U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service September/October 2011 | Vol 8, No 5 RefugeUpdate National Wildlife Refuge System www.fws.gov/refuges

A silvery blue butterfly feeds on a milk vetch plant in South Dakota in the heart of the Dakota Grassland Conservation Area. The area was authorized by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar this spring. Moving Quickly (Tom Koerner/USFWS) From Vision A Race Against Time To Implementation mplementation of the National In the Dakota Grassland Wildlife Refuge System’s I Conserving the Future vision is By Bill O’Brian on a fast track. arris Hoistad appreciates robust mid-America grassland, and last Individual charters have been written spring Interior Secretary Ken Salazar authorized the Dakota Grassland for each of the three implementation HConservation Area, which is designed to preserve such habitat. teams established by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe “The beauty of healthy grassland comes from having the ability to walk across the during his call to action, which closed landscape and see all of the life that each of these tracts of land contain,” Hoistad the Conserving the Future: Wildlife says. “From the tiny insects on the ground to the wetland invertebrates that provide Refuges and the Next Generation food sources for all the birds, these grasslands are alive, and it is so easy to see why conference July 14 in Madison, WI. they are such critical pieces of the habitat needs for many species of wildlife.” Those teams will focus on strategically Hoistad, refuge manager at Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota, growing the Refuge System, fleshing has been involved with the Dakota Grassland Conservation Area project since its out details of an urban wildlife refuge planning inception almost three years ago. initiative and developing the next The project was announced in April by Salazar, who heralded it as a model for generation of Refuge System leaders. conserving working agricultural landscapes while benefiting wildlife under President Ashe charged the latter team—the Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative. The project identifies 1.7 million acres Leadership Development Council—to of grassland and 240,000 acres of wetland across a swath of eastern South Dakota, build on the successful approach used North Dakota and Montana. The expansive conservation area is vital, U.S. Fish and to implement the leadership goals

continued on pg 27 continued on pg 18 FOCUS: Conserving the Future, the Conference, pages 10-19 Ashe Named 16th Director of Service an Ashe was confirmed and sworn in scale. Along with our state partners, RefugeUpdate in as the 16th Director of the U.S. and the rest of the federal government, DFish and Wildlife Service this we also face serious fiscal challenges. And Ken Salazar Address editorial summer just days before the Conserving we operate in an ongoing environment Secretary inquiries to: the Future conference. of political challenges to the decisions Department of the Refuge Update we make and the actions we take. My Interior USFWS-NWRS In one of his first goal is to ensure that we will face all of 4401 North Fairfax Dr., official appearances Dan Ashe Room 634C our challenges head on, and draw from Director as Director, on Arlington, VA them not a sense of despair, but rather, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 22203-1610 July 14, Ashe told inspiration and renewed motivation to Service Phone: 703-358-1858 conference attendees Fax: 703-358-2517 improve and achieve.” Jim Kurth E-mail: in Madison, WI, and Acting Chief [email protected] those participating In announcing Ashe’s confirmation National Wildlife online across the in July, Secretary of the Interior Ken Refuge System This newsletter is Dan Ashe country that “I am Salazar said: “Dan Ashe has served with published on recycled Martha Nudel paper using soy-based deeply honored to distinction and integrity in the Fish and Editor in Chief serve in this role. I Wildlife Service for more than 15 years ink. want to thank you for your kind words … I’m excited to work with him to foster Bill O’Brian and encouragement. I promise you my innovative science-driven conservation Managing Editor C very best—and ask for your help. We programs and policies to benefit our have a lot of work to do together.” nation’s fish and wildlife and its habitat.” In an e-mail to all Service employees During his Service tenure, Ashe has days earlier, Ashe said: “Our challenges helped to craft the strategy that will are many and varied. We face resource guide the agency’s efforts to deal with challenges, which are national, Inside international and, in some cases, global continued on pg 19 Managing a Swamp Fire An interview with Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge manager Siekaniec Appointed Deputy Director Curt McCasland. Page 4

reg Siekaniec has been named Siekaniec has led efforts to prepare the Record Floods deputy director for policy of the Refuge System to meet the challenges GU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, of the 21st century, and he oversaw a Flooding in the Mississippi, Missouri leaving the position of chief of the process to create a reinvigorated vision to and Red River watersheds inundated National Wildlife Refuge System, a post guide it for the next decade. Americans much of the Refuge System this spring he held since 2009. submitted more than 10,000 comments and summer. Page 8 on the vision, which was ratified at the In his new capacity, Siekaniec will provide Conserving the Future conference in July. Sex, Dives and Videotape strategic program direction and develop policy and guidance to support and “We face a host Service volunteer Lindsey Kramer promote program development and fulfill of conservation documents coral spawning at the Service mission. challenges of a Hawaiian Islands Refuge. Page 9 magnitude we “Greg has done an outstanding job have rarely seen,” FOCUS: Conserving the Future, leading the Refuge System during said Siekaniec. the Conference challenging times, and I’m excited to “But the Refuge The Conserving the Future conference have the opportunity to work with him System has risen to as part of our leadership team. I know in Madison, WI, was like no gathering Greg Siekaniec equal challenges in his more than two decades of field and the Refuge System has ever had before. decades past. With Pages 10-19 Washington experience will continue a new vision as its to be an invaluable asset as we move beacon, the Refuge System will again QR Codes at “Ding” Darling Refuge forward with the Service’s conservation overcome challenges to add to America’s agenda,” said Service Director Dan conservation legacy. I won’t be overseeing J.N. “Ding” Darling Refuge makes Ashe in announcing the appointment in the Refuge System on a day-to-day basis, virtual history with its interactive late July. iNature Trail. Page 23 continued on pg 27

2 • Refuge Update Refuges Are Elementary at Virginia School

By Jennifer Anderson econd-grader Audrey Vizard knows all about national wildlife refuges. S“They’re places where animals can live and be protected,” she says. “I think they are very happy there, and that makes me happy.” Protecting plants and animals is important, agrees Toni Birnett, a fourth- grader. “We need them for us to survive.” Fifth-grader Grace Goldman loves animals, too. But, for her, the best part about refuges is the chance to be in nature. “I like digging in the dirt and holding worms,” she says. Puddles the Blue Goose leads Barrett Elementary School students in a rendition of “Rock the Refuge,” Audrey, Toni and Grace, all students at a song written for the school’s year-long project studying national wildlife refuges. (Elizabeth Rente) Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, VA, will be exploring refuges in-depth this school year as part of a school- children—will visit a refuge. Children in apply bands. “For a kid to hold a bird wide initiative to expose youngsters kindergarten through second grade will like that and feel its heartbeat—that’s to the outdoors and a commitment by explore natural areas closer to the school a life-changing experience and the kind the Refuge System to engage the next with the likelihood of visiting refuges as of impression we’re trying to make,” generation of conservationists. they get older and the project evolves. says Marty McClevey, also a ranger at Potomac River Refuge Complex. The initiative is the brainchild of teacher The overarching theme will be to see Laurie Sullivan, who approached the how birds and trees change with the The Toyota TAPESTRY grant will Refuge System for curriculum advice seasons, Sullivan says. Because most of cover most project expenses, including last winter and ultimately procured a the students will be visiting the refuges digital cameras for the kids, bus trips to $10,000 funding grant through the Toyota only once, the project will include visits the refuges, laptops and child-size TAPESTRY Program. to parks and instruction in the school’s work gloves. outdoor garden and Discovery Lab, too. “We’ve all been hearing for the past Families also will be encouraged to go on As much as the school wants to limit several years about the ‘last child in weekend nature outings. screen time, the goal is not to the woods’ and kids spending less time discourage kids’ interest in technology outdoors in nature and more time indoors “Life-Changing Experience” entirely. In fact, Sullivan says, the playing video games and watching TV,” Although details of the refuge visits still students’ final projects could include a says Sullivan, who oversees Barrett’s are being worked out, activities that music video, a documentary film, an oral Discovery Lab, where the students traditionally are a big hit with kids likely report with video images—or even a delve deeply into topics such as NASA, will be included. fine-art painting. engineering and now nature. At Mason Neck and Occoquan Bay Jennifer Anderson is a frequent Plans for this school year include visits Refuges, part of Potomac River National contributor to Refuge Update. to three refuges—Patuxent Research Wildlife Refuge Complex, park ranger- intern Patricia Wood says that using To learn more about the Barrett Refuge in Maryland, and Occoquan Bay Elementary School project, visit http:// and Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck “scat and tracks” is one way to draw in elementary-age students. “It’s really tinyurl.com/BarrettNature or http:// Refuges in Virginia. Twenty students tinyurl.com/BarrettNatureFacebook. with strong academic and leadership about going out and seeing what the animal has left behind.” To see a pep rally at which the students skills will visit Mason Neck in the fall, in perform “Rock the Refuge,” a song part to help plan activities for the rest of At Patuxent Refuge, an electric tram written for the project, go to www. the school, Sullivan says, suggesting that takes visitors through forest, wetland and YouTube.com/BarrettNature. For a digital scavenger hunt is a possibility. meadow habitats, and at Occoquan Bay information on Toyota TAPESTRY Then in spring, the entire third-, fourth- Refuge a songbird banding station allows grants, visit http://www.nsta.org/pd/ and fifth-grade classes—about 250 kids to hold the birds while volunteers tapestry.

Refuge Update • 3 “Managing a Fire in a Swamp Is Like Running a Marathon”

hen an April 28 W lightning strike sparked what would become the 302,000-acre Honey Prairie Fire at and near Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, refuge manager Curt McCasland was new to the job and to the Southeast Region. A 13-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service veteran, he had moved east from a similar job at Cabeza Prieta Refuge in Arizona less than seven months earlier. Here are excerpts from a recent An alligator approaches flames at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Georgia. “Since fire is common in the swamp, Refuge Update impacts to most wildlife habitat within the refuge are minor,” says refuge manager Curt McCasland. (Jessica Bowen/USFWS) interview with McCasland. Q. How did the fact that you were new surrounded by knowledgeable, dedicated several fires that ranged from 10,000 to Okefenokee Refuge affect your ability folks, so I did not have to reinvent the acres to 50,000 acres on and off the to oversee the management of the fire, wheel. I just needed to work from past refuge. These were relatively short fires especially in the first few days? successes to try to make a very effective that burned very quickly, then went out. and efficient process continue to work. The fires at Okefenokee can last several A. Given the fact that the refuge staff, The regional fire staff also provided months and possibly longer; tropical our state partners in Florida and invaluable support. I truly am humbled storms typically extinguish them. Soils Georgia, and the Greater Okefenokee by the selfless nature of our refuge staff, within the refuge are primarily peat, Association of Landowners (GOAL) our state partners and our neighbors. so they can burn through an area and, have been preparing for this event since after a few weeks, re-burn as the peat 2007—after the Big Turnaround Fire— Q. How does managing a fire in a dries out. I’ve learned that managing it was fairly easy to pick up the ball Georgia swamp differ from managing a fire in the swamp is like running a and run. We began by implementing a a fire at your most recent previous marathon; you have to pace yourself strategy we had developed this January station, Cabeza Prieta Refuge, in the and make sure everybody else is doing after reviewing the After Action Review Arizona desert? the same. of the 2007 fire. I am blessed to be surrounded by a very strong staff that A. Fires were infrequent at Cabeza Q. What damage did the fire do to has a lot of experience with fires in the Prieta. Before 2005, our largest was Okefenokee Refuge? swamp. In addition, [former Okefenokee about five acres; it was started by a Refuge managers] Skippy Reeves family that was being smuggled into A. The fires have burned more than and George Constantino both made the United States and became lost. 300,000 acres, the overwhelming themselves available for support and The family kept lighting fires in hopes majority within the refuge. From the discussion, as did staff from the Georgia of being spotted. It took three days to beginning, our objectives have been Forestry Commission, Florida Division of get five acres burned. In 2005, we had to ensure firefighter safety, keep the Forestry, Osceola National Forest. I am a very wet winter and we dealt with fire within the swamp, and protect

