U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Endangered Species Recovery Champion Awards: Southeast Awardees From NC, TN
March 18, 2011
Contacts:
Vanessa Kauffman, 703-358-2138, vanessa_kauffman@fws.gov
Southeast region winner Bob Butler of the Asheville, NC Ecological Services Field Office. Photo: USFWS.
Southeast region winner Misty Buchanan, North Carolina Natural Heritage Program in Raleigh, NC. Photo: USFWS.
Southeast region winner Steve Ahlstedt, retired USGS in Norris, TN. Photo: USFWS.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced 29 recipients of the 2010 Recovery Champion award honoring Service staff members and their partners-in-mission for conserving endangered and threatened species.
“Recovery Champions are leaders in the conservation of endangered and threatened species of plants and animals across the United States and beyond its borders,” said Acting Director Rowan Gould. “It is a true measure of a steadfast commitment to protecting our nation’s biological heritage for future generations by helping to recover our imperiled species of fish and wildlife and plants and the ecosystems on which they depend.”
From the Mauna Loa silversword in Hawaii and Railroad Valley springfish in Nevada to the Canada lynx in Maine and rabbitsfoot mussel in the rivers of Alabama, Recovery Champions are taking action to protect these species. It is the Service employees and partners, including tribes, state conservation agencies, universities and private organizations, as well as zoos and land trusts, who are the extraordinary individuals making a difference.
This year, for the first time, an international organization, Japan’s Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, has been selected as a Recovery Champion for achievements on behalf of the short-tailed albatross, a seabird that spends time in Alaska and migrates in the North Pacific.
Restoring streams, breeding species in captivity and releasing them into their historic ranges, conducting field surveys and monitoring programs, and negotiating the complex world of Federal financial standards to administer a land acquisition grant for the Lake Erie watersnake in Ohio are just a few examples from the wide diversity of initiatives receiving
this year’s Recovery Champion awards.
For information about the 2010 recovery champions, please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Champion website at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/recovery-champions/.
America’s fish, wildlife and plant resources belong to all of us, and ensuring the health of imperiled species is a shared responsibility. To learn more about the Service’s Endangered Species program, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/.
2010 Recovery Champions
Region 1
Special Agent Keith Swindle
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Honolulu, Hawaii
Newell’s shearwater
Robert Robichaux, Ph.D.
Hawaiian Silversword Foundation
Volcano, Hawaii
Mauna Loa silversword
Region 2
Bill Radke
San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge
Douglas, Arizona
Yaqui chub
Patrick Valentino
The Mexican Wolf Fund
San Francisco, California
Mexican wolf
Region 3
Marian Smith, Ph.D.
Southern Illinois University, Retired
Edwardsville, Illinois
Decurrent false aster
Linda Nichols
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ft. Snelling, Minnesota
Lake Erie watersnake
Lucinda Ochoada
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Ft. Snelling, Minnesota
Lake Erie watersnake
Region 4
Bob Butler
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Asheville, North Carolina
Freshwater mussels
Misty Buchanan
North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
Raleigh, North Carolina
Rough-leaf loosestrife
Region 4 and Region 5
Steve Ahlstedt
U. S. Geological Survey, Retired
Norris, Tennessee
Freshwater mussels
Region 5
Mark McCollough, Ph.D.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Orono, Maine
Canada lynx
Lindsay Webb
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Concord, New Hampshire
Karner blue butterfly
Heidi Holman
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Concord, New Hampshire
Karner blue butterfly
Steven Fuller, Ph.D.
Wildlife Management Institute
Weare, New Hampshire
Karner blue butterfly
Region 6
Group Award
Connie Mueller
Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge
Kenmare, North Dakota
Piping plover
Kirsten Brennan
Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge
Kenmare, North Dakota
Piping plover
Michael Rabenberg
Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Moffit, North Dakota
Piping plover
Craig Hultberg
Audubon National Wildlife Refuge
Coleharbor, North Dakota
Piping plover
Brent Jamison
Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Medicine Lake, Montana
Piping plover
Eric Rosenquist
The Nature Conservancy
Center, North Dakota
Piping plover
Partner-in Mission
Dan Carney
Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife
Browning, Montana
Grizzly bear
Region 7
Yamashina Institute for Ornithology
Chiba, Japan
Short-tailed albatross
Neesha Stellrecht
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fairbanks, Alaska
Steller’s eider, spectacled eider
Region 8
Sandy Vissman
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Carlsbad, California
San Clemente loggerhead shrike
Group Award, Partner-in-Mission
Virginia Sanchez
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe
Duckwater, Nevada
Railroad Valley springfish
Group Award, Partner-in-Mission
Jerry Millett
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe
Duckwater, Nevada
Railroad Valley springfish
Lisa George-Millet
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe
Duckwater, Nevada
Railroad Valley springfish
Annette George
Duckwater Shoshone Tribe
Duckwater, Nevada
Railroad Valley springfish
Michael Mace
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Escondido, California
California condor and light-footed clapper rail
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Visit the Service’s websites at http://www.fws.gov and http://www.fws.gov/southeast .
