Three Fish and Wildlife Service employees and three Service programs were honored May 4 for outstanding contributions to the mission and goals of the Department of the Interior at the 63d Departmental Honor Awards Convocation.
Acting Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett, who presented the awards, said that each recipient "inspire us, with your professionalism and skills that you bring daily to work. Those we honor today added something extra - a commitment to excellence and a dedication to public service."
Deputy Director Marshall Jones, who has been with the Service more than 30 years, was presented with a Distinguished Service Award, the highest employee honor bestowed by the department. Jones served as acting director of the Service for 13 months during two transition periods, is a holder of the prestigious Ira Gabrielson Leadership Award and only last month received the Senior Executive Services Executive Leadership Award.
Arthur Kitchen, with the Services Wisconsin Private Lands Office in Madison , Wisconsin , received the Secretarys 4 Cs Cooperative Conservation Award, recognizing his work on the Pike River Dam Removal and River Restoration Project in Kenosha County , Wisconsin . The project added 25 miles of trout and salmon habitat.
Bridget Nielsen, of the Services Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office in Reno , Nevada , also received a Secretarys 4 Cs Cooperative Conservation Award, for her contributions and achievement in the field of conservation partnerships in Nevada .
In addition, Scarlett recognized the Cathlapotle Plankhouse Project Steering Committee team, which operated in Washington State and included five Service employees; the Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation Fund; and the Bahia Grande Restoration Partnership in Texas , all of which were presented Cooperative Conservation Awards.
Jones lengthy citation noted his long involvement in leadership programs within the Service, and his stewardship of the Services International Affairs Program, where he was instrumental in formulating U.S. policy relative to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild Fauna and Flora. Jones was cited for "his consistently outstanding contributions, his career of integrity, service and commitment and his exemplary performance in his duties."
Kitchen had to balance the interests of a wide range of private and public partners in the Pike River Project, but is credited with gaining local support and funding to remove the dam, which was characterized at the end as "a convincing success that spurred calls for similar initiatives through the Pike River Watershed."
Nielsen made significant strides in Nevada , where she laid the foundation for a successful, Service-led conservation partnership program, an undertaking spread across 50 million acres in a state that is 87 percent-owned by the Federal government, largely rural in character and with private landowner concerns.
The Cathlapotle Plankhouse Project Steering Committee team, which included Service employees Viginia Parks, Anan Raymond, Tom Smiley, Rebecca Young and Tom Melanson, was cited for achievements in conserving the Nation's cultural resources. By working with members of the Chinook Tribe in Washington State , the team was able to see a full-scale replica of a Chinookan- cedar plankhouse constructed on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, near Ridgefield , Washington . The plankhouse represents the homes occupied by Native Americans in Cathlapotle, a community located on the banks of the Columbia River . The effort was completed with the help of the National Park Service as well as state and local governments and a diverse cross-section of private citizens.
The Bahia Grande Restoration Project involved 21,763 acres of land in South Texas , the Bahia Grande Unit of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Before the acreage was cut off from tidal influence in the 1930s, it comprised wetlands which were an important estuarine nursery for fish, shellfish, wildlife and wintering waterfowl. Once cut off from tides, the land became a site of massive fish kills and dust storms. The Restoration Partnership sought to restore the area and in July, 2005, a pilot channel was opened that began refilling the tidal basin. Eventually, a larger channel will follow. The Service employees participating in this effort were cited for "their untiring dedication, innovation and initiative to complete one of the largest coastal wetland restoration projects in the United States ."
The Maine Atlantic Salmon Conservation fund, jointly administered by the Services Gulf of Maine Coastal Program and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with conservation organizations, private landowners, state and Federal biologists and educators, is dedicated to projects that remove direct threats to wild salmon and their habitat, as well as to research to enhance salmon conservation. Since 2000, more than 100 salmon recovery projects have been implemented, providing protection to more than 54,000 acres of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitat and access to miles of historic salmon habitat.
