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2009 marks the 20th Anniversary of the National Wetlands Awards program. Since 1989, the program has honored 143 champions of wetlands conservation; helped draw local and national media attention to their causes; and played an important role in securing funding for and convincing policy makers to consider seriously the issues they have championed. Please consider nominating someone for the 20th Anniversary National Wetlands Awards.

The 2009 nomination form and nomination guidelines are now available.

The 2008 National Wetlands Awards winners accept their awards. View more photos from the ceremony.

 

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1995 National Wetlands Award Recipients

 

Outstanding Program Development

Since October 1991, Steve Gatewood has spearheaded development of The Nature Conservancy’s Disney Wilderness Preserve, am landmark mitigation project that will result in the protection of more than 11,500 acres of prime central Florida wetlands and surrounding uplands. He currently serves as Director of the project, developing and guiding state-of-the-art restoration and land management activities. Steve heads restoration of the Preserve’s natural wetland systems. Addressing wetlands restoration in the context of adjacent uplands makes the project a national model for large-scale, off-site mitigation for development impacts to wetlands and listed species. Steve also supervises a watershed conservation study to identify areas in need of restoration or protection and to integrate human activities in compatible ways.

In addition to establishing and managing the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Steve has served as chairman of the council that developed Florida’s non-game wildlife program, as a staff member of the Lake Okeechobee and Kissimmee River restoration programs, and as the governor-appointed chairman of the committee that developed and recommended changes to Florida’s wetlands jurisdiction rules. He most recently served as The Conservancy’s Protection Ecologist for Florida and has been assuming a greater role in developing large-scale mitigation projects throughout the state. Steve’s work has made him familiar with practically every part of Florida. Evaluating natural areas and designing protection programs has given him a wealth of understanding of the subtleties of Florida’s ecology and its protection, while serving on numerous conservation committees and councils has helped him contribute to the necessary infrastructure for its protection.

— Marlene Cole, Monica Folk, and Lisa Thomson, The Nature Conservancy

Outstanding Program Development

In his capacity as a Project Director of the Chicago Rivers Project at Friends of the Chicago River, David Ramsay worked with a coalition of neighborhood groups, school districts, federal agencies, and state and local governments to establish two model wetland restoration projects along the Chicago River. Both of these projects — one located in a city park and one located on county land in a suburban area — are designed to build on the enthusiasm and leadership of local residents to begin to restore some of the natural characteristics of the heavily altered Chicago River ecosystem, a natural system that many consider beyond repair.

Both projects are designed not only to begin to restore the ecosystem, but to build a sense of community stewardship over the river ecosystem. In both cases, local residents, nearby schools, and community groups have participated in the site evaluation and design phase of the projects and will continue to be involved as the projects progress. As demonstration projects, they are designed to show how these techniques can be used to achieve similar resource and community benefits throughout the watershed.

Ramsay also has led a coalition to create a restoration project for 25 acres of wetlands on Lake County Forest Preserve District land located 30 miles north of Chicago. Local park district, municipalities, conservation and garden clubs, high school students, businesses, and federal agencies have all participated. The outcome is not only a model for ecological restoration, but one for connecting people with the resources.

&mdash Moira Mcdonald, Coalition to Restore Urban Waters

Outstanding Program Development

Steve Young has 20 years of experience in wetland development and management with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Since 1991, he has held the position of Missouri’s Wetland Wildlife Biologist. His primary responsibility is to implement statewide wetland restoration programs, train state and federal personnel in wetland restoration and management techniques, and to assist private landowners in wetland restoration and management.

Steve is currently assigned to a joint position with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. His primary responsibility is to coordinate and implement private land wetland restoration programs, including the Emergency Wetland Reserve Program, the Wetland Reserve Program, the Partnership for Missouri Riverlands, and the Partners for Wildlife program. Since 1991, these wetland restoration programs have added approximately 29,000 acres of wetland habitat on private land in Missouri. Steve has been instrumental in building cooperative relationships among state, federal, and private conservation organizations to facilitate the restoration and management of wetlands.

