Whitney Jacobs worked under the late Noreen Clough as a graduate intern. Jacobs wrote this tribute to Clough, who died Jan. 16.
Noreen Clough was the perfect mix of smart and successful, passionate and opinionated, and a whole heap of fun. She had a fiery sense of humor and was brutally honest.
It was evident from being around Noreen how much she loved working at B.A.S.S. She made the conservation directors she worked with her family and cheered them on both personally and in their efforts to conserve fisheries. It was common for Noreen to give you an update about a conservation director’s work relevant to B.A.S.S., followed by an update on his or her life. She cared, and that is why we all loved her.
Noreen was smart as a whip. She relentlessly advocated for the conservation directors to have access to grant funds for conservation projects and encouraged them to make a difference in their state. Noreen understood how important recreational fishing was, and she was passionate about educating anglers on how to use the resource so that the next generation can enjoy the same pastime. She was flexible in her ability to attend a meeting in Washington, D.C., to discuss fisheries policy then travel to a Bassmaster tournament and jump in a bass boat.
She was the whole package.
Noreen was passionate, opinionated and brutally honest. She pushed for anglers to have access to water. I heard her say on multiple occasions that bass anglers know as much about the resource as any good scientist because they care and pay attention to it. “Want to know what the fish are doing?” she would say. “Ask a bass angler!”
Noreen loved to fish. She would go out West to fish for salmon with the Conservation Leaders Advisory Team (CLAT) at Pure Fishing and frequented Costa Rica. She formed a bond with Mikey Jacobs and his family, as Mikey was battling cancer. Mikey could not get enough of bass fishing, and Noreen bonded with people who shared her passion. Mikey died a year ago. He and Noreen are no doubt swapping fishing stories in heaven right now.
Noreen was fun and had a great sense of humor. She loved to travel and was constantly visiting new places in the United States and abroad. She had more energy than people a fraction of her age. I heard her ask a young man one time what kind of boat he had. After he told her and showed her pictures, she said, “That’s a great boat. Any chance you have a brother 50 years older?”
Her charm balanced her fiery nature perfectly. She once told me, with a smile, “I realized how much you eat after I got your reimbursement receipts.” Ouch. (The next time we traveled, I stuck to the dollar menu.)
Sure, Noreen Clough was successful. She was the first female regional director as Fish & Wildlife Service and won numerous awards throughout her career. She had an impressive résumé by anyone’s standards, but her accolades were not what made her great or what made people respect her. People liked her because she was the whole package.
She was one of a kind and she will be deeply missed.
Clough’s memorial service is scheduled for Jan. 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the Chapel at Stella Maris in Timonium, Md. Arrangements are being made to establish a scholarship fund in Clough’s name.