Jim Stevenson Resource Manager of the Year” 2013 Awards Are Announced!
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“Jim Stevenson Resource Manager of the Year” 2013 Awards are Announced! Author: Dana C. Bryan, Environmental Policy Coordinator, Florida Park Service The public conservation and recreation lands of Florida are managed by many dedicated public servants, chiefly from three state agencies - the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Forest Service, and the Florida Park Service. Every year, the Governor and Cabinet recognize an outstanding employee from each agency by awarding him/her with the Jim Stevenson Resource Manager of the Year Award. The award is named for James A. Stevenson, who contributed tireless leadership in ecosystem management, prescribed burning, exotic plant control, and springs protection during his long career with DEP’s Florida Park Service and Division of State Lands. The 2013 winners are: Phil Manor, District Wildlife Biologist, Northwest Region, Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Phil is a proven leader in FWC’s efforts to restore and enhance wildlife habitat on both FWC-managed and partnership lands. His efforts have not only transformed landscapes, but have created and supported a diversity of nature-based recreation from paddling trails to wildlife viewing for Floridians and visitors to the Sunshine State. Phil has been especially effective at finding interagency opportunities to overcome constraints and leverage resources. He understands the importance of initiating and fostering communication with both private and public neighbors for facilitating prescribed burning, controlling exotics, or simply engendering mutual understanding and support of conservation efforts. Phil was a founder of the Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance, a consortium of governmental and NGOs dedicated to enhancing management of natural resources on over 1 million acres in the Apalachicola River basin and environs. Phil leads a team of 19 biologists and technicians who are assigned to 16 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) that encompass over 980,000 acres, including 137,000 acres that are lead-managed by FWC. The skills that Phil uses to create lasting networks of conservation partners also make him an effective program supervisor and mentor to his district’s staff. He was an early pioneer of the use of aerial ignition in prescribed burning and was the first to apply it to FWC lead-managed lands in Florida’s panhandle. He is widely regarded as a preeminent practitioner and dozens of FWC staff owe their knowledge of this complex ignition technique to his expertise. Phil recognizes that prescribed burning is not enough to restore altered landscapes. He has led efforts on Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area, L. Kirk Edwards WEA, Joe Budd WMA, Box-R WMA, and Aucilla WMA to actively restore native groundcover. He has led FWC efforts to restore wetlands impacted by historical silvicultural practices and to reconnect historical flowpaths altered by roads and ditches. Those efforts have contributed to the ecological integrity of the Apalachicola River’s floodplain, the largest expanse of floodplain forest in Florida and one that protects, feeds and nurtures Apalachicola Bay. Phil is always looking for innovative ways to approach conservation challenges. As an example, he recognized that some recently-acquired ephemeral wetlands had lost their value as breeding habitat for flatwoods salamanders and designed projects with area managers to remove the encroaching woody vegetation, including stems and root stock. Later others adopted this approach to accelerate restoration of the desirable grassy ecotones. Phil with a 65-pound alligator snapping turtle Phil has also helped to develop and deliver recreational use programs that enhance visitor experiences, deepen their appreciation for conservation of natural and cultural resources, and anchor their support for conservation programs. One example is the paddling trails on the Apalachicola, Aucilla, and Wacissa rivers that have been designated “National Recreation Trails”; another is the interpretive kiosks and multi- media messages on Aucilla WMA that interpret the river’s nationally significant paleontological resources. And, of course, hunting programs on Joe Budd are widely considered among Florida’s finest. Bruce Hill, Jacksonville District Manager, Field Operations, Region 2, Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Charles (Bruce) Hill joined the Division of Forestry (now the Florida Forest Service) in 1983 as a Forest Ranger. He later was promoted to Citrus County Forester, then Clay County Forest Area Supervisor, and then Jacksonville District Forester, overseeing all forestry operations in Clay, Duval and Nassau counties, including the historic Cary State Forest. State land purchases also added four new state forests to his district (Jennings, Four Creeks, Belmore and Ralph Simmons), and Bruce was heavily involved in the initial planning for them, remaining active in their management until his retirement in 2014. Bruce supervised the district program that, on average, marked and sold more than 1,300 acres of timber annually and prescription-burned 5,400 acres. Bruce has also undertaken several unique partnerships with other agencies and private groups to better manage these lands, including an Upland Ecosystem Restoration Project of 5,390 acres on Jennings State Forest partnering with FWC, FPS, USFS, Tall Timbers and Quail Unlimited. Bruce recently retired after 30 years with the Florida Forest Service The move to surplus Cecil Field Airbase to the City of Jacksonville transferred almost 12,000 acres of planted slash pine. The City sought Bruce’s advice, which led to an agreement that the district would manage the lands for the City. In recent years an additional 2,900 acres of other City lands have been added, purchased under the Better Jacksonville Plan’s Preservation Project. Revenues produced from timber sales on all this land is now approaching $4 million for the City and Jacksonville Airport Authority. Bruce also implemented a public hunting program on the Cecil Field lands. More recently, Bruce worked with the Wounded Warrior program and helped create several internships, some of which resulted in former soldiers moving into permanent positions with the Florida Forest Service. He also helped develop and then spearheaded the Florida Forestry Teacher’s Tour program which annually provides in-depth exposure to forestry operations and products to 45 Florida public school teachers. Many teachers said they had a totally different view of forestry after attending the program and have recommended it to their colleagues. He also developed and implemented an agreement with the Parent Help Center to establish the Camp Consequences wilderness camp at Cary State Forest and later at Four Creeks State Forest. The resulting volunteer service projects help with forest management and recreation while having a positive impact on many Jacksonville area families. Bruce served for six years as the Incident Commander for the FFS Gold Interagency Incident Management Team and emergency response teams to numerous wildfire incidents in Florida, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, North Carolina and Virginia, as well as for hurricane response in Florida and Mississippi. Cecil Field has also been a host site for the Interagency Basic Prescribed Fire Course for many years. David Jowers, Park Manager III, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida Park Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection As Park Manager for the 22,000 acre Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, the 15+ mile long Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, and the 955-acre Price’s Scrub, David coordinates, directs and implements a wide range of resource management activities. David has served as a burn boss since 1987 and in the last year guided burning of 1,308 acres at Paynes Prairie on 22 separate burns, including 4 management zones with no burn history. He also supported burning and wildfire response at ten other state parks, as well as city, state, and private conservation lands last year. Paynes Prairie reached 100% of last year’s burn goals, and helped FPS District 2 burn a record acreage. David sent his staff to all the available prescribed fire training, and promoted the creation of Paynes Prairie Preserve’s “Fire Fest” Festival, a day-long educational event promoting prescribed fire awareness and support in the community. This program was named the FPS Event of the Year in 2011. Paynes Prairie’s proximity to I-75, U.S. 441, and Gainesville creates a heightened sensitivity to smoke management. Following the tragedy of the Boardwalk Fire in 2012, David has led the region in coordination of prescribed fire with the Florida Highway Patrol and Florida DOT. He also coordinated the district’s first application of Peat FireX (a wetting agent for extinguishing stubborn peat fires), presented a statewide webinar, and co-presented a talk at the North Florida Prescribed Fire Council meeting on traffic safety and smoke. David Jowers is always happy when he is burning the Prairie! David is directly involved in the $25 million Sweetwater Branch Sheetflow Restoration Project, which has involved years of encouragement followed by planning and coordination with multiple agencies and other partners. This project included land exchange and then construction of a 125 acre enhancement wetland which will allow the restoration of sheetflow to almost 1,300 acres of wetlands in the Prairie. In the past year, over