M i t c h  W i n e

Name: Mitch Wine

Title: Fish & Wildlife Biologist

Responsibilities: Highway Projects Consultation, Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultations, Mitigation Banking, Candidate Conservation Agreements

Origin: De Valls Bluff, Arkansas

Education: B.S. Zoology, M.S. Biology, Arkansas State University

Mitch began his federal career with a short stint at the Greer’s Ferry National Fish Hatchery in Heber Springs, Arkansas after several years of working for universities and a private fisheries consultant. He began work in our office in 2003 as the liaison to the Federal Highway Administration and Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. His training was mostly in fisheries and aquatic biology but as the transportation liaison he works with a broad array of both terrestrial and aquatic species ranging from the endangered American burying beetle to the threatened Ozark cavefish.

Mitch’s job duties revolve around any U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service involvement in Federal Highway Administration projects within the state of Arkansas. This usually includes review of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements for major road construction projects as well as fieldwork involved in determining wildlife impacts. He is one of two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service certified scuba divers in the office and often assists with freshwater mussel surveys and relocations. Mitch works in conjunction with other federal and state resource agencies to ensure that wildlife concerns are given thorough consideration during National Environmental Policy Act procedures. Contact with transportation officials early and often in the consultation process is essential to avoiding and minimizing impacts to fish and wildlife resources.

In addition to these duties, Mitch also works with staff of the Greer’s Ferry National Fish Hatchery on artificial propagation efforts for the yellowcheek darter (a candidate fish for listing under the ESA) as part of a joint Safe Harbor/Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for the Upper Little Red River in north central Arkansas. The intent of the agreement is to provide ESA regulatory assurances to landowners in return for providing habitat for threatened, endangered and candidate species on their lands. Yellowcheek darters spawned in the hatchery lab may one day be reintroduced to streams within their historic range to bolster declining populations.

In his spare time, Mitch enjoys caving, hiking, volleyball, golfing, fishing, paddling, and just about anything you can do on or in the water. He is an advanced open water scuba diver and will take any opportunity to grab some bottom time whether it be on a lake, in a river, or under the salty waves.