John F. Turner

John F. Turner (born March 3, 1942) was Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from 1989 to 1993 and United States Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 2001 to 2005. A lifelong river guide, dude rancher, wildlife biologist and conservative conservationist, Turner served as a Teton County Republican in the Wyoming Legislature for 20 years before being appointed to the George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations.

Early life John F. Turner was born in Moose, Wyoming. He was raised in Jackson Hole, where his father owned Triangle X Ranch. He was assistant director for the University of Notre Dame foreign studies program in Innsbruck for 1964-65. He worked there until 2001, when President George W. Bush nominated Turner to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; he subsequently held office until July 2005.

Turner became the first ever Beverly and Eldon Spicer Visiting Professor in Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming in 2006. Since leaving public service, Turner has served on the Board of Directors of International Paper, Northeast Utilities, Peabody Energy, and Ashland Inc. He has been the recipient of environment leadership awards from the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation, along with numerous public service awards from within his home state of Wyoming. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Wyoming.