I was enjoying retirement, but I dearly love the Refuge and the Missouri River. I look forward to being involved with them again, said Bryant, who retired from the Service in September 1998.
Service officials asked Bryant to return to his old job after Jon Storey, Bryants former assistant and the interim refuge project manager, left for a new job with the Services regional office in Denver, Colorado. The unplanned departure left the Refuge without on-the-ground management during a significant period in its development.
I knew the Refuge was in a bind when I heard that Jon had left, Bryant explained. When I retired, I told my boss that if they ever got into a bind here, and I could help them, to give me a call. And, thats what they did. Bryant will serve as refuge manager until mid-summer, when a new refuge manager is expected to be hired and has become familiar with the Refuge.
For us, J.C. was the ideal choice for an interim manager, said Matt Kerschbaum, refuge supervisor for the Services Region 3 in Ft. Snelling, Minnesota. J.C. Bryant is not only knowledgeable and qualified for the position, hes well-liked by people connected with the Refuge and well respected in Missouri conservation circles. He knows the people and the project and will serve as a great transition manager for us until the new project manager can take over. Were happy hes decided to come back.
Bryant, of Boonville, Missouri, joined the Service as a student trainee at Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas in 1969. He served at project manager for the Big Muddy Refuge for three years prior to becoming the Refuges first manager in 1994. He retired from the Big Muddy post in September 1998, after nearly 30 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprising more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries 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 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://www.fws.gov/r3pao/
