And the Winner Is . . .
A diverse group of exceptional volunteers and employees has been honored by the National Wildlife Refuge Association and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The annual awards recognize exceptional contributions toward protecting the National Wildlife Refuge System.
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Don Hultman, refuge manager for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, has been named Paul Kroegel Refuge Manager of the Year. He is holding a copy of the refuge's Comprehensive Conservation Plan, the result of 46 public meetings attended by 4,500 people and an award winner in its own right.
Photo Credit: USFWS
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Don Hultman, refuge manager for the Upper Mississippi
River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, has been named Paul Kroegel
Refuge Manager of the Year. Hultman manages 11 refuges along 261
miles of the Upper Mississippi River. Described as a passionate
communicator and talented leader, Hultman led a Comprehensive
Conservation Plan process that included 46 public meetings attended
by 4,500 people.
A local newspaper article at the time wrote that "the quiet, thoughtful Hultman has earned the respect of an anxious public, even among many who don't support the proposed changes." The resulting plan approved in August 2006 ultimately won its own award. Hultman has also been involved in the Environmental Management program and he wrote the recently published Service Manual Policy Chapter on Refuge Mission, Goals and Purposes.
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| William Giese
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The Employee of the Year is William Giese, fire
control officer at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.
Giese used his considerable knowledge, expertise and 34 years
of experience to help protect the Little Blackwater River and
the refuge from major development proposals. Giese works as a
biologist, law enforcement officer and equipment operator. He
developed partnerships with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and
Maryland Nutria Project, both of which were instrumental in eliminating
the invasive nutria from Blackwater Refuge.
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At Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi, Marion Sansing has been named Volunteer of the Year. Serving as the refuge's outdoor recreation planner, she partnered with Mississippi State University to develop a native plant garden and hosted "Women in the Outdoors" with the Wild Turkey Federation to give women a chance to learn outdoor skills from expert instructors.
Photo Credit: Hiroko Clay
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At Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi, Marion
Sansing has been named Volunteer of the Year. She serves
as spokesperson for the Friends of Noxubee and also outdoor recreation
planner at the refuge, where her husband is the manager. She partnered
with Mississippi State University to develop a native plant garden,
used print, radio and even billboard advertising to attract volunteers
and visitors to Noxubee Refuge, started an annual photography
contest and partnered with the Wild Turkey Federation to host
"Women in the Outdoors," an opportunity for women to learn outdoor
skills from expert instructors.
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The Friends Group of the Year was won by the Friends of San Luis Valley Refuge in Colorado. Among its many activities, the Friends developed an annual Kids' Crane Festival featuring very popular hayrides in a horse drawn wagon provided by Willard Wickey, a local Amish farmer.
Photo Credit: Jenny Nehring/USFWS
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At San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Colorado,
Refuge Manager Michael Blenden nominated the winner of this year's
Friends Group Award, the Friends of San Luis Valley Refuge.
Blenden believes their work is particularly noteworthy because
the group is small and operates a in a rural, "not particularly
wealthy" community. Back in 2000, the group raised funds to build
an observation trail at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge,
giving the public its first chance to observe wildlife from outside
their cars. The Friends developed the annual Kids Crane Festival
for National Wildlife Refuge Week, and hold monthly work days
in the summer to paint, remove fences or noxious weeds, or do
all the other tasks refugee staff never has time to complete.
Blenden says the group has also played a strong advocacy role
for refuges with the Texas congressional delegation.
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