AFWA Honors Recipients of the 2010 Annual Awards

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honored nine individuals and two entities for their outstanding and longstanding commitment to conservation stewardship at the Association’s Annual Awards Ceremony held on September 28, 2010 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

John Frampton, Director of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and AFWA’s 2009-2010 President received the top honor, the Seth Gordon Award. Wyoming Game and Fish Department and its Deputy Director, John Emmerich, took home the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for leadership in scientific wildlife management.

Cristy Gayle Burch, GIS Specialist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was recognized as an outstanding young wildlife management professional with the Mark Reeff Memorial Award and the Bamberger Ranch in Texas received the National Private Lands Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award.

Lt. Richard Thomas and Investigator Dan Sullivan of the New York Department of Conservation Law Enforcement Division received the Conservation Law Enforcement Award for “Operation Shellshock,” a multi-year undercover operation to stop the illegal reptiles and amphibians.

In addition, special recognition awards were presented to Christopher Estes, Chief of Alaska Fish and Game’s Aquatic Resources Coordination Unit; Dr. Robert Blohm, Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management; Dr. Sally Guynn AFWA’s Management Assistance Team Project Leader; and Jay McAninch, President and CEO of the Archery Trade Association.

Congratulations to all of the honorees!

> Read a full description of the achievements of the 2010 Annual Awards recipients

West Virginia’s Curtis I. Taylor Elected AFWA's 2010-2011 President

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies elected West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Section Chief, Curtis I. Taylor, its new president on Spetember 29, 2010 during the Association’s 100th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is tasked to lead AFWA’s national agenda for sound, science-based fish and wildlife management through September 2011.

Taylor has more than 31 years of experience with DNR, where prior to becoming Chief in 2001, he was the Federal Aid Coordinator and worked on various turkey research projects and other fish and wildlife management programs including serving as co-project leader on the Wild Turkey Population Dynamics Study. He directed the first radio telemetry study of ocellated turkeys in Guatemala for Wildlife Conservation International and Hornocker Wildlife Institute and has served on the National Wild Turkey Federation Technical Committee since 1985, receiving the organization’s highly coveted Henry S. Mosby Award in 2005. Taylor also serves on the Steering Committee for the West Virginia University Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

“There is nothing like a 100th Annual Meeting to think about what we’ve done and where we will be going,” said Taylor, the first AFWA President to hail from West Virginia. “We still believe in a cooperative, scientifically sound and legally firm approach to protect and enhance the North American Model of fish and wildlife management that is unique to the United States and the envy of other countries that have tried to duplicate it. Our partnership with industry through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Acts is the cornerstone for funding conservation."

During his tenure as president, Taylor plans to focus the work of the Association membership on fostering better relationships with the angling, hunting and shooting sports industries; recruitment and retention of license-buying hunters and anglers; and the impacts of energy development on fish and wildlife resources.

“Energy does not come without a price,” said Taylor. “We need to make sure that wildlife is not stuck with the bill.”

In addition to his responsibilities as President, Taylor also serves as the Co-Chair of AFWA’s International Relations Committee. In this role, he represented the United States at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Qatar in early 2010 to advance state and federal statutory partnerships and work cooperatively on international fish and wildlife policy.

“I appreciate the trust [the Association members] have put in me,” concluded Taylor.

Taylor has served as Treasurer and President of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and is currently on its Executive Committee. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Southeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Photo (l-r): The passing of the President's gavel from John Frampton (SC) to Curtis Taylor (WV)

Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies Announces 2009 Annual Award Recipients for Exemplary Commitment to Conservation Stewardship

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honored 12 individuals and two entities for their outstanding and longstanding commitment to conservation stewardship at the Association’s Annual Awards Ceremony held on September 15, 2009 in Austin, Texas.

2009 Annual Awards Recipients:

Seth Gordon Award
Recognizing lifetime achievement, the Association’s highest honor

David Erickson
Assistant Director, Missouri Department of Conservation

David Erickson’s career spans more than 30 years and is marked by his national and international leadership, innovation, enthusiasm, dedication and adherence to the public trust responsibilities of state and federal wildlife administrators. He has been actively involved in the Association’s work, serving on more than a dozen committees, subcommittees and working groups, which ran the gamut from bird conservation and Teaming With Wildlife to hunting/shooting sports participation and wildlife resources policy.