4 • Refuge Update private timber lands, railroads and the have had two large fires occur in just staff had been working on ensuring communities surrounding the refuge. four years. The fire does not run into the equipment and infrastructure, such as crowns, but it burns the peat and organic our roads and bridges, were prepared I am truly amazed by and appreciative material at the trees’ base, causing them for fire. We have been actively of the cooperative relationship that to fall during wind events. Fire continues conducting prescribed fires around exists with our neighbors. We manage to burn through these areas as we speak. important resources, such as the a fire-adapted system where large fires It will be interesting to see how these [100-plus-year-old] Chesser Homestead occur every few years. The fact that the hardwood stands recover. and our shop area. We also developed private timber landowners tolerate and lists of what worked well and didn’t work accept our strategy of allowing fire to Q. If you were to give words of advice so well in the 2007 fire and others. One of burn within the refuge is an important to any other recently appointed refuge the most important things we did was relationship. Providing our neighbors manager whose refuge ignites into a conduct the review of the After Action with updated maps, information and our major fire before he or she has barely Review with our partners and incident strategies are important components of settled into the new job, what would that commanders of all incident management maintaining this positive relationship. advice be? teams in the region. This was invaluable. Since fire is common in the swamp, A. I should point out that I was here for I guess my advice is to be as proactive as impacts to most wildlife habitat within seven months prior to the start of the possible to ensure staff, partners and the refuge are minor. This lack of fire. My first day at work, Mike Housh, neighbors are actively engaged and impact is a product of the hard work our fire management officer, had working together prior to having smoke and dedication of our staff. We have a informed me that the swamp water level in the air. long history of prescribed fire within was lower than prior to the start of the our refuge uplands. This has resulted Big Turnaround/Bugaboo Fire that in the survival of our upland longleaf burned virtually the entire refuge. pine forest. Shrub scrub habitats are Planning for a potential fire was ongoing extremely fire adapted. prior to my arrival. The Georgia Forestry Commission had been One of the more intriguing aspects of implementing a fuel-reduction project the swamp is many of the areas that around the perimeter of the swamp; our burned in May and June appear not to have burned. However, we lost the 1.25-mile boardwalk and observation tower at Owl’s Roost that were used extensively by visitors at our eastern entrance. Picnic shelters, rest rooms and canoe trails also were damaged by the fire. We are eager to start rebuilding the boardwalk and restoring the trails. Q. What benefit do you and your staff expect the fire to provide to the refuge habitat over the short term and long term? A. Much of the shrub scrub habitat (especially in the southern portion of the refuge) burned extensively in 2002, 2007 and now. This recovers very quickly and is ready to reignite during the next dry period. Our upland habitats composed of longleaf pine are managed with prescribed fire. Although we do lose individual trees during these events, our dedicated staff have been managing these uplands for over 30 years and the uplands can withstand the effects of fire. The fire at and near Okefenokee Refuge, known as the Honey Prairie Fire, has burned more than 300,000 Our hardwood stands are a concern. We acres. It destroyed the popular 1.25-mile boardwalk near the east entrance. (Sara Aicher/USFWS)

Refuge Update • 5 Progress in the Salt Cedar Struggle

By Karen Leggett n invasive species strike team is helping three national wildlife Arefuges in New Mexico eradicate salt cedar within their boundaries. The team hopes to accomplish its goal within three to five years, possibly sooner. Gina Dello Russo, New Mexico invasive species strike team coordinator and ecologist at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, credits the particular topography and the dedication of refuge staff for the imminent success at Maxwell, Las Vegas and San Andres Refuges. Maxwell and Las Vegas are small refuges characterized by short-grass prairie uplands. San Andres Refuge is remote upland terrain, with limited surface water This native riparian bosque (forest) has been restored at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and few avenues for salt cedar to become NM, after the removal of invasive salt cedar. (Gina Dello Russo/USFWS) established. So eradication is within the realm of possibility at these refuges. An estimated 3,500 acres of salt cedar This summer, the New Mexico strike The strike team is also working to have been removed at Bosque del Apache team also partially funded a biological control salt cedar at Bosque del Apache, Refuge with 3,000 acres restored to native technician who is organizing existing Bitter Lake and Sevilleta Refuges in riparian plant communities. mapping and treatment information into New Mexico. These three refuges are a comprehensive geo-database for all six on floodplains where the moist soil “A native bosque,” explains Dello Russo, New Mexico refuges. welcomes salt cedar, making complete “includes dense trees but also smaller eradication virtually impossible. By the stands of willows, plus openings of Dello Russo expects the New Mexico 1980s, salt cedar had taken over nearly grasslands and wetlands. The patchiness strike team to assist refuges in building half the riparian floodplain in Bosque del within a native riparian forest is what partnerships with surrounding Apache Refuge, threatening the habitat brings in bird diversity, with the varied landowners to address salt cedar and for such species as the endangered light penetration, moisture gradients, other invasives on a landscape level. Southwestern willow flycatcher and the food resources, forest structure, and plant “San Andres Refuge has established yellow-billed cuckoo. variation. It’s a beautiful thing to see.” partnerships with White Sands Missile Range and National Monument. The Salt cedar, originally imported to the There are still approximately 3,000 acres strike team can support mapping and Southwest for decoration and erosion- infested with salt cedar left on Bosque del monitoring, so that we move beyond prevention, can grow to 26 feet, rob arid Apache Refuge, with progress dependent protecting the refuge to working on the landscapes of precious water and cause largely on funding. landscape around us.” soil to become saline. Resistant to drought Strike Teams on the Attack and producing 600,000 seeds a year, salt Controlling invasives is a never-ending The Refuge System initiated the process. Even when Maxwell, Las Vegas cedar can quickly become a monoculture Invasive Species Strike Team program and displace native birds and animals. and San Andres Refuges succeed in in 2004. Teams operate in the Southwest eradicating salt cedar, there will have to Eradicating or controlling salt cedar is (New Mexico and Arizona), the Florida be regular monitoring to catch any new very labor intensive. “It’s a lot of chain Everglades, North Dakota, Hawaii arrivals. The primary objective of all saw work in these isolated areas,” says and the Pacific Islands, and the Upper Service strike teams is early detection, Dello Russo, followed by treating stumps Missouri/Yellowstone/Upper Columbia rapid response—EDRR. with chemicals and re-treating sprouts River area. Karen Leggett is a writer-editor the next year. At Bosque del Apache The 2010 Southwest strike teams mapped Refuge, the stumps are removed so the in the Refuge System Branch of 1,503 acres and cut down and treated Communications. area can be flooded during native tree young and mature salt cedar on 597 acres; seed dispersal and planted or reseeded youth conservation crews pulled more with other native plants. than 300,000 invasive salt cedar seedlings.

6 • Refuge Update Stone Lakes Refuge Is Up Against the Sprawl

By Mary Tillotson ome of the wildest critters at Stone Lakes National Wildlife SRefuge are the two-footed ones: the humans. The refuge directly abuts a densely populated urban area in California’s Central Valley. Its neighbor, metropolitan Sacramento, has a population of three million. Typical urban problems arise on the 6,400 acres managed by Stone Lakes Refuge: theft (copper wire from pumps is the loot of choice), illegal dumping, feral cats and dogs. But, says refuge manager Bart McDermott, the biggest problem with so many people living next door is water. Stone Lakes Refuge is in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It is a landscape of wetlands, streamside riparian habitat and grasslands on the Pacific Flyway that historically attracted migratory birds such as greater sandhill Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge borders Interstate 5 and feels enormous development pressure cranes and colonial nesting species such from the city of Elk Grove, CA, which has doubled in population since 2001. (USFWS) as great blue herons. What is now the refuge was drained and development, increasing runoff and show up for the refuge’s annual Walk on plowed under for farming decades ago. pollutants to the refuge. the Wildside festival, she says, and all In 1994, when the refuge was established the new vegetation around the restored and wetlands restoration began, adjacent Additionally, the state of California wetlands areas has been planted by dairy farms grew crops compatible with is considering expanding a canal and volunteers—many of them schoolchildren. wildlife, says McDermott. Fields of system of dikes that would further divert alfalfa, hay and other grains provided a water from the delta to farms in the To strengthen the connection with local natural filter for runoff to the refuge. Central Valley during droughts. “That’s families, refuge staff is planning to create a huge concern,” says deputy refuge a “junior biologist trail” with hands-on As the refuge grew, so did the city of Elk manager Beatrix Treiterer. activities around the wetlands. There Grove on its eastern border. Elk Grove’s will be a hazard-free play area where population has doubled to 153,015 in the The federal and state governments, kids can romp over rocks and play past decade, and developers have turned under provisions of the Clean Water in safe water while parents can relax wildlife-friendly fields into housing, roads Act, are now assessing delta water and nearby. Beginning this fall, the refuge and strip malls. Long-range plans were soil conditions near Stone Lakes Refuge headquarters area will be open daily, free for the refuge to expand to nearly 18,000 as part of a survey of the nation’s most to the public, for quiet walks in one of the acres, but the frenzied development threatened ecosystems. The report will last wild places in the Central Valley. pushed land prices out of reach for guide the Environmental Protection government purchase. Agency on where to invest money and “The number of kids we reach is personnel to protect wetlands in the phenomenal,” Treiterer says. “Coming to In 1999, a 460-acre subdivision went up future, but it is not due out until 2013. the refuge may be the first time they’ve within the acquisition boundary, and ever seen a frog … the first time they’ve in the last 10 years, says McDermott, Despite the challenges of managing a left their neighborhood!” the lower third of the refuge project wildlife refuge in urban America, there boundary has been converted from are pluses. That’s an investment in the future, says wildlife-compatible crops to vineyards. Hopperstad. “They’re developing a Stone Lakes has a dedicated corps of conservation ethic of their own.” City officials now hope to expand 40 to 50 volunteers who donate time to southward to attract high-tech firms, leading tours and doing other work on Mary Tillotson is a frequent contributor meaning more acreage could be built the refuge, says visitor services manager to Refuge Update. up and paved over for commercial Amy Hopperstad. About 3,000 people

Refuge Update • 7 Flooding: “We Expect It—but Not to This Extent”