— Kelly Srigley Werner and Gary Frazer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Volunteer Leadership

For more than 25 years, Cliff and Connie Glockner have been advocates for wetlands protection in coastal Louisiana. Both commercial fishermen, Cliff and Connie are intimately acquainted with the rich ecological resources of Louisiana and the numerous threats they face. Among the Glockners’ efforts was a battle over the dredging of the lake bottom and wetlands of Lake Pontchartrain. Dredging had severely damaged the bottom of the lake, increased turbidity, smothered plankton, destroyed the grass beds within the lake, and had nearly wiped out the area’s fisheries. In 1988, the Glockners were instrumental in forming the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation to coordinate efforts to protect and begin to restore the ecological integrity of the basin, including a wide variety of fresh, brackish, and salt water wetlands. Now six years old, the Foundation has received national recognition for its restoration and education programs.

Most recently, Cliff and Connie worked with the Foundation and other groups to campaign for a wildlife refuge to protect the wetlands on the north shore of the lake from development. On October 24, 1994, the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge was declared. The first acquisition was 3,700 acres, and eventually the refuge will encompass 12,000 acres. While the ban on dredging and the establishment of the wildlife refuge represent important victories, they are only a fraction of Cliff and Connie’s work. They have been involved in many environmental education, restoration, and advocacy efforts over the years.

— Moira Mcdonald, Coalition to Restore Urban Waters

Volunteer Leadership

Melody Hopkins educates, cajoles, twists arms and organizes, using only a telephone, a computer, a camera and a fax machine, to get Alabama’s politicians, developers, and regulators to protect the state’s coastal wetlands. During 1992 and 1993, she successfully spearheaded opposition to a U.S. Corps of Engineers’ Section 404 permit for construction of 11 large pile-supported houses in a barrier island salt marsh. By talking — and listening — to state and federal regulators involved in the Section 404 permit battle, Melody learned that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management could assist the Corps in regulating development in coastal wetlands if the agency’s rules were revised to clarify its authority to do so. Melody organized a grassroots and personal campaign to encourage the rulemaking and to support its final promulgation. The new regulations came to be known as the “Melody Hopkins rules.” By Fall 1994, the Department regulators were armed to join the Corps in regulating the widespread use of pile-supported structures along the Alabama coast.

In her permit battle, Melody learned about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Advanced Identification program. She convinced EPA to consider such a program for coastal Alabama and lined up critical support for the program from the Baldwin County Commission. An Advanced Identification program for Baldwin County is now in progress. Melody has lobbied against a takings bill brought before the Alabama legislature, and she is now engaged in a broad-based citizens campaign to protect Mobile Bay.

— Jan Goldman Carter, Environmental Lawyer

Land Stewardship and Development

For 20 years, the Fagerlands have been farming on top of the Prairie Coteau, a geological formation left by the last glacier 10,000 years ago. It is an area of profuse wetlands and tallgrass prairie. The production from their farm includes livestock, wheat, corn, and an abundance of wildlife. The Fagerlands have been excellent land stewards. They have restored more than 30 drained wetlands, resulting in at least 120 surface acres of water. The wetlands are the center-piece for the farm and provide habitat for shorebirds, waterfowl, and dozens of other species within the wildlife community. More than-800 acres of cropland also have been planted to perennial grasses and legumes to protect the watersheds of the wetlands. These practices are reducing the sediment and nutrients going into the farm’s 100-acre natural lake.

The Fagerlands also use other conservation practices. They have used reduced-tillage farming practices, rotational grazing systems, and controlled burning on their grasslands, and they have planted multi-species tree belts to add to the biodiversity of the landscape. Nesting structures for giant Canada geese and wood duck nesting boxes also are common on the farm. The Fagerlands have sought to strike a balance between their farming and wildlife goals, and their farm is a showplace for both environmental and agricultural interests. Dennis was a presenter at the 1993 Wetlands Forum in Pierre, South Dakota, and the farm was a part of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Midwest Wetlands Tour in November 1994. Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the local soil conservation district have helped with conservation efforts on the farm.

