U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall recently recognized the outstanding contributions of Service employees to science-based management of the Nations fish and wildlife resources. Hall announced the Services first ever science awards during a broadcast to employees.
"Science underpins everything we do as an agency," Hall said. "These awards recognize employees who exemplify excellence and innovation in using science to make a difference for conservation."
Ken Berg, Project Leader at the Western Washington Fish and Wildlife Office in Lacey, Washington, is the recipient of the Science Leadership Award. This national award
recognizes Service managers who exemplify the Services efforts to practice and support scientific activities designed to improve the knowledge and management of fish and wildlife resources within the agency.
Berg, who has led the Lacey office since 2001, is recognized for his successful efforts to develop a science-based approach to making workload decisions involving consultations with other agencies and organizations required by the Endangered Species Act. His office developed a methodology for evaluating and prioritizing its workload that has lead to greater conservation for every dollar invested, a better balanced workload and greater job satisfaction for staff. Wider use of this approach promises to change how the Service strategically applies staff resources to maximize conservation benefits.
In this endeavor, Bergs effort made use of structured decision making, training, and support at the Services National Conservation Training Center, and received exceptional support and guidance from the U.S. Geological Surveys Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC).
