Ken S. Berg, the Manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Lacey, Washington, office, is the inaugural recipient of the agencys Science Leadership Award. The national-level award, announced today by FWS Director Dale Hall, was created to recognize FWS managers who exemplify the best in practicing and supporting scientific activities to improve agency knowledge and management of fish and wildlife resources. This is the first time the award has been given.
Berg, who has led the Western Washington Fish and Wildlife Office since 2001, was recognized for his leadership in using science and structured decision making to increase the conservation benefits attained during Endangered Species Act-required consultations with other agencies and organizations.
"Active and effective science underpins everything we do as an agency," Hall said as he announced the award. "This truly exemplifies the science leadership of the Service today. Youve made us all proud!"
Faced with a burgeoning workload after a decade of Endangered Species Act listings in rapidly-developing western Washington - and hampered by a 40 percent staff reduction - Berg challenged his staff to develop a conservation-based approach to making workload management decisions. Their response initiated a team effort led by Berg that produced a workload allocation method of prioritizing new consultation requests based on the likelihood of improving the conservation value of the proposed project. The model allows biologists to concentrate their time and effort on projects that will produce the most conservation benefit.
As a result, in the last year Bergs 14-member consultation staff was able to handle over 530 consultations while improving its on-time record from 40 percent to more than 70 percent. The approach, which has resulted in greater conservation for every dollar invested, a better-balanced workload and greater job satisfaction for staff, is now being studied for application throughout the agency.
