management services. Those responsibilities put the commissioner at the center of decisions that affect license holders, coastal communities, park visitors and public-land projects across Alabama.
A large project portfolio changes hands
Blankenship joined the department as a marine-resources conservation enforcement officer in 1994 and has served as commissioner since 2017. The governor’s office said his tenure included more than $350 million in state-park upgrades, over 50 boating-access projects and acquisition of more than 110,000 acres. The administration also credited the department with managing more than $1.27 billion in completed, active or approved coastal oil-spill recovery projects.
Stimpson will also inherit an active Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act portfolio. In August, the department detailed more than $52 million for 21 coastal projects involving water quality, boating and recreational access, and environmental education. Alabama’s conservation department administers those funds with approval from the governor’s office, while Mobile and Baldwin counties receive separate federal distributions.
Another immediate operational marker is workforce continuity. On September 17, the department highlighted a new University of South Alabama scholarship program named for Blankenship that is designed to support roughly 10 students annually who are pursuing conservation-enforcement careers. The program underscores a practical staffing issue for an agency whose mission depends on field officers, biologists, land managers and other specialized employees.
The announcement did not identify a new policy agenda for Stimpson, and his term begins near the end of Ivey’s administration. The verified change is therefore one of stewardship and execution: keeping existing projects, regulatory programs and public services moving through a leadership transition. No service interruption or change to license rules was announced. The department continues to advertise current licenses, public programs and scheduled outdoor events while the handoff proceeds. For Alabamians, the next concrete date is October 1, when Stimpson formally takes charge and Blankenship’s 32-year department career ends.
