The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has named Rob Jess the new manager of the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
Jess has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 13 years, serving at three different refuges while he was still in college. His first "official" position took him to the million-acre Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana for four years. Later assignments have included the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina and the Fish and Wildlife Services Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, Georgia. Before accepting his position at the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Jess spent six years as manager of the J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, Florida
While he acknowledges that Fairbanks will be quite a change from Sanibel Island, Jess is excited about the challenges and opportunities the new position will bring, and about the chance to experience the many things Alaska has to offer. As the new manager of Yukon Flats NWR, he will oversee the third largest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System, encompassing more than 11 million acres and larger than Vermont and Connecticut combined.
"Its an opportunity for me and for my family," Jess said recently, "a chance to experience one of the last truly wild areas in the world."
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Regional Director Tom Melius said, "Rob has built an impressive career upon the kind of thoughtful land management the American people deserve and expect. He has a history of laying 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. Alaska is lucky to get him."
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