By Heather Dewar nesters that lost their young—and looding in the Mississippi, native trees Missouri and Red River planted in a F watersheds smashed high-water reforestation records this year, surpassing the Great project on 3,000 of Flood of 1937, and took a dramatic toll the refuge’s 41,000 on human settlements. The floods also acres. Bottomland inundated much of the Refuge System. hardwood forests At least 57 refuges saw significant are flood-adapted, flooding from April to late July. At least but young trees 37 closed, wholly or partially, for up to can’t endure two months. submersion for At press time, the Midwest Region was weeks. Many look waiting for floodwaters to fully recede dead, Chandler so it could assess the financial cost. said, but some are Floods caused an estimated $83 million resprouting. “We’ll in property damage in the Mountain- know the true Prairie Region and $12 million in the effects next April.” A feral hog makes its way across Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, MS, one of at least 57 refuges that saw significant flooding from April to July. Southeast Region, not including the cost Vegetation die- (USFWS) of habitat restoration. off is a common It may take several seasons to assess the concern, especially effects on wildlife and ecosystems. where refuges double as spillways, $1 million in lost crops, spoiled grain, relieving pressure on levees that protect damaged roads and a ruined office trailer Floods “are Mother Nature’s broom. farms and towns. Flood control officials at Bald Knob Refuge, where the White They sweep out everything and bring planned to funnel water onto Squaw River crested more than a foot higher in new sediments and give everything Creek Refuge, MO, through August; in than ever recorded. new life,” said Sabrina Chandler, deputy July refuge staffers were seeing signs of project manager at Theodore Roosevelt tree die-off. At DeSoto Refuge, IA, employees National Wildlife Refuge Complex, MS, packed up a museum collection of which includes Panther Swamp Refuge. Invasive Concerns 500,000 artifacts from the 1860s “We expect it—but not to this extent.” Some managers worried that flooding steamship Bertrand and relocated them would spread invasive plants and crowd and the refuge office to temporary Panther Swamp Refuge, along the out native vegetation, doing short-term quarters, where they are expected to Yazoo River, illustrates how human harm to waterfowl food sources and long- stay for months. engineering can affect flooding. In April, lasting habitat damage. Other impacts the Yazoo’s waters met a Mississippi included washouts of native prairie In flooded communities, refuge River swollen by snowmelt and spring plantings and the spread of invasive carp, staffers helped fill sandbags, build rains. The Yazoo had no place to go and trash and contaminants, said Mountain- temporary levees and evacuate homes backed up onto nearby bottomlands, Prairie Region fire management and businesses. Some joined search- as it has done for centuries. But levees coordinator Jim Kelton. and-rescue operations. Some had to that criss-cross the refuge held the leave their own homes. “One of our law floodwaters in place. On the refuge’s On the plus side, revitalized freshwater enforcement officers’ house is being east side, forests disappeared under six marshes are a boon to fish, which bulldozed as we speak,” Chandler said. to 25 feet of water. On the west side, it fill anglers’ creels and supply food Nature will rebound, she said, but it was too dry to plant corn for waterfowl. for wading birds and other wildlife. won’t be so easy for 30 families near the Wildlife thronged the west side, forcing And floods can be “nature’s way of refuge, most of whom lost their homes. managers to close the refuge from May reforesting,” said Bill Alexander, Bald “To see our neighbors lose a lifetime’s 6 to July 1. Knob Refuge manager in Arkansas. After a 2008 flood, native cypress worth of hard work and memories, that’s Animals returned to home ranges once seedlings sprouted in some refuge fields. the hardest thing.” the waters receded. “We’re seeing Heather Dewar is a writer-editor does with twin fawns on the east side,” Damage to facilities in Arkansas in the Refuge System Branch of Chandler said in late July. She was ranged from minor gravel road washouts Communications. concerned for wild turkeys—ground- at Wapanocca Refuge to more than

8 • Refuge Update Sex, Dives and Videotape

By Lindsey Kramer during a stressful event, such as a ach event lasted about 10 viral outbreak minutes. As early morning or elevated sea Esunrays pierced the water, coral temperatures. reef fish went about their business as usual. But for us­—free-diving volunteers Cauliflower corals and staff for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife are unusual in that Service—it was a rare moment of they are known to scientific discovery. spawn just after sunrise in the On consecutive mornings in May, we main Hawaiian formally documented sexual Islands (many reproduction of cauliflower coral—more species spawn precisely, Pocillopora meandrina—for in the middle the first time in the Northwestern of the night). Hawaiian Islands. We were able to Observations near capture on video coral spawning off the Big Island Shark Island in French Frigate Shoals, (Hawaii) over part of Hawaiian Islands National the past decade Wildlife Refuge and Papahanaumokuakea by the volunteer Marine National Monument. organization In May, free-diving volunteers and staff for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Shark Island is a small sand island ReefWatchers— Service documented sexual reproduction of cauliflower coral off Shark about 500 miles from Oahu. Its lagoon led by Sara Peck Island in French Frigate Shoals, part of Hawaiian Islands National is ideal for observing spawning because of the University Wildlife Refuge and Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. of its protected shallow waters, its of Hawaii Sea (Lindsey Kramer) abundant healthy cauliflower coral and Grant Program— its proximity to a Service field station on have helped shape a predictive model washed away the spawning materials Tern Island two miles away. of coral broadcast spawning based within minutes. on seasonality, lunar cycles, water Corals are colonial invertebrates. temperature and ocean chemistry. Our Although significant, these observations They reproduce in two ways: asexual team adjusted the Big Island spawning represent just a small piece of the fragmentation or sexual reproduction predictions to fit the later sunrise and puzzle. More observations are needed and larval settlement to suitable habitat. moonset at Shark Island. to fully characterize and understand the reproductive timing of cauliflower coral. Asexual reproduction occurs when part Our first observation at Shark Island, of a colony breaks off during a storm or on April 19 from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m., was We do know that successful sexual other high-energy event and the broken uneventful. The water felt fairly frigid reproduction helps ensure the resilience fragment reattaches to the bottom and that morning, which may have precluded of a coral population by improving the continues to grow. Often, fragments spawning. On May 19, two days after odds that it will be able to weather new are not able to lodge into the substrate the full moon, we monitored 50 coral diseases and difficult environmental and are washed away or buried in the colonies, and approximately 30 percent conditions, which may become critical in sand. Even when successful, asexual of the colonies spawned around 7:30 a.m. a changing global climate. Knowing reproduction results in genetically On May 20, our team of eight monitored where and when reproduction takes identical colonies, which can render a 70 colonies, and 95 percent spawned place also enables coral reef managers population susceptible to disease and between 7:40 and 7:53 a.m. to minimize human interference with unusual environmental changes. the process and help facilitate the The events were spectacular. The creation and replenishment of new Sexual reproduction occurs either by outgoing tide seemed to increase just corals to the reef. fertilization of eggs within the coral before spawning began, perhaps cueing tissue (brooders) or by hermaphroditic the corals. Typically, one or two colonies Lindsey Kramer, a marine science egg-and-sperm release into the water began to spawn; then neighboring field technician based in Kailua-Kona, column with external fertilization colonies followed. Smoke-like puffs of HI, is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (broadcast spawners). New colonies reproductive materials were ejected volunteer. The Shark Island coral created via sexual reproduction are from each coral in waves until the water spawning video can be viewed at: http:// genetically unique, which increases the became a hazy gray. The outgoing tide www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/tags/ likelihood of a population’s survival coralspawning/

Refuge Update • 9

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference Vision and Change …

By Rebekah Martin who attended— in Madison and hen I first donned my refuge online? They made uniform as a SCEP student it successful. As W at Rappahannock River did more than Valley National Wildlife Refuge, I 100 work group never dreamed that 10 years later I members and would be coordinating the Conserving volunteers onsite the Future conference. who oversaw What an honor, and what a wild ride the everything from past two years have been! Planning a registering conference at this scale is not something participants the Refuge System does frequently. I and monitoring received helpful guidance from Fulfilling discussions to the Promise conference organizers, arranging banquet but records from the 1998 Keystone, centerpieces and CO, gathering were scarce. Mostly, I helping first-time was in an unfamiliar world without a tweeters. Conserving the Future vision coordinator Rebekah Martin and map. My comfort zone is compatibility Watching all we determinations and RAPP. Now, I was communications coordinator Michael Gale at the Wisconsin Sendoff banquet. had been working (Jim Kurth/USFWS) evaluating potential conference sites on for months jell nationwide, deciphering contracts, was exciting, a working with speaker’s bureaus, relief and even bittersweet. Complex, where I will join you, as I said learning the logistics of moving 1,100 in Madison, in showing others our way attendees through break spaces Having been so fortunate to play this of conservation—persistently, fearlessly designed for 600. Those are skills I never role, I find it fitting to return to the field and together. expected to hone. to help implement the vision the conference celebrated. I will be deputy The conference was simply incredible. refuge manager at Eastern Virginia What can I say about the passion of all Rivers National Wildlife Refuge

… on a Grand Scale

By Michael Gale and thousands more connected through However, some of it is new to federal social media. agencies. The conference showed that hen I accepted the Conserving we can change ourselves to better serve the Future communications Coming from the Office of External the mission and to be a leader in an W coordinator position, Jim Affairs, I understood the Fish and evolving federal sector. Kurth, then-deputy chief of the Refuge Wildlife Service’s social media policies. System, sent me an e-mail asking: “Are Knowing where the lines are drawn Despite anxieties, I knew all along that you ready to change the world?” Right helps when you are changing the size of everything would work out because of then, I knew this opportunity would be the envelope. Many of the cutting-edge our amazing teams. We owe the project’s profoundly special. tools already were being used in the success to their collective passion, vision agency, just not at this scale. We had and hard work. Using online technologies to open the flexibility to try new things. Having everything up was part of management’s management’s support made everything This is only the beginning. Change starts vision from the beginning. In the more fun and less scary. with a spark—a fire igniting in all of us. end, more than 75,000 people visited Stop being afraid, and continue to fuel AmericasWildlife.org, the draft vision Much of what we did is standard the fires of change that we need. received more than 10,000 comments, practice for large organizations.

