Congratulations to Our 2011 Recovery Champions!

Olympic National Park Team, Port Angeles, Washington

Bull Trout, Puget Sound Chinook Salmon and Steelhead

Superintendent Karen Gustin
Brian Winter, Ph.D.
Pat Crain
Sam Brenkman

In September 2011, in one of the biggest projects of its kind, the Olympic National Park removed the Glines Canyon Dam and Elwha Dam, providing Puget Sound Chinook salmon and steelhead access to about70 miles of pristine habitat and opening anadromous bull trout migratory corridors into the Park for the first time in 100 years. Removal of these dams will restore the Elwha River ecosystem, with expected salmon increases that will fuel the recovery of listed fish populations and the wildlife species that depend on them. In addition, members of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will again be able to harvest their treaty protected share of returning fish at a level that supports their subsistence and provides for their livelihood.

Clackamas River Basin Bull Trout Team, Oregon

Brad Goehring, Mt. Hood National Forest
Jason Dunham, Ph.D., U. S. Geological Survey
Jeff Boechler, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Chris Allen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dan Shively, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Can a vision, followed by a rigorous scientific study and dedication, help restore a threatened fish to a river basin? That's just what the Clackamas Bull Trout Reintroduction Feasibility Assessment Team has done. Comprised of representatives of the U. S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, the team undertook a multi-year study of the feasibility of reintroducing the fish into its former range—and then accomplished the goal. Nearly a decade in the making, the first bull trout release in the Clackamas took place in the summer of 2011, followed in the fall by spawning for the first time in 50 years. The key factor: a thorough study and subsequent report—published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Partners include the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Portland General Electric, and NOAA-Fisheries.

Nihoa Millerbird Team, Laysan Island, Hawaiin

Walterbea Aldeguer, Waianae, Hawai'i  
Fred Amidon, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Superintendent Tom Edgerton, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Chris Farmer, Ph.D., American Bird Conservancy
Holly Freifeld, Ph.D., U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lauren Greig, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Robby Kohley, American Bird Conservancy
Michele Kuter, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Peter Luscomb, Honolulu Zoo   
Sheldon Plentovich, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service  
Rachel Rounds, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service  
Cameron Rutt, American Bird Conservancy
Tawn Speetjens, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Matt Stelmach, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Daniel Tsukayama, American Bird Conservancy
Eric VanderWerf, Ph.D., Pacific Rim Conservation
George E. Wallace, Ph.D., American Bird Conservancy
Thierry Work, D.V.M., U.S. Geological Survey
Lindsay Young, Ph.D.,  Pacific Rim Conservation

In a historic initiative, a recovery team released 24 endangered Nihoa millerbirds on Laysan Island in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument culminating decades of research and planning to save a species from extinction. The team had captured the birds on the Hawaiian Island of Nihoa and transported them during a three-day voyage to their new home. Millerbirds had been absent from Laysan for nearly 100 years after a closely related subspecies went extinct. This translocation restored the insect-eating songbird to Laysan's ecosystem. Two months after arriving, all birds were doing well and some were establishing territories, forming pair bonds, and initiating courtship behavior. Partners include the American Bird Conservancy, Pacific Rim Conservation, U. S. Geological Survey, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Texas Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service                                                                                                                                                   
Don Wilhelm
Duane Lucia
Steve Arey
Catherine Yeargan
Jeffrey Reid
Wade Harrell
Chris Harper
Aimee Roberson
Tim Anderson
Chad Stinson

In a State that is overwhelmingly in private ownership, this team has worked with private landowners on behalf of listed species— increasing populations of the golden-cheeked warbler, black-capped vireo, and Attwater's greater prairie-chicken—and enrolling tens of thousands of acres in habitat agreements. For the Arkansas River shiner and the least tern, accomplishments have focused on removing invasive salt cedar; for the Louisiana black bear, on improving bottomland hardwood; and for the red-cockaded woodpecker, restoring longleaf pine through the initiative of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. For the whooping crane, NRCS responded to the Partners' recommendation to protect important coastal wetlands through permanent conservation easements on 11,000 acres! For the Houston toad, the Partners team has restored habitat through prescribed fire, and for karst-dependent species, the team installed cave-gates and funded outreach initiatives.

