Congressman Steve Rothman's (NJ9th) acceptance of the prestigious National Great Blue Heron Award from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Northeast Regional Director Marvin Moriarty on June 13, 2005 publicly acknowledged the convergence of Mr. Rothman's efforts to conserve the Hackensack Meadowlands with the goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The Plan was first signed in 1986 by the Canadian Minister of the Environment and the U.S. Secretary of Interior. When the Plan was updated in 1994, Mexico became the third signatory. A third update in 1998 defined three thrusts: biologically based planning would be refined through ongoing evaluation; partners would define the landscape conditions needed to sustain waterfowl and benefit other wetland-associated species; and partners would forge broader alliances with other communities and bird initiatives.

International in scope but implemented at the regional level, the Plan invests its energies in partnerships called joint ventures focusing on areas of specific concern. At present, there are 11 habitat joint ventures in the U.S. and 3 in Canada, one of which stretches across the international border. The Plan is also engaged in three species joint ventures, all of which are international.

An international Committee provides a forum for discussions of major, long-term international waterfowl issues and to make recommendations to directors of the three countries' national wildlife agencies. The Committee updates the Plan, considers new scientific information in light of national and international policy developments, endorses the formation of joint venture partnerships, reviewing and approving implementation and evaluation plans, and recommends expanding or reducing activities and programs of the Plan. The Committee also bestows the annual National Great Blue Heron Award, of which Congressman Rothman is a recipient for 2004. Any individual or organization may be nominated for the National Great Blue Heron Award in recognition for significant long-term contributions to wetlands and waterfowl enhancement and protection.

The U.S. delegation to the Committee consists of two U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service representatives and one state representative from each of the four migratory flyways. Canada's six delegates represent the federal and provincial governments and one non-profit conservation organization. In Mexico, delegates represent the federal government, universities, business, and non-profit conservation organizations.

Congressman Rothman has become the catalyst for ecological conservation efforts in the Meadowlands. He took his "first ever" boat tour of the Hackensack Meadowlands as a first-term U.S. Congressman in August of 1997. The tour was hosted by development speculators bidding for his support; instead it strengthened his conviction that the Meadowlands must be protected. Since then, his efforts on behalf of the Meadowlands have become encyclopedic in volume and scope. Congressman Rothman has consistently promoted collaboration between federal and State agencies and environmental organizations to work together for the preservation of the Meadowlands.

During his tenure in Congress, Congressman Rothman has secured $7.5 million for Meadowlands research, study, restoration, remediation, and land acquisition by the Corps of Engineers, the USEPA, and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission. Within the last two years, he was successful in getting $360,000 appropriated for study and restoration planning by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This support has enabled the Service to develop a conservation partnership influencing government and private activities that affect the Meadowlands fish and wildlife resources and to continue conservation planning.

Congressman Rothman never tires of voicing his support for conserving the Meadowlands. At a summit held in 2000 by the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, he articulated his vision for redeveloping existing sites and converting existing brownfields to new uses in lieu of developing remaining open space. That same year at the Friends of the Hackensack Riverkeeper Awards ceremony, he vowed that "steps must be taken to preserve the wetlands in the Meadowlands District for future generations." In a dramatic June 2001 meeting with federal and State governmental agencies as well as key environmental groups, he drew a line around all open space on a map of the Meadowlands and challenged his guests to realize his vision of an environmental park. On boat tours of the Hackensack River he has worked to persuade schoolchildren, businessmen, and State and federally elected officials of the need to restore and protect the Meadowlands ecosystem.