Burwell, who spent 31 years in government service, received the Department of Interiors Distinguished Service Award in 1971. He is noted for establishing the wetland acquistion program in North and South Dakota and western Minnesota; the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center at Jamestown, North Dakota, the Long Lake Conservation Center in Aitkin County, Minnesota; an environmental education program at Southern Illiniois University; and the Environmental Science Center for Education in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Originally from Winstead, Connecticut, Burwell was a lifetime member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. After his retirement, Burwell and his wife Alda (deceased) lived in Minneapolis and Edinburg, Texas. In 1989, he moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
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
