Al Hammes receives Genoa NFH Volunteer of the Year Honors FWS photo

Susan Houlihan receives 2009 Conservation Steward Award from Jenny WalkerBailey Sarah Bauer photo

The three LaCrosse area fisheries offices (Genoa National Fish Hatchery, LaCrosse National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, and the LaCrosse Fish Health Center) share more than just their cooperative Friends Group.  They also came together this month to cooperatively honor their Friends and Volunteers that helped each office accomplish its conservation goals in 2008.  Each volunteer is essential in helping the offices accomplish much more than would be possible by just relying on existing staff and resources.  Friends and volunteers also help lead through example by spreading a conservation stewardship message throughout their community.  Their accomplishments are seen to be "making a difference" through grass roots efforts that anyone is able to participate in. One such example is Alan Hammes of Stoddard Wisconsin.  Al, as he is known to the crew at the Genoa hatchery, just retired with over 35 years of service as a rural mail deliverer in the Genoa area.  He has delivered the hatchery mail to us for years, and also takes one week of vacation time off every spring, to help the station with its spring wild broodstock collection efforts on the mighty Mississippi River.  He also has been very active and involved with the station's Kid's Fishing and Ice Fishing Days.  Al hopes to be able to now spend more time at the station in the springtime, doing what he loves out on the River.  Susan Houlihan, middle school teacher at the Southern Bluffs Middle School in LaCrosse also received the Conservation Steward Award of 2009.  This award, just initiated this year, honors Susan for her work in developing an outdoor classroom curriculum using a wetland area at the Genoa hatchery as its learning center.  This 20+ acre wetland is being used as a place where concepts and fundamentals of wetland ecology can be taught, and unstructured playtime in the outdoors can also be incorporated as part of the experience.   Through her efforts, the station hopes to be able to "pass the torch" to the next generation of conservation stewards.  Friends Group President Fred Kusch also received recognition for his dedicated service as President of the group for the last several years.  Many other Friends and volunteers were also honored for their dedication to the area's fish and wildlife resources.  We truly can't do it without them!