Erickson also is an advocate for all bird management including migratory waterfowl, game and nongame birds and has been a member of three joint venture management boards, the Mississippi Flyway Council and served on the National Flyway Council strategy team to develop a national waterfowl hunters recruitment strategy. As the Chair for state agencies on the Southern Wings Task Force, Erickson was instrumental in creating a simple infrastructure for state fish and wildlife agencies to participate in the conservation of wintering habitat in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Despite his many commitments, Erickson took on the responsibilities of chairing the Association’s new Amphibian and Reptile Subcommittee to provide a forum for conservation and policy issues and he made it possible for 14 state agencies to receive funding from the Competitive State Wildlife Grants Program. In addition, he serves as AFWA’s advisory board member to Partners in Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (PARC) and holds a seat on the PARC Joint National Steering Committee.

The Association is proud to present David Erickson with the Seth Gordon Award in recognition of his life-long career in natural resources, dedication to professional, science-based wildlife management and leadership in achieving conservation goals.

Boone & Crockett Award
Honoring an agency and team leader for outstanding achievement in promoting and encouraging programs in outdoor ethics

Group: Wyoming Game and Fish Department
Individual: Mark Bruscino, Bear Management Officer

Human-bear conflicts have become increasingly common as the grizzly bear populations grow and expand. In response to this problem, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department developed a community-based efforts focusing on living, working and recreating safely and ethically in bear country. Called Bear Wise, the program was developed under the leadership of Mark Bruscino, Wyoming’s bear management officer. The program evolved for a citizen work group that Bruscino formed in 2006 and since then has helped significantly reduce state bear conflicts and mortalities as well as possible injuries to humans. Relying on local governments and individuals, Bear Wise programs provide specific methods for managing potential bear attractants; permanent and portable fencing to help outfitters and homeowners keep bears away from attractants; and livestock carcass removal service. Bear Wise also encourages people to appreciate and tolerate bears in their communities.

Mark J. Reeff Memorial Award
Recognizing distinguished, young wildlife management professionals

Shannon Hanna
Privately Owned Cervidae Specialist, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife Division

Confronted with a number of outstanding noncompliance issues indentified in a Michigan-wide audit, Shannon Hanna took immediate steps to get privately own cervid facilities compliant, which required extensive coordination between the Wildlife Division, the Department of Agriculture Animal Industry Division and the deer-farming community. She rewrote a Memorandum of Understanding between DNR and the Agriculture Department governing the rules and regulations of Michigan deer farming. She also developed a comprehensive database on all privately owned cervid facilities that is now accessible by both agencies, saving countless hours and greatly improving the state’s efforts to contain and manage chronic wasting disease (CWD). On her own initiative, Hanna developed a web page for the privately owned cervids industry to obtain information on laws, regulations and accepted manages pertinent to CWD and established herself as a go-to personfor straight answers concerning facility deficiencies. Her expertise proved invaluable when surveillance testing in 2008 detected a positive CWD deer on a facility.

National Private Lands Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award
Honoring an individual- or family-run farm, ranch or forest operation that has incorporated proactive conservation and environmental protection measures

Col. Wallace N. Weber of Dorrance, Kansas

A retired U.S. Army Colonel with 31 years of service, Wallace Weber is the third generation to run his family’s 1783-acre farm in Dorrance, Kansas. A lifelong sportsman and conservationist, Col. Weber assembled a Conservation Management Team with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks to advise and assist him in the development of conservation practices. He is currently implementing the plan with his sister, Cheryl, and permanently dedicating the farm as a demonstration area for farming and wildlife to advance agronomy and conservation-minded rangeland management practices and as a field laboratory to test new conservation ideas as well as to promote the shooting sports, upland hunting and proper hunting ethics. To accomplish his vision, Col. Weber is donating portions of the property to Pheasant’s Forever over the next five years and he established a charitable remainder trust for management expenses upon his passing. In its entirety, the donation is expected to be valued at more than a million dollars and when completed, it will be the largest land donation in Pheasant’s Forever history.