Ted Turner
Turner Endangered Species Fund
Bozeman, Montana

Mike Phillips
Turner Endangered Species Fund
Bozeman, Montana

On his properties from Florida to Montana, Ted Turner leads in research and management initiatives to benefit listed species and their ecosystems. Through the Turner Endangered Species Fund, Ted Turner has shown that ensuring the well-being of these species is compatible with traditional and innovative land uses. At Vermejo Ranch in New Mexico and on the Bad River Ranch in South Dakota, the Fund has advanced the recovery of the black-footed ferret across its historical range. Reintroducing the red-cockaded woodpecker at Avalon Plantation in Florida has led the way for other landowners. The gray wolf's long-term habitation of the Flying D. Ranch in Montana clearly demonstrated the importance of private land in conservation. For the Mexican wolf, the Ladder Ranch in New Mexico has shown the importance of housing and breeding the species for release to the wild.

Carol I. Bocetti, Ph.D.
California University of Pennsylvania, California, Pennsylvania
                                                                                                                     

Dr. Carol Bocetti's research and recovery initiatives are key in the growth of the Kirtland's warbler population from near record lows of ~200 pairs during the mid-1980's to surpassing the recovery objective of 1,000 pairs. Her early research entailed developing captive-rearing and reintroduction techniques to prevent extinction. Dr. Bocetti's doctoral finding on the impacts of the size of jack pine stands on warbler productivity influenced land managers to embrace improved techniques. Her collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, U. S. Forest Service, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in a new conservation strategy and organizational commitment to continue habitat management, a significant component in delisting the species.

David Lincicome
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Nashville, Tennessee                              

Under David Lincicome's leadership, Tennessee Natural Heritage and Natural Areas Programs have played key roles in delisting endangered and threatened plants such as the Eggert's sunflower and the Tennessee purple coneflower—impressive accomplishments considering the threat of habitat destruction from increasing development. Collaborating with academia to research the life-history of 19 federally protected plant species, David Lincicome has also monitored their populations, brought about the protection of several thousand acres of important plant habitat, and managed that habitat. The Natural Areas Program has protected the Tennessee purple coneflower by establishing Designated State Natural Areas.

Mark Cantrell
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Asheville, North Carolina

Mark Cantrell's leadership, research, and collaboration with partners during dam relicensing processes, severe droughts, and projects to secure minimum flows in streams has benefited endangered and threatened aquatic species such as the Appalachian elktoe, spotfin chub, and chucky madtom and candidates such as the sicklefin redhorse. As a result of development—resulting in increased demand for water—southeastern aquatic ecosystems are among the most endangered in the country, and so are the fish and wildlife that depend on them. Through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dam relicensing process, Mark played a critical role in removing the Dillsboro Dam along the Tuckasegee River, creating a free-flowing river reach 29 miles long. He has also worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in recovery actions such as land acquisitions, surveys, and captive propagation projects.

Christine Kelly
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission                               
Carolina northern flying squirrel                           

Implementing a method used in Australia, Chris Kelly has helped the endangered Carolina northern flying squirrel glide across a wide road in the Unicoi Mountains of western North Carolina: launch poles! For the first time in the United States, populations of the high-elevation animal were united through these structures, promising an expanded gene pool and recruitment success. Duke Energy provided the crossing platforms atop the poles. In habitat restoration work, anticipating hemlock loss from the wooly adelgid, a destructive insect, in partnership with USDA's Forest Service and Appalachian Mountain Joint Ventures, Chris Kelly is planting red spruce, an important source of food and shelter for the squirrel. With Virginia Tech, she is applying a vocalization study pioneered at Auburn University to locate the species and document its numbers.

Piping Plover Team
National Wildlife Refuges along the Atlantic Coast from Maine through Virginia

Among the people most dedicated to recovering the piping plover, staff members at National Wildlife Refuges along the ocean coast from Maine through Virginia protect more than 16% of the U.S. Atlantic breeding population. More than 25 years of intensive management on refuges demonstrates the Service’s commitment and provides leadership to partners.  Staff members also devote thousands of hours to monitoring birds, posting and signing nesting and foraging habitat, building predator “exclosures,” and conducting outreach on private, state, and municipal properties.  Staff members include refuge law enforcement officers, visitors services staff, administrative staff, biologists, maintenance staff, and project leaders at these Refuges and Complexes —Rachel Carson, Parker River, Eastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Stewart B. McKinney, Long Island, Edwin B. Forsythe, Cape May, and Chincoteague. 

Greg Neudecker
Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, Ovando, Montana

In Montana, home to grizzly bears and bull trout, Greg Neudecker has engaged stakeholders and linked conservation goals with traditional western lifestyles, earning trust that has brought about shared success. Joining ranchers and organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks and U. S. Forest Service, Greg Neudecker became involved in a landowner-led watershed group known as the Blackfoot Challenge. In community-based initiatives, the group reduced grizzly bear-livestock conflicts with a watershed-wide effort to fence calving areas, remove food attractants, and reach out to landowners about living in bear country.  Along with increasing bull trout numbers by restoring riparian areas and removing fish-passage barriers, the group secured perpetual conservation easements on 180,000 acres of private land in the Blackfoot Valley, a legacy for wildlife and people. 

