The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced 29 recipients of the 2010 Recovery Champion award honoring Service staff members and their partners-in-mission for conserving endangered and threatened species.
“Recovery Champions are leaders in the conservation of endangered and threatened species of plants and animals across the United States and beyond its borders,” said Acting Director Rowan Gould. “It is a true measure of a steadfast commitment to protecting our nation’s biological heritage for future generations by helping to recover our imperiled species of fish and wildlife and plants and the ecosystems on which they depend.”
From the Mauna Loa silversword in Hawaii and Railroad Valley springfish in Nevada to the Canada lynx in Maine and rabbitsfoot mussel in the rivers of Alabama, Recovery Champions are taking action to protect these species. It is the Service employees and partners, including tribes, state conservation agencies, universities and private organizations, as well as zoos and land trusts, who are the extraordinary individuals making a difference.
This year, for the first time, an international organization, Japan’s Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, has been selected as a Recovery Champion for achievements on behalf of the short-tailed albatross, a seabird that spends time in Alaska and migrates in the North Pacific.
Restoring streams, breeding species in captivity and releasing them into their historic ranges, conducting field surveys and monitoring programs, and negotiating the complex world of Federal financial standards to administer a land acquisition grant for the Lake Erie watersnake in Ohio are just a few examples from the wide diversity of initiatives receiving
