As project leader for the refuge, Bodeen will work cooperatively with the Army Corps of Engineers, state and local governments, area landowners, businesses, and private groups to develop the wildlife refuge. "My first task is to get out in the communities, to get to know the people and their concerns and help build support for the refuge," said Bodeen, who will work out of a small office in Plymouth, Ind., about 20 miles south of South Bend, Ind.
Bodeen, 39, is a 1989 graduate of the University of Wisconsin and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and psychology. He served four years as a diver in the U.S. Navy, as well as two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania.
Working with people and communities to plan and operate a new wildlife refuge and its programs is not new to Bodeen. From 1992 to 1999, the Port Wing, Wisc., native was a refuge operations specialist and park ranger at the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District in Fergus Falls, Minn. Bodeens refuge experience broadened in 1998,when the local community partnered with the Service to open the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center on the complex.
"At Fergus Falls (Minn.) I had experience with waterfowl management, habitat restorations, private lands issues, as well as community outreach and educational programs," Bodeen explained. "Ive also been part of many partnership efforts involving collaboration of numerous private and public partners. Ill bring those experiences with me to Indiana, where Ill be handling similar issues."
Through a combination of voluntary partnerships, easements, and land acquisition, the Service aims to restore and preserve approximately 30,000 acres of wetlands, prairie, and oak savanna habitat to meet the needs of migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and aquatic resources in the Basin. Land will be acquired from willing sellers only.
The Refuge has been in the planning stages since 1996, when the Service initiated a formal process to evaluate the feasibility of developing a new national wildlife refuge in the Grand Kankakee Basin. The planning process was initiated in response to the declining status of numerous Service trust resources in the Basin, and studies indicating that habitat loss and degradation are common contributors to those declines.
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 comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance 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 wildlife agencies.
For more information about the Service, please visit our web site at: http://midwest.fws.gov