10 • Refuge Update

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference Live From Madison, It’s … a New Era in Communications

By Kyla Hastie and Jason Holm Region biologists conference, we t’s an exciting time to be a U.S. Fish established a and Wildlife Service communicator. communications I The Service is trying to keep pace command with shifts in how people get information. structure focused We’re bringing in new talent and training on broadcasting our experienced communicators to the conference embrace new media so we can tell our live and getting conservation story in real time in new news out quickly ways. We’re modernizing Web sites and and accurately. leveraging communications capacity Then, for one across programs and regions. week in July, key communicators Until recently, though, some have and new-media Behind the scenes, the video-editing team was the nerve center of the perceived this paradigm shift as a experts from communications effort. With Puddles the Blue Goose, they are, from left, fad—as if Change were knocking on Jennifer Strickland, Megan Nagel, Cortney White, Chuck Traxler, Laura across the Service Whitehouse, Dorothy Amatucci, Tina Shaw, Joe Donahoe, Kayt Jonsson and the door, asking to come in. At the put aside their Keith Shannon. (Bob Danley/USFWS) Refuge System’s Conserving the Future day jobs and conference, Change kicked open the concentrated on covered workshops, youth delegates, door and declared its intention to stay. what could be. We witnessed the moment that modern Friends, efforts to green the conference, communications became integral to how Before we arrived in Madison, many plenary speakers, lecturers and more. the Service achieves its mission. of us had never met. After brief We distributed our content to the entire introductions, the teams set up a video social media capacity of the Service Like any groundbreaking change, it production war room, a public news desk and the National Wildlife Refuge started with a great idea. The Conserving with a team of mojos (mobile journalists) Association—an audience of 75,000 the Future planners wanted to produce and correspondents, social media stations people nationwide. Speeches delivered by two simultaneous conferences—one for and a live broadcast center at the the Secretary, Director and refuge chief those in Madison and a duplicate online Monona Terrace Center. Our experiment were made available on YouTube. for the thousands of staff, partners and had begun. others working across the country. Both Conference attendees took notice, versions would use new-media tools to Testing to the Max too. Two large screens flanking the engage participants. We’d never done The day before the conference—to plenary stage displayed the Twitter anything like this before. test the system and gauge how much feed—showcasing what people were coverage we realistically could produce— saying about the proceedings in real To turn this idea into action, Conserving we intentionally maxed out our news time. During Director Dan Ashe’s call the Future communications coordinator desk and video production operations. By to action speech, many in the audience Michael Gale knew he needed help. the opening session on Tuesday, July 12, tweeted their instant feedback; he Communications and outreach staff we were running on all cylinders. signed the Conserving the Future members from the Service regions, implementation charter live on an iPad. the Washington office and the National The result was better than any of us Wildlife Refuge Association were had expected. Four back-to-back social media stations named to serve on three teams: allowed attendees to tweet and write If you haven’t done so already, please Facebook posts about the goings-on virtualization, multimedia and video, and check out the archives at www. communications and engagement. The two and the Refuge System vision. Many AmericasWidlife.org/newswire and participants received conference alerts of us were recruited to integrate the work www.AmericasWildlife.org/live. We of these teams into a cohesive operation. via text message. Questions from offered nine hours of live programming the public for the Secretary came About 30 staff members spent months daily—the largest Service broadcast ever. from Twitter and text messages. The organizing, planning and securing More than 50 news reports, complete coolness factor was in full view when equipment. Using lessons learned from with videos and photos, were delivered online throughout the conference. They the 2010 Gulf oil spill and Northeast continued on pg 18

Refuge Update • 11

Focus . . .Conserving. Conserving the Future, the ConferenceConf e r e n c e An Opportunity for Friends to Share

By Colleen Hovinga Stone’s presentation, and the phenology, can be educational and reveal conference overall, reinforced the surprising data at the same time. For he Conserving the Future concept that Friends, supporters, example, plants at Thoreau’s Walden conference was a chance for landowners and refuge staff must work Pond near Great Meadows Refuge in T refuge Friends to learn, share cooperatively for mutual benefits if Massachusetts recently budded two successes and discuss conservation beyond-the-refuge-boundaries projects weeks earlier than they did when the issues. I attended as a Friend of Union are to be successful. Stone told us that author lived there in the 1840s. Slough National Wildlife Refuge in landscape-level conservation requires Iowa. My board asked me to seek landscape-level conversation. Furthermore, I learned how it’s possible guidance on how to regenerate our to use technology such as EarthCaching group’s momentum, collaborate and quick response (QR) codes to with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bring outdoor experiences to new staff to promote the mission of our audiences. My Friends group can refuge, and provide environmental utilize technologies that have been education to the public. tested by others as our group moves ahead with events and outreach. The conference helped me, and other Friends, do just that. I enjoyed “Wild Legacy,” the production in which five talented Even though my refuge is half a actors brought the sensation of the continent from an ocean, marine Alaska wilderness to us in simple, scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle left a creative ways while telling the story lasting impression. Even though of Olaus and Mardy Murie and my refuge is rural, I was fascinated their 1956 expedition that led to by the urban refuge concept. Even the creation of the Arctic National though the mountainous landscape Wildlife Refuge. And seeing the of the Blackfoot Challenge is documentary film “Green Fire,” nothing like the prairie terrain of about Aldo Leopold, made the my refuge, I appreciated Montana conference setting more meaningful. rancher Jim Stone’s insight. The vision document was called Earle spoke powerfully about a cornerstone, a capstone and oceans’ vital role in the life systems a touchstone. By any name, it that support us all. She noted that Texans Ed Barrios of Friends of Brazoria Wildlife Refuges will guide volunteer and career oceans produce more oxygen and and Leta Kay of Friends of Caddo Lake National Wildlife conservationists alike as we work to eliminate more carbon than trees Refuge take a break by the lake. (Neal McLain) protect, steward and share nature but are less protected. She told us in our communities. that, while people often ask her if she is afraid of man-eating sharks, over I wasn’t alone among Friends. Keith “It was an honor to be among so many time she has become more concerned Hackland of Friends of South Texas people who are not only conservation- about the pace of man eating sharks in Refuges said he gained a greater minded but also have the desire to a world where some people consider awareness of the Service as “an shape a vision that gives consideration shark-fin soup a delicacy. evolving organization.” to human interaction with nature,” said Laurie Peterka of Friends of the Mariana Discussions about possible new urban Pauline Chvilicek of Friends of Patuxent Trench Marine National Monument, who refuges helped me think creatively Research Refuge in Maryland was with her colleague Ike Cabrera traveled about connecting with people who in Madison “trying to find ways to more than 7,000 miles to be in Madison. can’t (or won’t) travel to Union Slough involve people” of all ages. The citizen Refuge itself. It was clear that urban science workshop about how refuge “We left full of hope and vision,” notions such as rooftop gardens, inner- volunteers can assist with observations, Cabrera said. city revitalizations, refuge children’s measurements and education was Colleen Hovinga is charter member museums and river “blueways” could particularly useful. We learned that have application in rural areas, too. of Friends of Union Slough National programs such as Project BudBurst, Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. in which participants help track

12 • Refuge Update

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference From Top Down, Youth Was Served

By Bill O’Brian major from pre- med to wildlife outh was a byword at the biology after the Conserving the Future conference, was Y conference. And the 18 youth blown away by delegates invited to Madison were the “celebrate treated to a handful of events just what’s right for them. with the world” They got serious face time with presentation by Dan Ashe just days after his Senate photographer confirmation as Director of the U.S. Dewitt Jones on Fish and Wildlife Service. They sat the final day. “Not down with national Service leaders at only was he a the Youth Challenge Project, also known great speaker,” she as the youth summit. They met one-on- says, “he took my one with Service employees in a speed- attention. He kept mentoring session. They helped rid a it. He gave hope.” local park of invasive species one day The speed- and had a youth social picnic at the same This photograph by 20-year-old Wisconsinite Evan Eifler won first place in the mentoring event— Youth Multimedia Contest. Eifler attended the conference as a youth delegate. park two days later. organized by The structured events were designed youth engagement to “force them to network and socialize team chair Mao Lin (of the Gulf of When asked how the Service could with the Service,” says Magdalena Maine Coastal Program) and Alaska do better by youth, Conserving the Tsiongas, a Conserving the Future Region youth, partnerships and grants Future fellow Tsiongas, herself a June fellow who helped coordinate the coordinator Kristen Gilbert—was a 2010 high school graduate and an young peoples’ activities. But “in the professional variation on speed dating. incoming freshman at UCLA, offers two hallways, when people came up to It took place in a hot, stuffy, dimly lit suggestions. hallway of the historic Orpheum Theatre. them, is what they enjoyed the most.” First, she says, “we should look to be During such encounters with Refuge And it had to be cut slightly short because of scheduling constraints. bringing more SCEP and STEP students System professionals, the youth could out to [routine professional] conferences learn about SCEP (Student Career Still, “the idea of speed mentoring is when we have them.” Experience Program), STEP (Student very cool,” says youth delegate Marco Temporary Employment Program) and Sanchez, a fisheries and wildlife major Second, she says, when young people are who does which job at what refuge. at Michigan State University. “It wasn’t invited to such gatherings, there should be an orientation session that introduces The highlights for youth delegate Nicole the best scenario. In two minutes, it’s really hard to build up even a tiny the youth to the Service, demystifies the Bradley were the youth summit and flurry of strange acronyms and identifies the meeting with Ashe. The summit relationship with the person who is mentoring you. It was good just to meet the mission, best practices and career “made me feel like I was actually doing pathways of the Refuge System. something to help, instead of just a bunch of different people. And, for me, listening,” Bradley says. The Service I might contact two or three of them in “If you just throw them in when they leaders “were so interested in hearing the future.” don’t know much about the Service,” she our ideas. The stuff that was so simple to “It was a great experience,” says mentor says, “that doesn’t work” as well as it us seemed kind of new to them.” Steve Agius, an operations specialist at could. Bradley knows that the hour-long Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge in audience with the Director was a rare Maine. “I interacted with the mentorees opportunity: “He’s really the one who can afterward throughout the whole actually put everything into action.” conference … I wish I had had that opportunity 10 years ago when I was And Bradley, an incoming freshman at doing contract work for the Service.” Iowa State University who changed her

Refuge Update • 13

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conf e r e n c e Conference Notebook Illustrators Draw Conclusions o the left of the verdant T stage at the Conserving the Future conference in Exhibit Hall A at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, next to one of the giant Twitter-feed monitors, Alece Birnbach and Jessica Townsend Teague used pastel, pencils This strategic illustration captures the first morning’s general session. It was done by an artist with Alchemy(www.link2alchemy. and markers to com), a company whose tag line is “The Art of Transforming Business.” translate the events, words and with enormous benefits—aesthetic, Second, refuge management decisions concepts of the gathering into art. ecological and for all of us—as city are increasingly based on the latest Of the 1,100 or so people in attendance, dwelling becomes the norm.” scientific information. Finally, refuge they were among the few who were not managers are finding it more necessary “Having grown up in rural Colorado,” to use technology. intimately familiar with the National said Birnbach, “I hadn’t given much Wildlife Refuge System beforehand. thought to how many people grow up Keenan Adams, deputy refuge manager And, in addition to drawing a dynamic in urban areas now and what a need at Pelican Island Refuge, FL, reminded visual record of the conference, they there is to reach that population with a the audience that the new generation came away with personal impressions of conservation message.” of refuge managers may come from an the Refuge System and its mission. urban background, and that current Birnbach, Teague and their backstage managers must be willing to reach “My biggest takeaway from the colleague, Vince Palko, produced seven conference was how passionate the out to diverse groups and find shared illustrations during the conference. conservation goals. Refuge System employees are about The drawings can be seen at http:// their work,” said Birnbach, who with AmericasWildlife.org/conference. Vicki Muller, a wildlife refuge specialist Teague is an affiliate of Alchemy, a at Aransas Refuge, TX, spoke of the Denver-based strategic illustration Refuge Manager of the Future importance of finding a good mentor to company. “Both young and older It was standing room only in the Refuge discuss experiences and provide advice. employees were all excited to talk about Manager of the Future workshop, “Look for those people throughout their jobs and genuinely love what they where five panelists shared heartfelt your career who model the traits and do. Outside of the arts, this is the first experiences. characteristics that you desire to have,” time I’ve come across a group of people she said. who love and believe in their life’s work The panel was moderated by Larry so much.” Williams, chief of the Refuge System’s Shaun Sanchez, a refuge manager at Division of Budget, Performance and Desert Refuge Complex, NV, stressed The most surprising aspect of the Workforce, who spoke of three elements the importance of developing future conference, Teague said, was that the of change. First, the demographics of leaders. He suggested each manager Refuge System is creating an urban refuge managers, currently 87 percent should ask himself or herself: “What wildlife refuge initiative, “a great idea white and 75 percent male, are changing. am I doing to ensure that there are

