Wayne Fischer has been named State Private Lands Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Illinois Private Lands Office in Rock Island, Illinois. Fischer, who has 17 years of experience with the Service, will assume his responsibilities November 17.
The Illinois Private Lands Office works cooperatively with landowners and conservation partners to restore privately owned fish and wildlife habitats throughout the state. Fischer will oversee projects that will restore essential wetlands and associated uplands and stream corridors for the benefit of migratory birds, endangered species, and native fish and wildlife species.
"I am looking forward to strengthening and expanding our private lands habitat restoration partnerships in Illinois," said Fischer.
Fischer comes to the Illinois Private Lands Office from the Services Rock Ecological Services Field Office. While in the Rock office, he worked with the Private Lands Program in both Illinois and Iowa, where he was instrumental in developing the first cooperative agreement for wetland restoration with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Before coming to the Rock Field Office, Fischer worked with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a fishery biologist and with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks as a conservation officer.
Fischer graduated from Iowa State University in 1967 with a bachelors degree in fish and wildlife biology. He received a master of science degree in 1974, also from Iowa State, in wildlife biology. Fischer is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force in which he served from 1968 to 1973.
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 95 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 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 programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