Region 6 Recovery Champions
Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative

Comprised of more than 22 partners including universities, botanical gardens, conservation groups, consulting firms, botanical artists, and State and Federal agencies, the Rare Plant Conservation Initiative is devoted to ensuring plant diversity.  Some examples follow.  This group has developed a strategy for conserving rare plants in Colorado.  After developing best management practices for oil and gas development in areas with rare plants, the Initiative is working with the industry to implement the practices.  The Colorado Natural Areas Program and the Denver Botanic Gardens train and coordinate volunteers as rare plant stewards who assist with surveys, remove non-native species, and adopt particular geographic areas that they protect. Research projects include development impact on the Dudley Bluff bladderpod and twinpod as well as their associated plant communities and pollinators.

Susi Miller
Jennifer Reed
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

As the primary Fish and Wildlife Service staff members involved in a program to avoid conflicts between people and polar bears, Susi Miller and Jennifer Reed are conserving the species through partnerships with the Alaska Nanuuq Commission, North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, and Native Villages such as Kaktovik.  In concert with Alaska Native Villages, Susi and Jennifer helped design and implement the program, including the bear detection and deterrence initiative across the North Slope and outreach to affected communities. Through non-lethal hazing techniques, the program has reduced the occurrences of polar bears entering coastal villages, thereby reducing the number of the animals killed for human safety reasons. In addition, Susi and Jennifer solicit community involvement in oil spill response planning and are helping with Village polar bear viewing guidelines.

North Slope Borough Recovery Champion
Barrow, Alaska
Polar bear, Steller’s eider, and spectacled eider

The North Slope Borough is a leader in conserving the polar bear and the Steller’s eider and spectacled eider through management and outreach. Through non-lethal hazing techniques, the Borough has reduced the number of polar bears entering coastal villages and thereby reduced the number of the animals killed in the interest of public safety. The community-based project promotes support for polar bear conservation and also protects area residents. Benefitng the Steller’s eider and spectacled eider, the North Slope Borough collaborates with area residents, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in outreach programs such as the Eider Journey Science Program, a comprehensive education and stewardship initiative designed to eliminate the take of the birds and the use of lead shot.

Dave Imper
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata, California 

A botanist and conservationist, Dave Imper has devoted decades to recovering the endangered western lily and other plant species, especially their habitat, in northern California and Oregon. Dave's work on the job and off the job has made him a recognized expert, particularly on behalf of the western lily. Restoring and protecting its habitat, Dave has used his own resources to buy land for the species. In partnership with the Siskiyou Land Conservancy and students from the Marin Academy High School, Dave led the group in cutting back encroaching woody species to benefit dozens of rare and unique plants, including the endangered McDonald's rock cress, on an 80-acre parcel in northern California.

Patrick Larkin
Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California 

The Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is conserving more than 100 California plant species including endangered Cushenbury buckwheat and willowy monardella and threatened Hidden Lake bluecurls by conducting surveys and monitoring, maintaining a seed bank, growing nursery stock for research and restoration, designing management plans, and researching systematic relationships, breeding systems, pollination biology, and conservation genetics! Serving as a safety net for listed species and for candidates such as the San Fernando Valley spineflower, the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden herbarium houses more than a million specimens—including representatives of all listed species in California from across their ranges—and freely shares data from these collections through the online resources of the Consortium of California Herbaria.

Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
Recovery Champion Campbell B. Lanier, III, Lanett, Alabama

When faced with the prospect that red-cockaded woodpeckers were about to vanish from his property, Campbell Lanier said, “Not on my watch.”  What developed since that day is a fine public-private conservation partnership, proving that working forest landscapes can support optimal bobwhite quail hunting opportunities and aid in the recovery of endangered species. Conservation has come naturally to the Lanier Family.  To restore longleaf pine forests, Mr. Lanier plants longleaf pine seedlings, conducts prescribed burns to maintain the open, park-like areas that the woodpeckers prefer, and installs artificial nesting and roosting cavities. These initiatives saved a small, remnant population and resulted in its growth to more than 20 family groups—the largest population on private property in Alabama.  Mr. Lanier’s leadership has inspired other conservationists to enroll thousands of acres in the Safe Harbor Program.