The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has awarded Dr. William McLarney of Franklin, N.C., the Thomas L. Quay Wildlife Diversity Award, bestowed each year to an individual who demonstrates a strong commitment to North Carolina’s nongame conservation efforts and is a leader in promoting and sustaining wildlife diversity.
Dr. McLarney has a special passion for conservation efforts on the Little Tennessee River as well as an interest in the overall active stewardship of streams and watersheds. But he said his “less visible” work has been the most important: “Stimulating communities, landowners and local people to be active in protecting and restoring streams and their watersheds. Inextricably interwoven with that is the opportunity to work with younger people, influencing future leaders and future conservation biologists through volunteer and intern programs.”
The award is named for the late Thomas L. Quay, a professor of zoology at N.C. State University and self-described “full-time volunteer and unpaid environmental activist.”
“Connecting with private landowners and helping them to understand the value of their property and inspiring them to be positive stewards of it is so important to wildlife conservation statewide and on a landscape level,” said NCWRC’s Habitat Conservation Division Chief Shannon Deaton. “These efforts tie all conservation efforts together in a meaningful way and ensure species have important wildlife corridors between private and public land. We are so grateful for the work by Dr. McLarney.”
Nongame species are native animals that have no open hunting, fishing or trapping season. More than 700 nongame species call North Carolina home and include songbirds, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater mussels, fish, crustaceans and mammals.
NCWRC will accept nominations for the 2026 award in January and February. Nominators are required to submit a completed nomination form (online or by USPS mail) along with a detailed essay describing the nominee’s contributions to nongame at-risk species conservation in North Carolina. Self-nominations are also accepted. For more information on the nomination process, contact Shauna Glover (shauna.glover@ncwildlife.org or 919-707-0064).
NCWRC’s Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee (NWAC) will recommend nominees for consideration to the agency’s commissioners. The recipient will be announced during a commissioners’ meeting by Feb. 2027.