Mr. Thomas is president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, a position he has held since 1989. The Council is a nonprofit binational umbrella organization representing 325,000 anglers in the United States and Canada.
Founded in 1973, the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council is recognized by federal and state resource management agencies of the eight Great Lakes states and Ontario as the leading advocacy group for sport fishermen and the sport fishing industry in the region. The Council hosts conferences, publishes a newsletter, and represents anglers before public and private commissions and committees.
Thomas retired as president of Reliant Builders, a general constuction firm based in Elmhurst, Illinois in 1993. A life-long fisherman, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers, and the Lake Michigan Federation, and is an honorary lifetime member of the Chicago Sport Fishing Association. He is also a founding officer and charter member of Salmon Unlimited, Inc. and a member of Illinois Steelheaders.
Thomas was recently appointed to the Heartland Institute's Eco-Web Board of Advisors dealing with environmental matters in the Great Lakes region. The Heartland Institute is a nonprofit, non-partisan research organization on state and federal public policy issues, including those of the environment.
Vitally interested in sport fishing and the community, Thomas was one of the founding officers of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council. Since his election as president in 1989, Thomas counts among his acheivements: acquiring federal non-profit status, state sales tax exemption, non-profit bulk mailing status, establishing and publishing a monthly newsletter, and creation of a media fax network. Council club memberships were authorized in 1990.
Representing the sport fishing community, Thomas' current involvement on federal and regional committees includes: the Ruffe Control Committee, Great Lakes Panel on Exotics, Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP), Lake Superior and Lake Erie LaMPs, Remedial Action Plans (RAPs), Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Steering Committees and various lake task forces.
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