The state’s largest wildlife conservation organization on Tuesday announced the appointment of a new executive director.

Charles Gauvin will lead Maine Audubon, according to board of trustees President Andrew Beahm.

“I am thrilled that Charles will serve as Maine Audubon’s next executive director. As the leading wildlife conservation organization in the state, Maine Audubon is a great match for Charles’ experience as a conservation program developer and fundraiser,” Beahm said in a statement.

Gauvin served as president and CEO of Virginia-based Trout Unlimited from 1991 through 2010 and, more recently, was chief development officer for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.

During his time at Trout Unlimited, a national river and fish conservation group, Gauvin increased annual revenue from $2.5 million to $28 million and saw the organization’s staff grow from 20 to 165 employees, according the Maine Audubon.

Gauvin’s work at Trout Unlimited involved a number of projects in Maine, including hydropower relicensing and dam removal efforts on the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot rivers and strengthening federal and state protections for wild Atlantic salmon.

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He also helped launch an effort to protect Maine’s wild brook trout population and helped secure Maine Audubon as a partner through its Brook Trout Pond Survey.

“I am thrilled to be part of Maine Audubon,” Gauvin said in a statement. “I am passionate about Maine’s wildlife, and I want to make sure it is front and center in policy-making and in the process of educating the next generations of Maine people.”

Maine Audubon coordinates a variety of conservation, education and advocacy initiatives across the state from eight centers and wildlife sanctuaries. The organization employs 25 people and has an annual budget of $2.5 million, and has roughly 15,000 members and about 2,000 active volunteers.

Gauvin is a graduate of Brown University and of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was editor of the law review.

He succeeds Ted Koffman, who retired this year after serving as Maine Audubon’s director since 2009.


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