In September 2019, Brad Garmon was named director of the Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry. Though he grew up in the plains of western Kansas, Garmon has spent the last 18 years focused on improving Michigan public policy to better protect the Great Lakes and natural areas, while also forging stronger connections between resource conservation, job growth, talent attraction and economic development.

Most recently, Garmon served as the interim CEO of the Michigan Environmental Council in Lansing. Prior to that, he was the council’s director of Conservation and Emerging Issues – a role created in 2011 specifically to support and build stronger alliances between outdoor recreation, economic development and natural resource stewardship.