Nicole Kamins, who led efforts to protect a coastal wetland in one of the nation’s most industrialized areas, was honored today with a Cooperative Conservation Award presented by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
The award recognizes conservation achievements by groups of diverse partners, including federal, state, local and tribal governments, non-government organizations, and individuals. Kamins, an employee of the City of Chicago’s Department of environment, serves as the lead for a team that is working to restore and protect Hegewisch Marsh, a remnant coastal wetland in south Chicago.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through its Midwest Region, is a member of this team.
“ Thanks to Nicole Kamins’ leadership of this team, Hegewisch Marsh is on its way to becoming a fine example of the wetland habitat that once dominated the area--despite being nestled in one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the country,” said Robyn Thorson, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Regional Director. “The restored marsh will also provide access for children in Chicago area to the wonders of nature in their back yard.
The recent accomplishments of this team began with the State of Illinois and City of Chicago successfully competing for $1.5 million in Fish and Wildlife Service grants from the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program and State Wildlife Grants Program to purchase 100 acres of Hegewisch Marsh. The City of Chicago provided a matching contribution of $1.5 million.
In 2006, the City of Chicago and the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s Office successfully competed for a $750,000 Fish and Wildlife Service grant from the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program, enabling partners to begin restoring the area from a neglected and abused landscape to its more natural coastal wetland character. This grant was matched with contributions from the City of Chicago, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s Office, The Conservation Fund and the Field Museum.
Kamins will now be working with the Ford Motor Company to develop a state-of-the-art nature center at Hegewisch Marsh. The Ford Environmental Center and the city-owned coastal wetland will provide access to the natural world for an estimated 300,000 annual visitors. The large majority of these visitors will be children from the surrounding urban area of south Chicago.
With the Ford Center, Hegewisch Marsh will provide for these children and families a close-by place to experience frogs, birds, and wetlands in a natural setting, a world that they would never know otherwise.
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 96-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 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.