14 • Refuge Update

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference refuge managers in the future?” He free-standing, also encouraged managers to consider three-sided, hinged ways to help visitors see national wildlife display was not refuges from the inside, not just from chalkboard per se, outside fences and boundary signs, and but wood covered to empower the public to feel ownership with chalkboard of their local refuges. paint. It was built by Madison retiree Don Hultman, a retired refuge manager, John Belknap, a had even more fundamental advice. former economics “Love the people who come to refuges professor who has and waterfowl production areas,” he said, volunteered at “and they will learn to love the resource.” numerous refuges To see summaries of some conference and national parks. Material costs workshops and facilitated discussions The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge mobile visitor go to http://AmericasWildlife.org/ were roughly $250. center traveled 2,200 miles round trip to be in Madison, where hundreds of conference/ and look under “Learn” and conference attendees checked it out. (Patrick Comins/Friends of Silvio O. It was a fun and Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge) “Discuss.”—Laura Bonneau effective diversion. Low-Tech Messaging The playful smile Just steps away from the social media on the face of Friend Kathy Woodward— Along the way, said refuge visitor service computer stations where conference as she wrote “I ♥ Great Swamp NWR” specialist David Sagan, the trailers “got participants could tweet, blog or share on the chalkboard—would attest to a reaction at every toll booth we went information on Facebook was a simple, that. As would the enthusiasm of the through and every time we stopped for low-tech, low-cost communication anonymous person who wrote: “It’s an gas. People loved it and were asking all device that one could imagine in any honor to be a part of this vision process.” sorts of questions about it … I think it’s visitor center in the Refuge System: a great way for the refuge to spread its Have Refuge, Will Travel message.” a chalkboard on which to write pithy One of the biggest non-human hits at conservation thoughts and messages. the conference was the Silvio O. Conte Silvio O. Conte Refuge partnered with Vision process communications National Fish and Wildlife Refuge the Vermont Institute of Natural Science coordinator Michael Gale had seen a mobile visitor center, also known as the (VINS) to create the innovative traveling similar chalkboard at a previous event, Watershed on Wheels (WOW) Express. education trailer. It debuted in the fall of liked it and, as “the idea of personal 2010 and is designed to inform the public The mobile visitor center is composed about the Connecticut River watershed. expression became important,” of two trailers. A 28-footer is painted suggested it for the conference. The with vibrant nature scenes and is home “I’ve been an environmental educator to a walkthrough for six years, and over the past four exhibit that months that I have been working with mimics the the WOW Express I have reached more sights, sounds people than in my entire career,” said and even smells VINS staff member Chris Poulin as he of the refuge. A gave tours of the trailer to conference 16-footer carries attendees in Madison. The mobile visitor eight portable center has reached about 8,000 people in exhibits that 35 communities in the Connecticut River include games Valley in that time, he said. and an interactive To see two videos about the mobile watershed table. visitor center, go to the video archive at The entire http://AmericasWildlife.org/live/. ensemble made the 2,200-mile, 50-hour round- trip drive from its Amid the tweeting, Facebooking and live-streaming videos, the hallway home base in New chalkboard was a low-tech way to express oneself in Madison. (Nick England. Zukauskas/USFWS)

Refuge Update • 15

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conf e r e n c e “Quote … Unquote”

ver the course of the July 11- U.S. Fish and 14 Conserving the Future: Wildlife Service OWildlife Refuges and the Next Director Dan Generation conference, speakers of all Ashe: “The vision ages, shapes, sizes and perspectives we are writing speaking in a variety of forums made here will be just inspiring, important and memorable words on paper remarks. What follows is a sampling unless you step of them. up when it’s your turn. There Primatologist and anthropologist are many more Jane Goodall in a taped message: “It recommendations would be absolutely useless for any in our vision for of us to work to save wildlife without conserving the working to educate the next generation future. I expect of conservationists.” action on all of Author and historian Doug Brinkley: them—prioritized Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar addresses the general session on the “If I tell my regular buddies where I action. I expect final day of theConserving the Future conference. (Tami Heilemann/DOI) grew up in Ohio that I want to save the progress reports whooping crane, they laugh at me. If I and the continued Greg Siekaniec: “In conservation show them whooping cranes and how engagement and leadership of the entire science, as in so much of our vision, we majestic they are, they say, ‘We’ve got Service Directorate. I expect every will not succeed alone. We intend to be to save them.’ ” Service employee to take personal both strong leaders and strong partners.” responsibility. To be successful, we will Jim Stone, rancher and board need the continued support of our state Service science advisor Gabriela chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge fish and wildlife agency colleagues. Our Chavarria on the importance of in Montana: “You cannot have conservation partners’ support will be sound science to the Refuge System: landscape conservation without critical, as it always has been. And we “Our level of scientific accountability landscape conversation … The political need our Friends groups, now more must be higher in these times system works very well when we tell our than ever.” of increased expectations … All story … You better have everyone at the employees, not just biologists, must be table, or you’re going to get burned.” Mountain-Prairie Region refuge chief well-versed in science.” Rick Coleman on critical thinking: Step back from the day-to-day, “let go of Deborah Rocque, deputy chief, the crank of work, Refuge System Division of Natural put your head Resources and Conservation up, look around Planning, on the vision document: and think—about “It’s ambitious, it’s inspirational and, what you’re doing more important, it’s doable.” and where you’re Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar going.” on the need to persist in these tight Then-Refuge budgetary times: “If we let this time System chief pass us by, if we let the conservation Greg Siekaniec: legacy of this country be buried, so “We must tell our goes conservation in other countries of stories with the the world.” heart of a poet Association of Fish and Wildlife and the facts of Agencies’ John Kennedy: “It’s a scientist as we important to recognize that … hunter- engage Americans and angler-based funding supports all in the stewardship conservation, all fish and wildlife, game Speaker Juan Martinez of south-central Los Angeles relaxes on a terrace of our land.” overlooking Lake Monona in Madison. (Nick Zukauskas/USFWS) and non-game species, on refuges.”

16 • Refuge Update

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference

National Wildlife Refuge Association president Evan Hirshe: “The Gray Goose Battalion”— baby boom retirees—“has the potential to be the mother lode of all volunteers.” Juan Martinez, who grew up among gangs in south-central Los Angeles, on his first wildlife experience at a camp in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming: “There was only one species I Then-Refuge System chief Greg Siekaniec chats onstage with four members of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center class, didn’t see there: the including fourth-grader Alesha Ouren, who is holding the microphone. (Nick Zukauskas/USFWS) ghetto bird [a police helicopter].” Former Service Director Lynn Tweet from Pacific Southwest Region Then-Refuge System deputy chief Jim Greenwalt on the passion of the visitor services planner D.C. Carr Kurth: “When it comes to leadership, Refuge System: “I am convinced while Majora Carter was explaining the little things are the big things … It there is no Fish and Wildlife Service how rooftop gardens in the South takes courage to share, and leadership is employee who does not enjoy their job Bronx attract birds: “Urban refuges? about giving.” … I wish I could go on this journey Imagine a partnership-based NWR U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen on with you.” entirely on the roofs of urban buildings.” dealing with both climate change and National Geographic photographer Marine scientist Sylvia Earle: The the social/news media revolution: Dewitt Jones: “Great visions release Refuge System “is like the ocean. Even “We can suffer, we can manage, or we passion … You have to move from though there are people who haven’t can adapt.” imagination to ‘imagin-action’ … touched the ocean, the ocean touches Thad Allen: “The more different Nature shows us that there is more them all the time. And the same is true viewpoints you can bring to bear on a than one right answer … We must learn with the Refuge System.” problem, the more robust your solution to ride the waves of change, not shrink from them.” Alesha Ouren, a fourth-grader at the is going to be and the broader base of Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, on support you will have.” Eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter: what she’d tell her classmates who Thad Allen: “Nobody can take our My work is to “green to the ghetto … are exploring nature and the outdoors integrity and values away, but we can give Policy follows projects, not the other for the first time: “I’d say, ‘Look closer. them away.” way around, when you really want to do You’ll see more than meets the eye.’ ” something … I believe you don’t have to Desert National Wildlife Refuge move out of your neighborhood to live in For more information about the Complex manager Shaun Sanchez: “I a better one.” speeches, lectures, workshops and want people to experience refuges from facilitated discussions at the conference, the inside. To feel the refuge, to taste it, go to http://AmericasWildlife.org/. to smell it.”

Refuge Update • 17

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference Moving Quickly From Vision to Implementation — continued from page 1 of Fulfilling the Promise,the Refuge ideas, call for vision document refinements System’s previous guiding vision. and learn new ways to achieve conservation goals. A vibrant news desk Fast-track implementation was a produced stories, video interviews and consequence of the passion for progress a noontime newscast beamed across the evident during the four-day conference, country on www.AmericasWildlife.org. which drew about 1,100 participants. Cutting-edge technology was everywhere, Attendees and an online audience heard from the iPad that Ashe used to sign the from an array of speakers, including Conserving the Future implementation Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; charter to the two large screens that oceanographer Sylvia Earle; renowned flashed Twitter feeds during the general chimpanzee scientist Jane Goodall via sessions. Hundreds of people who had taped message; and eco-entrepreneur never blogged or tweeted used work Majora Carter, who founded Sustainable stations, staffed by youthful volunteers, to South Bronx. try their hand at new social media. Perhaps no one summarized the Now the Work Begins conference’s conservation passion better Overall implementation of the vision than historian and author Douglas will be the work of the Executive Brinkley, who said: “If I wasn’t a Implementation Council—chaired by the professor, I would want to be like you Refuge System chief and supported by Volunteer Danny Williams from Operation Fresh because of the integrity of the Fish and the Refuge System Leadership Team and Start, a Madison nonprofit organization, helps Wildlife Service. You undertake this as a a full-time council coordinator. Service Director Dan Ashe tweet at a social media spiritual mission.” station. (USFWS) Ashe mandated that a refined final vision Brinkley cited the importance of refuge document—which contains 24 specific how many new projects we can take on Friends groups, urging them and recommendations—be published by and how to select them.” refuge staff members to cultivate local National Wildlife Refuge Week in mid- journalists in the cause of conservation. October. The charter he signed calls for Calling the urban wildlife refuge “Call them up. Feed them stories. Invite development of an overall implementation initiative “exciting and innovative,” he them to photograph a sunset. Get your strategy within 90 days of the document’s said, “There are many important wildlife news on the Internet,” he said. Brinkley publication and for the vision to be largely and habitat management challenges in recalled that CBS News anchor Walter implemented within five years. The our vision for conserving the future. We Cronkite—whom polls found to be the executive council expects that strategy to will not succeed in these endeavors most trusted man in America in the include six implementation teams beyond unless we have strong support from a 1960-’70s—became a conservationist after the three established by Ashe. connected conservation constituency. covering the first Earth Day. People must be a key component in our In chartering the strategic growth team, conservation strategy.” The conference pulsated with excitement. Ashe said: “We need a rapid, top-to- Scores of workshops, facilitated bottom review of current land acquisition discussions and lectures offered projects. We need clear priorities and participants opportunities to exchange biological objectives in order to decide

Live From Madison, It’s … a New Era in Communications — continued from page 11 the Stepping Up to Leadership class together. Our team learned what Change is here—and it is us. at NCTC texted the Director from 800 the full capacity of the Service’s miles away to ask “what you see as the communications effort could look like, Kyla Hastie and Jason Holm are role of field personnel in LCCs.” if concentrated for a brief time. The Service assistant regional directors for conference helped the Service and the external affairs in the Northeast Region Our team learned what is possible when Refuge System pave a new way to tell and the Midwest Region, respectively. skilled communications professionals our story and to be more relevant to the from all regions and programs come American public.

