2008 Regional Director's Leadership Award recipient Paul Henson (with plaque) stands with FWS Director Dale Hall (left to right), Deputy Regional Director Ken McDermond, and Regional Director Steve Thompson (photo: Scott Flaherty USFWS)

Paul Henson, former Region 8 Assistant Regional Director of Ecological Services received the Regional Director’s Leadership Award in June for his outstanding work as a key member of the regional leadership team. 

During his five-year tenure in the region, Henson was at the center of change, helping to define and develop a new approach to conservation. This involved a new direction in both tone and attitude of our employees, and functional changes in how we did business. The focus of the region’s vision has been about how we deliver conservation of this country’s natural resources to the land and the people that live on the land.

Henson, currently the project leader at the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office in Portland, Ore.,  helped develop this new direction, communicated those changes to all levels within the organization, and helped people understand how to implement change. He clearly understood the direction we wanted to go, then articulated the change to the employees he supervised.

“The amazing part," said acting Regional Director Ken McDermond, “ is his outstanding ability to get others to follow his leadership and accomplish tough organizational and procedural changes. Paul had led through example, always seeking functional solutions to difficult conservation challenges that will work for people and wildlife.  Paul is an experienced leader using innovative methods to implement changes in the way we conduct our business in the new Regional Office.”