Conservation Law Enforcement Award
Recognizing exceptional achievement is fish and wildlife resource enforcement

Brad M. Hadley
Missouri Department of Conservation

Agent Brad Hadley has employed substantive and innovative means to enforce Missouri fish and wildlife conservation laws. He’s made numerous arrests for serious violations relying heavily on his proficient technological skills using GPS, aircraft and watercraft. Hadley proactively instituted partnership and public relations programs with other agencies including Missouri Highway Patrol, local Sheriff’s department, water patrol, National Park Service and the Forest Service. As the head of a large neighborhood watch program, Hadley built a network of private citizen cooperators to provide enforcement information. His efforts to further inform and educate the public about conservation enforcement include writing newspaper articles, speaking at events and writing for the Missouri Conservationist magazine. Hadley also engaged with the state’s Youth Conservation Corps to develop a program to remove trash from conservation areas and he helped education the public about ATV regulations and trail closures.

Special Recognition Awards
Recognizing individuals who have distinguished themselves with an outstanding commitment to the work of the Association

Michael Berger
(Retired) Director of the Division of Wildlife, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD)

Mike Berger has had a long and distinguished wildlife conservation career. Before he retired as the Director of Wildlife, some of his most outstanding accomplishments were the development and implementation of the state’s Wildlife Conservation Plan, the addition of more than seven million acres to the state’s approved wildlife management plans and the development of a proactive partnership with The Nature Conservancy in the conservation of key prairie chicken grassland habitats. As a very engaged co-chair of AFWA’s International Relations Committee, Berger built upon the relationships that he had developed as the U.S. Chair of the Wildlife Table of the Border Governor’s Conference, a bi-national forum to coordinate the work of U.S. and Mexican states to facilitate the Mexican states working with AFWA on North American wildlife conservation issues.

Dr. Michael Fall
Biologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

A nationally prominent research scientist and research leader, Dr. Michael Fall has been the federal liaison within the Association for the development of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for trapping animals. He served as the project leader for the ground-breaking research that lead to the development of BMPs and has been exceptionally effective at maintaining the federal support of the research needed to develop them. Fall also has been the federal official responsible for implementing the U.S. commitments stemming from the Agreed Minute with the European Union addressing BMPs and fur trade. As head of the U.S. delegation, he consistently has made it clear that state fish and wildlife agencies are responsible for wildlife management in the U.S., thereby protecting the interests of states and the integrity of state-based wildlife management.

Glen Salmon
(Former) Director, Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife
Deputy Assistant Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Aid (USFWS)

As soon as Glen Salmon was appointed the Director of the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife, he became actively engaged in the work of the Association and the Midwestern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Salmon made significant contributions to furthering the states’ wildlife conservation agenda and programs as the Chair of the Fish and Wildlife Trust Funds Committee, co-Chair of the Agency/Industry Summit; working member of the National Grants and Annual Meeting Committees; and a champion for conservation education. Salmon recently accepted a position with USFWS Federal Aid.

Virgil Moore
Director, Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Over the course of his 29-year career with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Virgil Moore has championed the cause for the conservation of native fish and through his advocacy and leadership has made a lasting impact on the fisheries resources of the Western United States. As President of the American Fisheries Society Administration Section, Moore played a key role in the development of the Western Trout Initiative, one of the most successful National Fish Habitat Initiative Partnerships. Similarly, his work on the Forest Service Fishing Review Panel helped support the continuation of Forest Service western fish programs. Nationally, Moore’s leadership on AFWA’s Fisheries and Water Policy Committee and the American Sportfishing Association’s Government Affairs Committee has been key on behalf of state agencies in the last two reauthorizations of the Sportfish Restoration Act.

