Last year, Ward Burton crossed the finish line in first place at the 2002 Daytona 500 in his yellow and black #22 CAT car. This year, driver and primary sponsor Caterpillar Inc. are teaming up outside the racetrack to place wildlife conservation in victory lane.
Along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Burton and representatives from Caterpillar will be working together to promote wildlife conservation and education, and to highlight the importance of the National Wildlife Refuge System, which will celebrate its 100th birthday this March.
"The National Wildlife Refuge System would not be what it is today," said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams, "without dedicated partners concerned about wildlife conservation who were willing to put forth a great deal of hard work."
Much of the hard work on refuges involves on-the-ground habitat restoration, from stabilizing stream banks, to constructing water delivery systems that sustain functioning wetlands. Such endeavors require the use of heavy equipment, the kind of machines made by Caterpillar.
"At Caterpillar, we
