When the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, military installations across the nation were being closed as part of a government cost-saving effort referred to as the “peace dividend.” More than a decade later, the vision and leadership of one Fish and Wildlife Service employee has helped turn a large portion of a former Army installation in Illinois into a place that is paying dividends for migratory birds and other wildlife on the Upper Mississippi River.
At a ceremony today in Winona, Minn., Ed Britton, manager of the Savanna District of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Savanna, Ill, received the Department of Interior’s Superior Service Award for his vision and eight-year campaign to transform a portion of the former Savanna Army Depot into the Lost Mound Unit of the “Upper Miss” refuge.
" Many played a role in bringing former Depot lands into the protective fold of the Refuge System, but I dont think it would have happened without Eds steadfast determination. He has helped leave a legacy for the future," said Don Hultman, manager of the Upper Miss Refuge complex and Britton’s supervisor.
The former 13,062-acre Depot is located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in Carroll and Jo Daviess Counties in northwest Illinois. The Depot, used since 1917 to test cannons as well as manufacture and store ammunition and other ordnance, was identified for closure under the Base Realignment and Closure Act in 1995 and officially closed on March 18, 2000. After eight years of intricate negotiations involving Britton, the U.S. Army and other agencies, the 9,400 acre Lost Mount Unit became a reality in September 2003. The Lost Mound Unit is managed by the Savanna District and contains the largest tract of tallgrass prairie remaining in Illinois, and several thousand acres of Mississippi River bottomlands, all critical to wildlife and a number of rare, threatened, or endangered species.
“ From the beginning, negotiations for the Lost Mound Unit were fraught with controversy, competing interests, and difficult contaminant issues,” explained Hultman. “Ed handled these challenges. He withstood criticism and multiple agency staff changes to author an agreement with the Department of Army that paved the way for creation of the Lost Mound Unit.”
Born and raised in Cairo, Ill., Britton moved to Ottawa, Ill., in 1964 and graduated from Ottawa Township high school in 1967. After completing Illinois Valley Community College in 1969, he enlisted in the Army for three years, spending one year in Vietnam where he earned the Bronze Star and Silver Star medals. In 1976, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. Britton began his career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1977 and has worked at five national wildlife refuges around the country. He became manager of the Savanna District in 1995.
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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