18 • Refuge Update

Focus . . . Conserving the Future, the Conference Two Implementation Teams Selected

he charters have been signed and a framework and individuals have been named for an urban wildlife T for two of three Conserving refuge program. the Future implementation teams that Its members are: Director Dan Ashe mandated to be Cynthia Martinez, completed by the end of August. co-chair, chief of Division of Visitor The charter of the strategic habitat Services and growth team is to develop a plan, policies Communication, and support tools to guide strategic Washington growth of the National Wildlife Refuge office; Scott System in a landscape context. Its Kahan, co-chair, members are: Jeff Rupert, co-chair, regional refuge chief of Division of Natural Resources chief, Northeast and Conservation Planning, Washington Region; Kim Then-Refuge System Chief Greg Siekaniec holds the iPad on which Service office; Eric Alvarez, co-chair chief of Strassburg, visitor Director Dan Ashe signed the Conserving the Future implementation charter Division of Realty, Washington office; services manager, moments earlier. The charter is available at http://AmericasWildlife.org/ vision/. (Nick Zukauskas/USFWS) Rick Schultz, co-chair, regional refuge Pacific Region; Ken chief, Midwest Region; Jonathan Garrahan, regional Bloomfield, realty specialist, Pacific visitor services chief, office; Brad Bortner, chief of Division of Region; Kelly McDowell, project leader, Southwest Region; Charlie Blair, project Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs, Southwest Region; Stacy Salvevold, leader, Midwest Region; Sharon Fuller, Washington office. private lands biologist, Midwest Region; regional outreach specialist, Southeast James Burnett, project leader, Southeast Region; Sharon Marino, project leader, As Refuge Update went to press in late Region; Joseph McCauley, regional realty Northeast Region; Lorrie Beck, visitor August, the third implementation team chief, Northeast Region; Will Meeks, services specialist, Mountain-Prairie specified by Ashe, the Leadership project leader, Mountain-Prairie Region; Region; Kenton Moos, project leader, Development Council, was to be named Rob Campellone, Branch of Conservation Alaska Region; Chantel Jimenez, soon. Six other implementation teams Planning, Washington office; Bill Uihlein, environmental education specialist, were being formed in September to assistant regional director for science, Pacific Southwest Region; Mendel address the vision’s remaining Southeast Region. Stewart, project leader, Pacific Southwest recommendations. The charter of the urban wildlife refuge Region; Steve Suder, Refuge System initiative team is to develop standards transportation coordinator, Washington

Ashe Named 16th Director of Service — continued from page 2

the effects of a changing climate. That advisor to the Director from 2003 to 2009. wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries in plan outlined interagency cooperative From 1998 to 2003, he was chief of the the Southeast, where he learned to band efforts across landscapes as the most National Wildlife Refuge System. From birds, fish, hunt and enjoy the outdoors. effective way to help fish and wildlife 1995 to 1998, he was the Service assistant populations adapt to rapidly changing director for external affairs. “My dad was a respected leader in the environmental conditions. Service, and, to use an old phrase, he Before joining the Service, Ashe was ‘saved a lot of dirt’ during his career,” Ashe also been a leader in the a member of the professional staff of Ashe told the Conserving the Future development of landscape conservation the former Committee on Merchant conference audience. “Ding Darling in cooperatives (LCCs), which are intended Marine and Fisheries in the House of Florida and Sevilleta in New Mexico— to leverage resources and strategically Representatives from 1982 until 1995. two of my favorite refuges—are protected target science to inform conservation today because of his vision, energy and decisions and actions. Ashe was born and spent his childhood courage. I am proud of the Refuge in Atlanta, where his father began his System I knew as a boy, the System that Ashe, who had been Service deputy 37-year career with the Service. Much my father helped build, and I am proud of director since 2009, served as the science of Ashe’s youth was spent on national the one that I have helped to lead.” Refuge Update • 19 Around the Refuge System

Three New Regional Refuge Chiefs The Alaska, Northeast and Southwest Regions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have named new regional refuge chiefs. Mitch Ellis, a 25-year Service veteran, was selected in April as chief in Alaska to replace Todd Logan, who retired. Ellis has managed refuges in three regions and five states, worked in wildlife resources management in the Washington office, and was the first chief of Refuge System law enforcement. He has diverse experience with a variety of issues, including endangered species management, water issues, fire management, wilderness stewardship and working with state agencies. Most recently, he was refuge manager at the Southwest Arizona National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved the purchase of waterfowl habitat at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, TX. (Michael Lange/USFWS) Scott Kahan, a 21-year Refuge System veteran who was project leader at Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District Migratory Bird Habitat A team that included marine reptile in Minnesota, was selected in June as Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar expert Patrick Druckenmiller, CMR refuge chief in the Northeast Region. announced in June that the Migratory range technician Dan Harrell, other He succeeds Tony Leger, who retired. In Bird Conservation Commission approved Service employees and the family addition to eight years at Detroit Lakes more than $3 million from the Migratory of David Bradt, a bow hunter who WMD, Kahan has worked in North Bird Conservation Fund to protect discovered the fossilized bones of the Dakota at Devils Lake WMD Complex an estimated 1,600 acres of waterfowl prehistoric sea creature last year, and at Tewaukon Refuge. Kahan, who is habitat on three national wildlife refuges: trekked into the site in July to excavate from Massachusetts, began his Service Nestucca Bay Refuge, OR; San Bernard the find. Working in cramped conditions career in the Northeast Region at Refuge, TX; and Canaan Valley Refuge, and 90-degree heat, the team was to able Ninigret Refuge, RI. WV. The commission also approved $23.5 remove the specimen. Druckenmiller, million in federal funding for grants a curator at the University of Alaska Aaron Archibeque was named in August to conserve more than 139,000 acres Museum, is studying it now, but it will to be chief in the Southwest Region, of wetlands and associated habitats in remain in the permanent custody of the where he replaces Chris Pease, now with Canada through the North American U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and will the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA). be made available for public display and Task Force. Archibeque, a native New education or for further scientific study. Mexican who had been regional refuge Montana supervisor for Texas and Oklahoma A remarkable fossil found encased in An elasmosaur is a long-necked since 2003, has worked in the Refuge shale last fall in a remote portion of plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs were a common System for 28 years. He served as refuge Charles M. Russell (CMR) National group of marine reptiles in the Western manager at the 4.7-million-acre Togiak Wildlife Refuge is likely a juvenile Interior Seaway of North America, a Refuge in Alaska from 1991-2003; before elasmosaur, or perhaps a species entirely 1,000-mile-wide sea that extended north that, he worked at six refuges in the new to science, initial examination by a to south from the Arctic to the Gulf of Southwest Region. world-renowned paleontologist indicates. Mexico 74 million years ago. Marine reptiles are not considered dinosaurs.

20 • Refuge Update While dinosaurs dominated the land, Wisconsin Pennsylvania marine reptiles thrived in the oceans. Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is Numerous scattered triceratops and collaborating with Dairyland Power tyrannosaurus rex fossils have been found Cooperative to help provide renewable on the 1.1-million-acre refuge along the energy to local homes and businesses Missouri River in the north-central part of through a solar project at the refuge’s the state, but an intact plesiosaur is rare. visitor center. The new visitor center, California whose grand opening took place in May, is a state-of-the-art, energy- What was once Skaggs Island Naval efficient facility. It includes a 46-kilowatt Station is now part of San Pablo Bay photovoltaic solar energy system that Refuge. The formal transfer of the was funded through the American 3,000-acre island from the Navy to the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was refuge has an agreement with Dairyland marked by a ceremony in late June. to sell all renewable energy produced The station, which was a secretive base through the solar installation for that performed communications and distribution to cooperative members, intelligence-gathering functions for the which include homes and businesses. The Navy and other federal intelligence refuge is a member of Oakdale Electric This turkey sculpture, crafted from spare organizations for more than 50 years, Cooperative, a subsidiary of Dairyland lawnmower parts, won a prize in a Trash was closed in 1993. Over the past year- that provided electrical transmission to Treasure contest at Erie National and-a-half, buildings that formerly Wildlife Refuge, PA. Participants made infrastructure for the project. housed about 300 military members and artistic or useful items out of materials that otherwise would be thrown away. The contest their families were torn down to restore Texas highlighted the green theme of the annual the land. Refuge manager Don Brubaker In keeping with its efforts to go green, Summer Fest, which attracted 266 people to says the island could be open soon for Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge the refuge on a rainy day in June. (USFWS) such things as bird-watching tours. recently put into service an electric- Midway Atoll powered, golf cart-size vehicle dedicated primarily to monitoring the 33 bluebird Without Borders Multinational Species Biologists at Midway Atoll National nest boxes along its Harris Creek Trail. Conservation Funds. Only the fourth of Wildlife Refuge have banded the first The vehicle, tentatively named the its kind, the “semipostal stamp” will be confirmed short-tailed albatross chick Bluebird Buggy, is easy to operate, able available in the nation’s 37,000 post ever hatched outside of Japan. In June, to climb reasonable grades, simple to offices on September 21. It is scheduled the chick, then five months old, received charge and can navigate narrow trails to remain on sale for at least two years. a permanent metal band on its right leg that are inaccessible to larger vehicles. A semipostal stamp is a U.S. Postal and a red-and-white one coded “AA00” “It’s also quiet,” says Hagerman Refuge Service stamp issued to raise money for on its left. The bird has since fledged, administrative officer Gayle Ellis. “It a particular purpose and is sold at a and the bands will help biologists track doesn’t bother the wildlife at all.” Made premium over the postal value. The the rare and endangered seabird to learn by E-Z-GO Company, the vehicle cost three previous stamps benefitted where it will go to nest. Most albatross $7,700 through a General Services campaigns related to breast cancer, 9/11 return to the island where they were Administration contract, according to and domestic violence. Del. Gregorio hatched. The chick hatched at Midway Ellis. It will be particularly useful in the Sablan—the House of Representatives in January—and then survived several dead of summer, she says, because “some member from the Northern Mariana storms and the March 11 Japanese of the trails are just too long to walk in Islands territory, which includes tsunami. Short-tailed albatrosses had the heat.” Marianas Trench Marine National previously reproduced only at two islands Monument in the Pacific—this summer, off Japan. Feather hunting pushed the Conservation Stamp coincidentally, introduced a bill to species to near-extinction by the early The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a provide for the issuance of a National 20th century. special stamp to benefit elephants, Wildlife Refuge System semipostal rhinoceros, tigers, great apes and marine stamp in the future. turtles under the Service’s Wildlife

