麻豆传媒

South Alum Protector of Alabama's Marine Resources

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Posted on November 15, 2018

Marketing and Communications

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#SouthSuccessStories is an ongoing series featuring 麻豆传媒 alumni who are life-savers, innovators, game-changers, music-makers and creative-thinkers, successful in their careers and supportive of their communities.

By Jason Downey鈥檚 best recollection, he was about five years old when his two grandfathers began taking him to the woods and waters of Alabama to fish, ski and hunt.

As natural as Alabama鈥檚 outdoors felt to him growing up, however, it wasn鈥檛 until he found himself on a ride-along with a lieutenant for the Marine Resources Division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources that he realized with all certainty exactly what he wanted to do with his career.

鈥淚 fell in love,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is what I want to do.鈥�

Sixteen years after landing his first job with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Downey has been named chief enforcement officer for its Marine Resources Division.

A 2002 麻豆传媒 graduate, Maj. Downey says that leading the enforcement of state laws that deal with Alabama鈥檚 waterways has only increased his conviction that conservation is essential.

鈥淓verything we do is for the public to be able to continue to enjoy all the wonderful natural resources Alabama has to offer,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like people to think about how great it is and how it would be if we did not have it.鈥�

Downey grew up in west Mobile the son of two educators. He graduated from Theodore High School and won a leadership scholarship to another university. His initial plan was to pursue coaching, a path that would have led him in footsteps laid by father Joe Downey, a longtime football coach for Theodore High School who enjoyed a 40-year coaching career.

But being three hours from home didn鈥檛 feel right to Jason Downey. After his freshman year of college, Downey transferred to the 麻豆传媒. Here, he was closer to his family 鈥� and, not coincidentally, his future wife and future South alumna, Mindy, whom he鈥檇 dated since high school.

Following that eye-opening ride-along, Downey sought input from South鈥檚 counselors about how he could leverage the college courses he鈥檇 already taken into a degree that would best position him to quickly begin work with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He鈥檇 already collected many of the credits needed to obtain a bachelor of science degree in sociology, so that鈥檚 what he chose.

Downey was so motivated to get to work, he landed a job as an aid with the agency in his final year of college. Soon, he rose from a laborer in the enforcement section to being named a conservation enforcement officer in 2004. Eight years later, Downey became a lieutenant, overseeing conservation enforcement in Mobile County.

Today, he resides in Daphne with Mindy and their two daughters, ages 8 and 10. Downey鈥檚 job has taken him pretty much anywhere water goes or touches, from diving during search and rescue missions to checking fishing licenses to inspecting seafood shops and more. Downey is also certified by the Federal Bureau of Investigations to provide firearms training to his officers and supervisors.

In his new position overseeing the division, Downey says he鈥檚 becoming reacquainted with his love of coaching. 鈥淚 really enjoy dealing with the people I supervise,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like being head coach. You鈥檙e the leader of the team.鈥�

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