Preston D. Cole (born 1961) is a retired American conservationist and was secretary of the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

during the first term of Governor

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 200 ...

(2019–2022). Cole previously served as the Chair of the State Natural Resources Board. He was first appointed to the board by Governor

Jim Doyle James Edward Doyle, Jr., (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin, serving from January 6, 2003 to January 3, 2011. In his first election to the governorship, he defeated incu ...

and was reappointed by Governor Scott Walker.

Biography

Cole previously served as the Commissioner of the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services. Prior to that, Cole was the Director of Operations for the City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works. Additionally, he previously served as the Parks Superintendent for the City of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, as well as a Forester for the

Missouri Department of Conservation The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Conservation Commission were created by Article IV Sections 40-42 of the Missouri Constitution, which were adopted by the voters of the state in 1936 as Amendment 4 to the constitution ...

. Cole received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

and was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to graduate from the degree program. Cole was involved with

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

in high school.

References

Living people 1961 births State cabinet secretaries of Wisconsin Place of birth missing (living people) Wisconsin Democrats 21st-century American politicians University of Missouri alumni African-American people in Wisconsin politics People from St. Louis 21st-century African-American politicians American conservationists {{Wisconsin-politician-stub