Fish & Wildlife News: Spring 2003 (Special Edition)

Authors

Date of this Version

May 2003

Comments

Published by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Abstract

Contents:

Prelude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Director’s Corner: Looking Back, Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System of Lands for Wildlife and People for Today and Tomorrow . . 3
Future of the Refuge System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fulfilling the Promise for One Hundred Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Keeping the Service in the Fish & Wildlife Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Timeline of Refuge Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Shaping the NWRS: 100 Years of History
The First 75 Years: A Varied and Colorful History . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Last 25 Years: Our Refuge System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The First Refuge Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Pelican Island’s First Survey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
CCC Had Profound Effect on Refuge System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Refuge Pioneer: Tom Atkeson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
From Air Boats to Rain Gauges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
A Refuge Hero Called “Mr. Conservation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Duck Stamp: It’s Not Just for Hunters––Refuges Benefit Too 26
Caught in a Web and Glad of It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Aquatic Resources Conservation on Refuges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
To Conserve and Protect: Law Enforcement on Refuges . . . . . . . . . 29
Jewels of the Prairie Shine Like Diamonds in the Refuge System Crown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Untrammeled by Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Ambassadors to Alaska: The Refuge Information Technicians Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Realty’s Role: Adding to the NWRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Safe Havens for Endangered Species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Lasting Legacy of Three Fallen Firefighters: Origins of Professional Firefighting in the Refuge System . . . . . 35
Part Boot Camp: Part Love-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Sanctuary and Stewardship for Employees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
How a Big, Foreign-Born Rat Came to Personify a Wildlife Refuge Battle with Aquatic Nuisance Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Braving the Border. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Wildlife Knows No Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The National Refuge System Centennial Commission: Polishing Pieces of Natural Treasure for the American People . . 42
Ducks Unlimited and Refuges Share Common Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Unusual Origins of Ducks Unlimited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Audubon and America’s Wildlife Refuges: A Century of Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
A Little CARE Goes a Long Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Finding Solace with the Wood Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Working Together for Habitat Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The Refuges: Portals to Birding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Preserving Roosevelt’s Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
From Sea to Shining Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Growing Up on a Refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Growing Up on a Refuge Proves “Endlessly Interesting” . . . . . . . . . 52
Childhood on Refuges Led to Urban Service Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Family Logs 50 Years of Service on Savannah Coastal Refuges . . . . 54
Passion for Antioch Dunes Inspires New Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Not Even the Flagpole Is the Same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
The Gift that Keeps on Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
I’m Ready for My Close Up, Mr. DeMille . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The Refuge System: A Personal Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
A Friend with History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
This Woman Came Alive with the Wildlife Refuge System . . . . . . . . 61
Why Urban Refuges Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
A Family of Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Centennial Thoughts from Middle Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64