At a ceremony held in Washington, D.C., on July 17, Litchfield Wetland Management District Project Leader Scott Glup was honored as the 2009 Federal Land Manager of the Year.
Glup earned the award from Take Pride in America®, a nationwide partnership program authorized by Congress to promote the appreciation and stewardship of our nations public lands. The Take Pride in America program is administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior for the benefit of all public lands at all levels of government nationwide.
By working with the Scouts, Glup fostered a spirit of stewardship on public lands in young people at an impressionable age. Glup was honored to be recognized with the award, but wished all the scouts, parents and other partners in the project could have been there with him. "It is really the scouts who deserve this award," said Glup. "The motivation, dedication and spirit of these kids leaves me feeling good about the future of land management."
Scott Glup is a firm believer in partnerships. He worked extensively with a local Boy Scout Troop that was working to earn its "50-Miler Award," which requires canoeing or boating, hiking, trip planning and an outdoor service project. In all, 49 Scouts, parents and scout leaders donated more than 800 hours removing invasive buckthorn and other undesirable trees on 130 acres of grassland on the Litchfield Wetland Management District. In addition, they also planted 65 species of native wildflowers and grasses, planted native ecotype burr oak as part of the savanna restoration project, picked up litter and trash along several miles of road side, restored a vintage cedar waterfowl production area waterfowl production area
Waterfowl production areas are small natural wetlands and grasslands within the National Wildlife Refuge System that provide breeding, resting and nesting habitat for millions of waterfowl, shorebirds, grassland birds and other wildlife. Virtually all waterfowl production areas are in the Prairie Pothole Region states of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Learn more about waterfowl production area sign, put in a sidewalk and bench as well as developed and put in three new interpretive signs on a newly constructed parking lot overlooking a restored wetland.
At the ceremony, which also honored other award recipients, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes said, “These individuals and groups are outstanding representatives for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who volunteer with the land management agencies at the state, local and national level and who participate in the Take Pride in America program.
