About US
Mission Statement:
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitat for the continuing benefit of the American people.
Steve Guertin - Regional Director
Steve Guertin is the Regional Director for the 8-state Mountain-Prairie Region. Before this assignment, he led national level efforts to prepare, justify and execute the Service’s $2.3 billion annual budget, including constant interactions with senior agency and Departmental leadership, OMB staff and Congressional appropriations staffs. During his nine year tenure in the Department of the Interior Office of Budget he recommended funding and policy options for the Service and the Bureau of Land Management. He earned a bachelors degree from Norwich University in Vermont and a Master’s of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh; and was a Senior Executive Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Before joining the Department of the Interior, he served for eight years in the United States Marine Corps in Hawaii, California, Virginia, and overseas
Jay Slack - Deputy Regional Director
Jay Slack is currently the Deputy Regional Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mountain and Prairie Region which covers the states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Prior to his current position, Jay spent nearly nine years working in the Florida Everglades as Field Supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Ecological Services Office located in Vero Beach. Jay also worked in the Service’s Washington Headquarters Office as Chief of the Endangered Species Listing Program and as the Endangered Species Section 7 Coordinator. Jay started his career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a herpetologist in the Phoenix Ecological Services Office. Prior to his career with the Service, Jay coordinated a fisheries research and development program that designed and tested indoor aquaculture systems. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s Degree in Ecology both from Illinois State University. Jay is a 17-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and also a recipient of the Department of the Interior’s Meritorious Service Award. Away from work, Jay enjoys outdoor activities such as fishing, birding and hunting, with the remainder of his free time spent on woodworking.
Jay is located at the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Mountain and Prairie Regional Office located in Lakewood, Colorado.
Why "Mountain-Prairie"?
This U.S. Fish and Wildlife Region's nickname aptly describes the two most prominent physical features of the eight-state area. The eastern portion is comprised of the Great Plains, primarily the short-grass prairies. To the west rise the Rocky Mountains, and parts of the inter-mountain west beyond the Continental Divide.
The climate over much of the region is semi-arid to arid. Hence existing surface waters are all the more vital to wildlife. In the northeastern portion of the Region, in eastern Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, is a physiographic area known as the Prairie Coteau, a land marked by small ponds and wetlands. Left by the last glacier, these "prairie potholes" are among the most important nesting habitat for waterfowl in North America.
The Regional Office, in Denver, administers federal fish and wildlife conservation activities in the eight states, through three "eco-regions" -- North and South Dakota; Montana and Wyoming; and Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.
