The Pike River dam in Kenosha County prior to the restoration project. - USFWS photo

After removing the 1950s era dam, the Pike River runs freely along its restored and stabilized banks. - USFWS photo

Art Kitchen, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Private Lands Office in Madison, Wisconsin, was awarded the Secretary of Interior Four C’s Award during a ceremony on May 4, in Washington, D.C., for his exceptional work on a three-year project that resulted in more than 42 miles of improved fish habitat and 25 miles of sport fishing opportunities for the public along the Pike River in Kenosha County in southeast Wisconsin.

Kitchen, a 14-year Service veteran, coordinates the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife program in southern Wisconsin. Beginning in 2002, he enlisted the support of more than a dozen public and private partners to remove a 1950s-era concrete dam from the Pike River in Kenosha County.  The “Pike River Dam Removal and River Restoration Project” was completed in 2005 and resulted in 25 additional miles of sport fishing opportunities for the public, and 42.5 miles of increased forage fish habitat for trout and salmon.  The project also stopped erosion on 800 linear feet of stream banks and reduced sediment being delivered to Lake Michigan.

The award citation reads:  Mr. Kitchen’s collaborative approach to the removal of a dam on private property, and the resulting addition of 25 river miles of trout and salmon habitat embodies the intent and spirit of the Four C’s philosophy.  Balancing the interests of a host of diverse stakeholders and over a dozen private and public partners, Mr. Kitchen was able to gain both local support and funding to implement the dam removal.  Once completed, the benefits of the project were undeniable and a convincing success, spurring calls for similar initiatives throughout the Pike River Watershed.  In a classic case of ‘win-win’, the private landowner, local anglers, Lake Michigan trout and salmon stocks, and local residents within the watershed all benefited from Mr. Kitchen’s diligence and effort.

Kitchen began work with the Service’s Wisconsin Private Lands Office in1992.  As a state coordinator for the Service’s Partner’s For Fish and Wildlife Program,  he assists landowners, private organizations, state and local government to develop and restore wildlife habitat in wetlands, grasslands and riparian and stream corridors throughout southern Wisconsin.   He also assists the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) with the implementation of the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) and other Farm Bill programs such as the Conservation Security Program (CSP), and serves on various state-wide committees and working groups.

Before joining the Service, Kitchen was a soil conservationist with the USDA in Kentucky, and a district conservationist and area conservationist in Missouri. His wife Diane is a refuge operations specialist at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Mayville, Wis.

The Four C’s Award was created by former Secretary of Interior Gale Norton to recognize a Department of the Interior employee, or a group of employees who demonstrate exceptional contributions, methods, and efforts to promote the Secretary's “Four C’s” philosophy of “Communication, Consultation and Cooperation in the service of Conservation.” Recipients of the award have demonstrated excellent communicative relationships with all stakeholders involved in decisions that concern our Nation's natural resources, creating win-win situations for stakeholders, as well as for the environment.