— Paul M. Bultsma, Ducks Unlimited

Land Stewardship and Development

When the Sebastianis purchased property in southern Sonoma County as a site for their proposed Viansa Winery, which included diked former baylands, they wanted not only to produce superior varietal wines but to leave the Earth in as good or better condition than they found it. They found an opportunity to do so by restoring a 90-acre wetland on their property. The restoration required a two-year process overcoming regulatory and permitting hurdles. Ironically, they were required to provide compensatory mitigation for a containment dike to prevent flooding of an adjacent landowner, at a cost of $50,000. In the first year after the restoration plan was implemented, 1993, bird counts on the marsh suggested that the restoration was a success. In one survey alone, more than 6,500 waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and wading birds were documented using the Viansa wetlands. These numbers doubled in 1994 and included the federally endangered California clapper rail and the California state-listed tri-colored blackbird and black rail.

High on a hill, where the Viansa Winery overlooks the marsh, Sam and Vicki built a stone fountain supporting a sculpture of a pair of ducks taking wing. The fountain itself entombs a tide gate that was removed when the Viansa Wetland was restored. The symbolism is striking and appropriate. This gate, which enabled the draining of the former marsh for agricultural production, now supports a sculpture that celebrates the return of the marsh and its resident and visiting water birds.

— Thomas G. Yocom, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Education and Outreach

Leo Kenney has been teaching science at the Reading Memorial High School in Reading, Massachusetts, for the past 23 years. As part of his field biology course for seniors, Leo developed a wetlands curriculum focusing on vernal pools. A number of his students became so interested in the topic that they decided to form a student club, the Reading Memorial High School Vernal Pool-Association. Since the formation of the club in 1992, Leo and his students have “certified” more than 200 vernal pools in Massachusetts, close to one-third of all the pools certified to date. Certification involves documenting the evidence of breeding of vernal pool obligate species by gathering biological data and submitting this evidence for review by the state’s natural heritage program. Vernal pools are only afforded protection under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act if they first have been certified.

Leo and his students also present instructional workshops in vernal pool natural history and certification to students, teachers, and conservation commissions for communities throughout the state. As a result of this training, many public school and college instructors have initiated their own certification projects, including Penn State University, which has secured state funding to conduct a vernal pool inventory. The dedication of Leo and his students to protecting and educating the public about vernal pools has included designing and distributing T-shirts, creating an exhibit that circulates at environmental conferences through-out the region, and producing publications such as “Wicked Big Puddles,” “Evidence of Breeding by Obligate Vernal Pool Species,” and “Vernal Pool Identification.”

—Stafford Madison, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Science Research

Mark Brinson is a Professor of Biology at East Carolina University. He received his B.S. from Heidelberg College, his M.S. from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and his Ph.D. in botany from the University of Florida. In the course of his career, he has served as an ecologist for the Office of Biological Services in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He has testified before Congressional committees on the functioning of wetlands and wetland delineation issues. His research has included the cycling of nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon in swamp forests, estuaries, and marshes. He is conducting research on the response of coastal wetlands to rising sea levels. Dr. Brinson has provided scientific and technical assistance to public interest groups active in wetlands protection in North Carolina as well as nationwide. He serves on the National Research Council’s wetland characterization committee, which has tackled the difficult issue of wetland delineation.

Dr. Brinson is honored in particular for his work in developing a system for hydrogeomorphic classification of wetlands. The research, published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, establishes a framework for classifying wetlands in terms of their position and relationship to other ecosystems. The Natural Resources Conservation Service has adopted this hydrogeomorphic classification system for application in its wetlands management programs. Dr. Brinson has brought together sound scientific principles from ecology and other wetland disciplines to develop a wetland classification system that has both scientific and practical utility.

— Margaret Strand, Bayh, Connaughton & Malone

 

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