Dr. Susan Haseltine, Assistant Regional Director of Refuges and Wildlife for the Services Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, will present the Regional Group Award to Bob Kuehl, president of the WWAs board of directors.
The WWA was selected as one of four NWCA Regional winners by a select committee of judges. Representing the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, the Wisconsin based private conservation organization will receive a framed 1993-94 Federal duck stamp print and a special certificate of commendation.
"Its strong tradition of wetland and waterfowl conservation, its vast and varied successes, and its goal-oriented direction through focused leadership demonstrate that the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association will continue to lead and support wetland restoration and associated conservation programs in Wisconsin on private and public lands," said Sam Marler, Regional Director of the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region.
"The Wisconsin Waterfowl Association is highly deserving of this award because of its numerous and vital wetland accomplishments, its unselfish contributions and its ongoing commitment to the local and continental waterfowl resource."
The Service has conducted the National Wetlands Conservation Award program annually since 1990. National and Regional winners, including individuals and groups or corporations, are selected during judging of nominations. Awards are based on unselfish contributions to the restoration, enhancement and protection of Americas wetlands.
In its nomination, the WWA was cited for cooperative support of Partners for Wildlife. This Service program has restored more than 50,000 acres of wetlands, and associated upland habitats, since 1987 on private lands in the Midwest; more than 5,000 wetland acres have been restored in Wisconsin. Many of the wetland projects in Wisconsin conducted through Partners for Wildlife have been cost-shared with the WWA.
Between 1987 and 1993, the WWA assisted in the restoration of at least 2,200 wetlands amounting to more than 4,000 acres of prairie potholes and forested wetlands throughout Wisconsin. Many of these acres were restored in cooperation with the Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, private conservation organizations, individuals and landowners.
The restoration of this important wetland acreage re-established many natural values such as improved water quality and groundwater recharge, increased flood-control benefits, and enhanced fish and wildlife habitats. The WWA contributed approximately $380,000 during the 1987-93 period to restore wetlands and expects to contribute from $150,000 $250,000 annually for wetland conservation/education projects in Wisconsin during the next 5-10 years.
Other major accomplishments include initiating a junior duck stamp design contest and constructing hunting blinds on private and public lands that provide easy, safe access for physically challenged hunters. The WWA membership will continue to contribute a considerable amount of volunteer time to habitat-restoration projects. In addition to publishing Managing Your Duck Marsh, Locating and Identifying Drained Wetlands for Restoration and its quarterly membership magazine, the WWA plans to produce further conservation and education publications.
A member of the National Federation of State Waterfowl Associations, the WWA also participates on the Wisconsin Steering Committee for the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes joint ventures of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.
Persons wishing further information on the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association may contact Chuck Sauer, executive director, at 715/359-7844. For information on the Service, Partners for Wildlife and other habitat programs, contact Steve Kufrin, Regional Private Funds Coordinator, at 612/725-3570.
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. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