Ken Haddad
Director, Executive Director, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Retiring at the end of the year after 30 years of service, Ken Haddad’s body of work as a research and natural resource administrative professional is truly substantial. He has authored or co-authored more than 35 publications in applied research and management including fisheries and fish habitat, red tide, remote sensing and geographic information systems. In the past eight years serving as the Executive Director, Haddad innovatively has set Florida’s course for the 21st century, which is serving as a model for other state agencies. He has served on AFWA’s Executive Committee and was engaged in the work of the Resource Policy and Angler Boater Participation Committees abd chaired the Leadership and Professional Development Committee to address the growing gap facing states as the baby boom generation retires. Haddad’s contributions have been a clear vision of the future with a commitment for working on the front end of issues with all stakeholders whether they be public or private partners or resource professionals.

Mark Shaffer
Director, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Environment Program

Mark Shaffer and the Doris Charitable Foundation have been tireless supporters of state wildlife action plans, contributing nearly $90 million over the past decade towards their development and implementation in order to accelerate the conservation of identified essential habitats. The Foundation also has actively encouraged other private foundations to link their conservation spending the plans.

Fallen Heroes
Remembering those wildlife professionals who lost their lives while carrying out their duties the previous year

Nathan Mims
Officer, Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries

Photos by Chase Fountain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Dpeartment

Bottom row (l-r): Ken Haddad, Shannon Hanna, Dr. Michael Fall, Glen Salmon, Dave Erickson Top row (l-r): Cheryl Weber, Wallace Weber, Virgil Moore, Mark Shaffer, Mark Bruscino, Brad Hadley, Mike Berger

South Carolina’s John Frampton Elected 2009-2010 President of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) elected South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director, John Frampton, its new president during the Association’s 99th Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas on September 16, 2009. Frampton has more than 35 years of experience with DNR, where he started his career as a field biologist.

“I attended my first Annual Meeting in 1981 and I don’t think I have missed a meeting since then,” Frampton said. “I would not be the Director of the South Carolina DNR if it weren’t for this Association.”

Frampton currently serves on the Association’s Executive, Fish and Wildlife Trust, Fisheries and Water Resources Policy and Legislative/Federal Budget Committees and the Federal Assistance Policy Task Force. During his one-year tenure as president, he plans to pay particular attention to the work of the Association membership on the issues of climate change and energy development; lead; Teaming With Wildlife and State Wildlife Action Plans; Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund reauthorization; and bridging the gap between state agencies and the fishing, hunting and shooting sports industry.

“As an Association, we can accomplish things that as a single entity we could not accomplish or even envision alone,” said Frampton. “I am extremely proud to help enhance the collective voice we have around this country.”

The Washington, DC-based Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is the collective voice of North America’s fish and wildlife agencies at every level of government. The Association provides its member agencies and their senior staff with coordination services that range from migratory birds, fish habitat, and invasive species, to conservation education, leadership development, and international relations. The Association represents its state agency members on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key conservation and management policies, and works to ensure that all fish and wildlife entities work collaboratively on the most important issues.

Frampton will serve as president through September 2010.

Watch the Association's 2009 Annual Meeting Plenary Session LIVE!

"It's Clean, But is It Green? How Compatible is Renewable Energy Development and Fish and Wildlife Management?"

Monday, September 14, 2009

9:00 am - 10:45 am EST

Check out our live webcast by clicking here on Monday morning!

As our nation struggles to find alternative energy sources to both reduce greenhouse gases as well as minimize our dependence on foreign oil, many fish and managers and others involved in renewable energy are struggling to ensure that “clean energy” is “green energy” and that the environmental benefits are not lost by negatively impacting fish and wildlife and the habitats on which they depend.

Join us for a special Plenary Session and hear perspectives from three individuals on the front lines of this issue. Whether you have extensive experience in this issue or are trying to learn all you can, this plenary session will no doubt better inform you on what is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation, our environment and our fish and wildlife resources today.

Guest speakers:
Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish & Wildlife and Parks and Chief of Staff to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar. The Department of the Interior will play a key role on the future of renewable energy and fish and wildlife conservation.

Jack Hunt, CEO and President of the King Ranch, Inc in South Texas., who overseas operations on one of the worlds largest ranches. The King Ranch is a diverse operation and includes a very active fish and wildlife management and ecotourism operation.

T. Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of BP Capital Management and proponent of his national Pickens Plan promoting alternatives to oil

Link to 2009 Annual Meeting Plenary Session:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tpwd-show

Webcast Production Provided by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department