Refuge Update • 21 “We Saw a Snake, and It Was Cool”

By Nancy C. Brown his summer, for the third time in as many years, Wichita T Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma led 60 fifth- and sixth-graders from economically disadvantaged schools on a weeklong outdoors adventure known as Nature Quest. “A lot of these kids have never slept outside overnight, much less heard a coyote,” says Quinton Smith, a park ranger at the refuge. “You basically spend Monday and Tuesday building trust, so they are ready for the campout.” But by week’s end, the students—30 boys and 30 girls randomly selected from Title I (low-income) schools—had hiked for miles on the refuge known for its Fifth- and sixth-graders from low-income schools hike along a rocky trail as part of their weeklong scrub oak forest, rocky mountains and Nature Quest experience at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. (USFWS) grassy prairie; had seen American bison and collared lizards in the wild; had tried their luck with a cane fishing pole; and his determination and the self-fulfillment conducted classes promoting healthy had used binoculars to identify canyon was really amazing.” lifestyles. Help also came from the wrens and other birds among the 240 public school system in nearby Lawton, avian species that thrive on the refuge. On Thursday, the children learned to fish OK, and a local Job Corps Center and practiced archery skills during the that donated and prepared meals. The Here’s how it worked. day and at night had typical outdoors Friends of the Wichitas volunteered and fun—camp fires, s’mores, storytelling provided food for all participants. The children were divided into six groups and even occasional hikes. of 10. Each group was paired with two Wichita Mountains Refuge staff members teachers and two high school students “Different kids enjoy different strongly believe in Nature Quest, Smith who served as mentors. On the first two programs,” says Smith. Take the birding says, “because we know some of these days, the children—many of whom had program. “Some moved on, but others kids come from really challenging no experience with camping or nature— you’d see following the biologist around circumstances” and connecting with toured the refuge and learned about all week with a bird book in hand.” nature can make a difference. wildlife conservation, leaving no trace, healthy lifestyles and safety. The idea Smith attributes much of Nature Quest’s “My favorite part was making friends was to create bonds among all involved. success to the teachers and mentors, who and probably the three-mile hike and receive one day of training beforehand. night hikes” says fifth-grader Hunter On Wednesday, the children hiked nearly “Having teachers and mentors lead the Anderson, a first-time participant. “We three miles to a campground, where saw a snake, and it was cool.” they pitched tents that would be their groups makes the difference. Teachers homes for the next two nights. The hike know how to work with children, and “We saw a turtle that had just laid her presented opportunities for education the kids can relate to the mentors,” eggs,” she adds. “They were white with and interpretation, but it also instilled in says Smith. An added benefit is that brown spots, kind of brown things. I had the youngsters a sense of achievement. the teachers and mentors “love this never seen turtle eggs in my real life.” program, and they take what they’ve Smith recalls one Nature Quest child learned back to their classrooms, who finished the hike 90 minutes behind families and friends.” Nancy C. Brown is a Service public the others. outreach specialist for Oklahoma Smith says partners play a vital role and Texas. Refuges interested in “He was short and chubby. He had in the success of Nature Quest, which, information about starting their own new shoes that hurt his feet, so he’d in addition to wildlife conservation, Nature Quest program may contact stop and take them off while everyone focuses on hiking as a way for kids to [email protected] at Wichita else moved on,” says Smith. “He never stay physically active. One partner, Mountains Wildlife Refuge. complained and never quit trying. Seeing Southwest Oklahoma Fit Kids Coalition,

22 • Refuge Update Digital Signs Go Up at “Ding” Darling Refuge

By Lindsay Downey other Nature’s gone digital. J.N. “Ding” Darling National MWildlife Refuge in Florida made virtual history in late June when it unveiled iNature Trail, an interactive, quick response code system along Wildlife Drive. The Sanibel Island sanctuary is the first of the 553 national wildlife refuges to use QR codes. It is believed to be the first QR wildlife trail in the nation. QR codes are small barcodes that can be scanned by smartphones to pull up Web sites, videos and other information. QR codes also are known as hardlinks, or physical-world hyperlinks. As the refuge’s approximately 800,000 annual visitors travel a quiet, four-mile stretch along Wildlife Drive, they now A visitor prepares her smartphone to scan quick response (QR) codes along the iNature Trail at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. (Chelle Koster Walton) can watch videos about everything from the characteristics of the roseate spoonbill to the types of mangroves that from Elon University, developed the shoot one- to three-minute videos with dot the 6,400-acre refuge—all with just a interactive trail. Bredahl grew up on refuge staff. He spent about a month few clicks of their smartphones. Sanibel Island and is nephew of “Ding” developing the QR codes, and said they Darling Wildlife Society’s executive enable visitors to customize their nature iNature Trail features 10 signs, each with director, Birgie Vertesch. He approached tours to learn more about the refuge. two QR codes—one that pulls up videos the refuge about creating a QR system and educational Web sites for adults, and for his graduate school project. “It’s a way to offer a very multimedia- another that is tailored to children. rich experience without having to build any high-tech stations that take away “We used to say, ‘Turn your phones off from the natural setting,” said Bredahl, and enjoy the outdoors,’ but that message “We used to say, ‘Turn an intern with SCVNGR, a mobile doesn’t resonate anymore,” “Ding” applications company in Cambridge, Darling Refuge manager Paul Tritaik your phones off and MA. “This is like having a guide at your said, noting the QR system is an effort to enjoy the outdoors,’ but disposal—a pocket tour guide.” bring younger generations outdoors. “If that message doesn’t they’re going to be on their smartphones Lindsay Downey is a freelance writer anyway, we might as well have them use resonate anymore.” in Florida. This article originally them in a way that’s beneficial.” appeared in the Fort Myers News-Press on June 25, 2011. Developed in Japan in 1994, QR codes “I was walking around one of the trails are becoming more popular in the at Ding Darling, and I saw they already United States. Several southwest had signs labeling some of the plants. Florida real estate firms and other I thought, ‘What if we could throw QR companies use them to list property and codes on that?’ ” he said. other information. A March 2011 survey The society spent about $1,100 in private by Baltimore marketing firm MGH donations to create the system. It should found about 65 percent of smartphone save resources and money because the users have seen a QR code, and 50 refuge won’t have to print as many percent have scanned one. brochures, Vertesch said. Lars Bredahl, 24, who recently received Bredahl worked with Sanibel Island his master’s degree in interactive media videographer Ann Peay Potter to

Refuge Update • 23 Nine Employees Honored

hree National Wildlife Refuge System field staffers and six law T enforcement officers have been cited this year for exemplary work. Legends Award Jennifer Jewett, education and outreach coordinator at Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, ND, was named the Legends Award recipient. She was recognized for her innovative programs to inspire and educate youth and for developing community partners. She oversaw two AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps crews that completed major improvement projects, including renovating an accessible nature trail, removing hazardous trees at a dangerous intersection, prepping and assisting with prescribed fires, and organizing events such as Christmas Jennifer Jewett, Legends Award recipient, hiking with her son Tommy at Des Lacs National Wildlife bird counts and an endangered species Refuge in North Dakota. day at a North Dakota zoo. The Legends Award is presented the natural resources of the Greater night patrols to curb illegal drug and annually by the American Recreation Yellowstone Ecosystem by using the alcohol use on the refuge. Her resolve in Coalition, in partnership with the U.S. refuge as a living field lab. tracing an elk poaching case in a closed Fish and Wildlife Service and other portion of the refuge led to a federal federal land management agencies. Regional Law Enforcement Awards court conviction. Beacon Award Isaac Bedingfield, Alaska Region, based at Kodiak Refuge. He patrols the Carl Lantz, Midwest Region, based Pamela Steinhaus, visitor services refuge and nearby islands and marine at Crab Orchard Refuge, IL. While manager at Upper Mississippi River waters by boat and air. His piloting skills on detail, he helped southern Indiana National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, give him all-season access to remote refuges enforce hunting laws. At Patoka Savanna, IL, District, and Lori Iverson, areas where people don’t expect a law River Refuge and Wildlife Management supervisory recreation planner at enforcement presence. He is also a Area, he determined that a group of National Elk Refuge, WY, were chosen Service firearms instructor. hunters had exceeded the duck-hunting as Beacon Award winners by the limit. Two hunters confessed and paid American Recreation Coalition. Shelby Finney, Southwest Region, based fines totaling $1,800. at Salt Plains Refuge, OK. He helped The Beacon Award is given annually the Bureau of Indian Affairs fight crime Bryant Marcial, Southeast Region, to federal land management agency on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, based at Caribbean Islands Refuge employees who stand out in the field of NM, as part of Operation Alliance. As a Complex, PR. He helped convict animal information and technology. member of the Service Honor Guard, he traffickers for selling endangered sea Steinhaus was recognized for her helped dedicate a Pennsylvania memorial turtle eggs and meat, a violation of the work integrating technology into her to passengers of Flight 93 killed by Endangered Species Act, and he also environmental strategy, which includes terrorists on September 11, 2001. In conducted stakeouts to confirm violations the use of free wi-fi service to refuge 2009 he rescued four women and an of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. visitors and the installation of wildlife infant from flash floods, while piloting an Gareth Williams, Northeast Region, viewing cams throughout the southern airboat for county sheriff departments. based at Potomac River Refuge portion of the refuge. Deb Goeb, Mountain-Prairie Region, Complex, VA. He saved a life by Iverson was recognized for her based at Charles M. Russell Refuge, investigating a matter that other integration of technology into a program MT. She is the lead firearm instructor agencies initially had set aside because titled “Journals and JPGs—Seasons in an eight-state area and evaluates no missing persons report had been on the Refuge” and using digital officers’ performance in the Service’s filed. photography to stimulate interest in field training program. She established 24 • Refuge Update The Power of Planning in the CCP Process

