Tom Rudolph – Senior Associate
NATURAL RESOURCE, NEPA, AND PARTNERSHIP SPECIALIST

Expertise: Tom Rudolph brings a unique and extremely diverse combination of perspectives on natural resource management to The Busker Group, having accumulated over ten years of private sector policy experience in recreational, extractive and conservation aspects of public resource management.

Education: B.S. Cornell University, 1993
Animal Science

Mr. Rudolph is an expert in all aspects of the cooperative management of public resources, especially the implementation of science-based solutions through the public process, and the project management necessary to take delivery on those solutions. For over six years he has represented the interests of progressive, conservation-oriented commercial fishermen on a mission to protect the ocean in order to protect their traditional businesses and their way of life. This work has given him a unique combination of skills as this work strikes a balance between harvest and stewardship of a public resource.

Mr. Rudolph directed large cooperative fisheries research projects before shifting to his more recent role as a science and policy analyst and conservation campaign director. In the former role he directed diverse teams of scientists, resource managers and fishermen engaged in scientific studies with total budgets of over $3,000,000, including successful completion of six Federal contracts totaling nearly $2,000,000. These accomplishments have engrained skills including project and budget management, logistical problem-solving, experimental and field protocol design, technical writing, and data management and analysis.

In the latter role he provides operations management for a four year, $3,000,000 conservation campaign for which he also serves as a senior science and policy analyst. Through the campaign, traditional small-boat commercial fishermen and allies in the conservation community seek science-based and precautionary reform, especially in the arena of catch monitoring, of a burgeoning industrial fishery targeting forage fish at the base of the New England marine food chain. Mr. Rudolph co-manages the industry coalition, provides operational management for the entire project, and is currently designing policy alternatives for advancement in the management vehicle initiated through campaign efforts.

All of the above work has included a substantial NEPA component: Mr. Rudolph has performed extensive policy analysis on multiple Federal actions governed by NEPA, and has also been a lead and contributing author on several Environmental Analyses. Finally, his work in fisheries has given him a firm basis in allocation issues concerning public resources (rights-based management) and a proven ability to build and manage partnerships and coalitions. Rounding out his perspective are four years as a professional river and snowmobile guide operating under Federal special-use permits and experience as a deckhand on commercial fishing vessels.