The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has named Mike Spindler the new manager of the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. An experienced Service pilot with more than 7,000 hours of flying time (most earned while piloting Super Cubs during Alaska wildlife surveys), Mr. Spindler was formerly the Manager of the Koyukuk/Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge Complex (near Galena, Alaska), where he has worked since 1990 and has served as Refuge Manager for the last four years.
Spindler's experiences with National Wildlife Refuges go back to his undergraduate days, however, when he participated in biological studies on Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge during his undergraduate years at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. After graduating in 1974, he moved to Alaska to pursue a Master's degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He has lived in Alaska ever since. Prior to accepting his first position at Koyukuk/Nowitna (as a Supervisory Wildlife Biologist/Pilot) in 1990, Mike worked at Alaska Maritime, Arctic, and Selawik National Wildlife Refuges.
"I feel like Im coming full circle and am glad to be returning to Fairbanks," Spindler said. "After receiving my Masters degree in wildlife at UAF in the 1970s, I?ve spent most of my career in the Bush. Over the last 10 years, Ive especially enjoyed working with the Koyukuk River people and local public radio station KIYU on a project to record oral history about subsistence. Ive always been a hands-on field person, and I?m looking forward to leading the Services program at Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge.?
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Regional Director Rowan Gould said, "Mike's career has been built upon the kind of thoughtful land management the American people deserve and expect. He lays the groundwork for his decisions by gathering high quality data; and by working effectively with local people, other users of the resources involved, and other federal and state management agencies.?
A digital photo of Mike Spindler is available to the media from Bruce Woods at the number above.
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.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov">