By Thomas Larson hat will your national wildlife refuge look like in 15 years? W When a new refuge manager arrives, how does he or she know where to begin in managing the refuge? How is the public to know the long-range plans for the refuge? Where can someone find how a refuge has been managed in the past and the goals for the future? These are the types of questions answered through planning efforts conducted by refuge field staff and regional refuge conservation planning staffs. Historically, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service planning efforts have ebbed Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Alaska is among those refuges whose Comprehensive and flowed over time with increases Conservation Plan (CCP) has been completed in time for next year’s deadline. (Brett Billings/USFWS) and decreases of funding and staffing. However, the Service has long recognized the need for planning. development of a Refuge Manual and involvement in Refuge System planning chapter; Service handbooks activities as well as clear, science- The 1957 Service Field Manual’s section such as the Preplanning Guidance for based management direction and on planning stated: “It should be clear Comprehensive Conservation Plans vision consistent with Service goals for that planning in the field of refuge and Writing Refuge Management Goals improving, expanding or maintaining management is a continuous process.” and Objectives; and a CCP development wildlife and habitat conditions, The May 1995 National Planning Needs course at the National Conservation and providing for enhanced visitor Assessment noted the need to “maintain Training Center. experiences. ‘steady state’ planning capabilities rather than relying on boom and bust Deadline Looms “CCPs let us look at the future, the staffing patterns to realize longer term- Because the 1997 act mandated that management and the accomplishments but-realistic schedules for accomplishing the Service complete by 2012 CCPs of the refuge with our partners and the plans. Planning efforts are ongoing and for all 554 refuges and wetland public” in a comprehensive context, long-term in nature.” management districts then in existence, says Paul Steblein, a former refuge regional planners and field staff have manager who is now a Refuge System Refuge planning was revitalized in 1997 been scrambling to meet deadline. critical issues analyst. CCPs enable when Congress passed the National Completion of the plans has a been a refuges to work through complex, often Wildlife Refuge System Improvement joint effort involving staff from the controversial wildlife and habitat issues Act, amending the National Wildlife Refuge System, Fisheries, Migratory with input of the local community in a Refuge System Administration Act Birds, Ecological Services, states and way that clarifies refuge management of 1966. tribes as well as the public. As of June policy and objectives. They serve as 2011, 406 units had completed CCPs, 397 authoritative guideposts for the Refuge In addition to giving the Refuge of them required by the 1997 act. CCPs System and the public. System a solid mission statement, were underway for an additional 133 the 1997 act, in Section 7, established units; 24 required CCPs had yet to be And the first round is just the beginning. the Refuge Conservation Planning started. The delays are a result of staff The next round of CCPs will include Program and mandated that a shortages, turnover, funding shortfalls more green-infrastructure planning and Comprehensive Conservation Plan and the need to address time-consuming coordinated efforts with Landscape (CCP) be prepared for every refuge contentious issues. Conservation Cooperatives. within 15 years. The Service embraced the act, initiating a refuge planning Nonetheless, the Service is enjoying the Thomas Larson is chief of the Midwest effort unlike anything else in the history fruits of the first round of completed Region’s Division of Conservation of the agency. Planning capability CCPs at refuges nationwide. Local Planning. was greatly expanded, guided by and regional planning efforts have provisions in the 1997 act, with the resulted in more public awareness of

Refuge Update • 25 In Pursuit of Prairie

By Paul Charland s I rolled north out of Cassoday in southeastern Kansas, Aeverything came together. I was on my Buell Ulysses motorcycle, the weather was perfect, and I was seeing the prairie as open and expansive as it exists today. Mile upon seemingly endless mile of open grasslands; the only trees visible in a few draws; butterfly milkweed blooming everywhere. These were the Flint Hills as I expected them to be. I was so excited I had to fight the urge to roll on the throttle. I wanted to see more. I wanted to test the limits of the horizon. Unfortunately, I knew that the prairie had limits. That’s why I was there. Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota, the author writes, is “the quintessential prairie pothole landscape.” (Paul Charland/USFWS) As a Service employee and a birder, I am consistently reminded of the loss of grasslands and their birds. Just read The quality prairie on a landscape scale taxa. It was about ecosystems. I wanted State of the Birds 2011 report: “More is inspiring. The Sand Hills, too, are to see and know that there still exist than 97 percent of the native grasslands hope-affirming in their magnitude and places where they all work together. I of the U.S. have been lost, mostly quality. From the top of the fire tower wanted to be immersed in functional because of conversion to agriculture. As at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge grassland ecosystems, because without a result, grassland bird populations have in north-central Nebraska, the prairie functional ecosystems the populations, declined from historic levels far more did in fact seem limitless. That was why the individuals and eventually the than any other group of birds.” I was there. I wanted to see unspoiled species cease to exist. grassland and to know that refuges are On this two-week journey, my Prairie a seamless piece of the whole. Refuges are important parts of those Pilgrimage, I wanted to see grasslands Great Plains ecosystems. But after and grassland birds while they are still seeing firsthand the dramatic expansion functioning naturally together. of the oil industry in western North “I realized that our lands Dakota, I realized that our lands are not My route was a narrow strip through only parts of ecosystems; they are also a the heart of the Great Plains. I started are not only parts of part of the community. The community in northeast Oklahoma and ended in ecosystems; they are also enables wildlife refuges to exist. Unless northwest North Dakota. Refuges a part of a community. the Service gives something to the featured prominently in the journey, community and the citizens believe specifically those in the Flint Hills in The community enables conservation is important to them, Kansas, the Sand Hills in Nebraska wildlife refuges to exist.” we will not have their support and and the Prairie Pothole Region in America’s lands will not fully fulfill their North Dakota, a swath of the nation role within the larger ecosystem. in which the Service long has had a Lostwood Refuge in North Dakota substantial presence. is legendary among birders. It’s the That, ultimately, is what my 3,900-mile Prairie Pilgrimage taught me. It was within the Flint Hills Legacy quintessential prairie pothole landscape. Conservation Area acquisition The 26,904-acre refuge is recognized Paul Charland is a wildland urban boundary, north of Cassoday, where as one of the best places to see Baird’s interface coordinator based at Leopold I first saw a large expanse of prairie sparrow, Sprague’s pipits and dozens Wetland Management District, WI. A with most of the important pieces of other grassland-dependent species. blog about his motorcycle ride through intact. There were upland sandpipers But by the time I got there, ticking the prairie can be found at http:// in numbers I’d never seen. Recognizing individual species had become less thedeliberatebirder.blogspot.com the potential for us—the Service and important. It was no longer about Americans—to conserve such high- particular species or even particular

26 • Refuge Update A Race Against Time in the Dakota Grassland — continued from page 1

Wildlife Service planners say, because, at current conversion rates, half of the remaining native prairie in the Prairie Pothole Region will be converted to other uses in 34 years—and existing programs can’t keep pace. The project is designed to augment the Service’s half-century-old Small Wetlands Acquisition Program, which is funded primarily by Duck Stamps. The Dakota Grassland Conservation Area would use the Land and Water Conservation Fund and North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants to purchase perpetual conservation easements from willing sellers. “Currently, within the proposed project boundary, there are over 600 landowners waiting to sell us a conservation easement,” says Hoistad. “Our current An upland sandpiper alights on the Dakota Grassland Conservation Area. The area encompasses funding cannot keep up with the demand 1.7 million acres of grassland and 240,000 acres of wetland across a swath of eastern South Dakota, from private landowners who are North Dakota and Montana. (Tom Koerner/USFWS) interested in working with us to conserve habitat on their lands. Many of the of plants,” says Hoistad. “These plants the new project will work with private landowners we have on this waiting list are of varying heights and also grow and landowners to preserve the habitat gaps are also active livestock ranchers who mature at different times of the year. The between them. value grass and water on the landscape. differences in the growing season are why Many of their goals for beef production they are so attractive to a wide variety “The most challenging issue we have to mesh very well with our wildlife habitat of birds. The cool-season plants green up face is that, while the bureaucratic needs. This relationship creates a win-win early in the spring and provide nesting process moves along, there are thousands situation for all parties.” habitat for the early arriving migratory of acres of native prairie being converted bird species. Warm-season plants grow to a tillage-based cropping system,” says The Prairie Pothole Region—named for later in the spring/early summer and Hoistad. “Current high commodity prices the millions of small, glacially formed, meet the nesting needs of the later- are making it very attractive to ‘break up’ water-filled depressions, or “potholes,” arriving birds.” the native sod and begin farming it. Once that dot its landscape—has been called that has taken place, the prairie North America’s “duck factory.” Its There are hundreds of fee title-owned ecosystem on that tract of land is gone. grasslands and wetlands are crucial to waterfowl production areas and dozens That is our challenge: secure additional millions of migratory birds, waterfowl of national wildlife refuges within the funding and protect more acres as quickly and grassland nesting prairie songbirds. Dakota Grassland Conservation Area. as we can.” These tracts provide the foundation for “Healthy grassland habitat contains a the Service conservation mission, and very diverse mixture—over 100 species—

Siekaniec — continued from page 2 but, rest assured, I will always have my Refuge, one of the Refuge System’s Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming in eye on the Refuge System.” most remote and far-flung units. Alaska addition to Alaska. He served as deputy Maritime Refuge encompasses more than chief of the Refuge System before taking Refuge System deputy chief Jim Kurth 2,500 islands and nearly five million acres. over leadership at Alaska Maritime will be acting chief until Siekaniec’s Refuge in 2001. successor is named. Siekaniec started his career at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge in Before taking the helm as chief, Siekaniec North Dakota as a refuge clerk and spent eight years as the refuge manager moved up into management positions in at Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Update • 27 STANDARD PRESORT POSTAGE AND FEES PAID U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR RefugeUpdate PERMIT G-77 USFWS-NWRS 4401 North Fairfax Dr. Room 634C Arlington, VA 22203-1610 www.fws.gov/refuges

A Look Back . . . Jack Watson

he sign on the trail dedicated to As the Florida Keys continued to develop, Jack C. Watson at National Key cars were as much a threat to Key deer as T Deer Refuge in Florida is as quiet poachers, and Watson often rehabilitated and understated as the man himself: injured deer in a pen at his home. Watchful Steward of the Key Deer. Without Watson’s stewardship there During Watson’s tenure on the refuge, might very well be no Key deer at all. the Key deer population grew to about 300. Others built on his efforts, and the Unregulated hunting had brought the population is now close to 800. The population of Key deer to an all-time National Wildlife Federation named him low in the late 1940s—about 50 animals. Conservationist of the Year in 1973. In Public interest in the small deer had been 1976, Watson received the Department pumped up by J.N. “Ding” Darling’s of the Interior’s Meritorious Service political cartoons as well as a letter to award. President Harry Truman from an 11-year- old boy concerned about the Key deer. By the early 1950s, the Boone and Jack Watson (1913-82) is largely responsible for saving Key deer from extinction. (USFWS) Crockett Club had donated $5,000 to hire Watson as a warden to protect the few remaining deer. Watson had been a funeral home director and ambulance was named U.S. game agent, and his driver in Miami; now he had joint law territory covered more than a million enforcement commissions from the acres from the Marquesas Keys north state of Florida and the U.S. Fish and and east, including the Everglades. In Wildlife Service. 1954, three years before National Key Deer Refuge was formally established, Watson had an imposing physical he was named its first refuge manager, Key deer habitat includes pine rocklands, presence and a no-nonsense manner a position he would hold until his hardwood hammock and mangrove forests. (John when dealing with poachers. He soon retirement in 1975. Oberheu)

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