Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius joined MN Commissioner Tom Landwehr and MN DNR Director Dave Schad to welcome members of the waterfowl conservation community to the 2011 Minnesota Waterfowl Symposium. The Symposium, in its fourteenth year, was dedicated to former Fish and Wildlife Service employee and influential conservationist Harvey K. Nelson. Nelson was regarded as a highly respected advocate for the prairie pothole region, a leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation, and a friend to the entire Midwest natural resources community.
"In my mind, the men and women who dedicate their careers to conservation possess a passion that extends into the communities they live in, the conservation societies they lead, and the families they are part of," Melius said. "Not only do leaders in wildlife conservation work to protect and conserve fish and wildlife resources in their professional careers, but in their personal lives as well."
Harvey K. Nelson, an active member of the conservation community, worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 42 years before retiring in 1992 to pursue various leadership roles in non-governmental conservation organizations. As a consultant with the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, Nelson was instrumental in the development of the Minnesota Waterfowl Symposium.
