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2004 National Wetlands Award Recipients
Education and Outreach
Sky Lewey
Texas
Science Research
Francis Golet
Rhode Island
Conservation and Restoration
Norman Brunswig
South Carolina
Landowner Stewardship
Jack Branning
Mississippi
State, Tribal, and Local Program Development
Peg Bostwick
Michigan
Wetland Community Leader
Barbara Salzman
California
Education and Outreach
Sky Lewey
Nueces River Authority
Uvalde, Texas
When Sky Lewey became the resource protection and public education associate for the Nueces River Authority in 2001, her task was daunting. The river authority’s enormous area includes 23 watersheds across 17,000 square miles of south Texas. Booming popularity of off-road vehicle recreation was devastating rivers in the basin and this destruction was occurring in remote wetlands out of the public eye. Ms. Lewey drew on her diverse background and experiences to bring this abuse of the rivers to statewide attention.
Born on the banks of the Nueces, Ms. Lewey is a fifth-generation rancher who has an intimate knowledge of the resource and its people. Prior to joining the authority, she worked in environmental engineering and hazardous waste management, community development, historic preservation, and international marketing, and taught school. Ms. Lewey credits all of those experiences as preparation for her current job.
Her approach to public education is straightforward: Let the river speak for itself through photographs, lectures, and tours that contrast the delicate, natural beauty of the river system with the thoughtless human activities that threaten its integrity. Making the river her classroom, she takes children and adults to see first-hand the life that depends on it. In the traditional classroom, she has introduced more than 5,000 students to watershed protection.
In 2003, she raised awareness in the Texas state capitol about damage to state-owned river beds caused by off-road recreation vehicles. Her efforts contributed to passage of legislation banning motor vehicles from Texas rivers. The bill received strong support in the state house and senate and from resource protection organizations across the state.
Ms. Lewey hopes her award will add credence to her river protection campaign and attract funding to facilitate expansion of her work.
— Susan Allen Lynch, Friends of the Frio and American Rivers, Rio Frio, Texas
Science Research
Francis Golet
University of Rhode Island
Kingston, Rhode Island
In his long and distinguished career in research, teaching, and advocacy, Dr. Golet has inspired generations of college students, helped define the framework of wetland protection and management at all levels of government, and effectively shaped the science of wetland ecology.
Dr. Golet was among the first researchers to focus on classification and assessment of wetland functions and values, providing definitional bases for modern wetland law. Shortly after publishing the Classification of Freshwater Wetlands in the Glaciated Northeast in 1974, he co-authored the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States. The classification system articulated in this work has been applied nationwide and has contributed immeasurably to wetland management and protection in the United States. His 1993 monograph, Ecology of Red Maple Swamps in the Glaciated Northeast, is the definitive work on that wetland type and includes the results of 25 years of his own field research.
Dr. Golet has taught courses in wetland ecology and management at the University of Rhode Island for more than 30 years, encouraging hundreds of students to understand and appreciate wetland systems. Nearly 150 of his students have gone on to professional careers in wetland science. Dr. Golet takes an exceptional interest in each of his students, inspiring them as few professors can.
Dr. Golet has advised state, federal, and local governments on a wide variety of wetland topics and issues, testified before the U.S. Senate regarding proposed changes to the federal definition of a “wetland,” and assisted in the preparation of technical briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. In recent years, Dr. Golet has led several major wetland restoration efforts in Rhode Island and has investigated the ecology of vernal pools.
— Thomas Ardito, Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, Narragansett, Rhode Island
Conservation and Restoration
Norman Brunswig
National Audubon Society
Harleyville, South Carolina
Mr. Brunswig grew up playing and exploring in marshes and streams at the edge of Rock Island, Illinois, and at the age of 16 decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the field as a wildlife biologist. He has realized this goal during his more than 30-year career with National Audubon Society.
Mr. Brunswig graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor of science degree in wildlife management and obtained a master of science degree in forestry and wildlife biology from the University of Georgia. After a stint as a high school biology teacher, Mr. Brunswig became the first manager of the Francis Beidler Forest Sanctuary in South Carolina’s Four Holes Swamp, where he currently serves as sanctuary director. He has used innovative techniques and formed local and regional partnerships to expand the sanctuary, which contains one of the last virgin stands of cypress-tupelo swamp forest in the country, from 3,400 acres in 1969 to its present size of more than 12,000 acres. His work has permanently protected a large (and expanding) tract of prime habitat-the American Bird Conservancy considers the forest a “bird area of global significance” and it is a U.S. National Natural Landmark-in an area that is experiencing rapid urban expansion. Formerly the National Audubon Society’s director of sanctuaries for the east coast, he currently is a vice-president of the National Audubon Society and executive director of Audubon South Carolina.
Mr. Brunswig “cannot imagine not working for Audubon.” He is married to an artist and they have two daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys getting up at five o’clock on freezing-cold mornings, putting on camouflage, sitting in a boat on a river and looking at the sky, waiting for pretty ducks to come flying by.
— Daniel Tufford, University of South Carolina Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia, South Carolina
Landowner Stewardship
Jack Branning
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Jack Branning and two partners purchased a 3,498-acre farm in Sharkey County, Mississippi, with hopes of establishing a row crop operation. However, the property, which borders the only bottomland hardwood forest in the U.S. Forest Service system, Delta National Forest, was plagued by backwater flooding. The owners were forced to replant frequently and could not harvest in two out of four years. Realizing that the land should not have been cleared and was better suited for wildlife than agriculture, Mr. Branning enrolled the entire property in the permanent protection of the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program.
Enrollment required Mr. Branning to implement some wetland restoration activities, but as he learned about wetland management and wildlife, he quickly realized he wanted to do more. With help from the NRCS, he developed an intensive restoration plan that maximizes habitat for migratory birds and other wetland-dependent species by providing a diversity of wetland types. Mr. Branning and part-time help now devote more than 900 hours annually to wetland management. The property boasts 2,675 acres of naturally flooded bottomland hardwoods and 757 acres of manageable wetlands. The managed wetlands include seasonally flooded bottomland hardwoods, moist-soil wetlands, emergent marshes, shrub/scrub wetlands, and deepwater habitat. Mr. Branning’s committed wetland management has fostered habitat for at least 43 different species of waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds, including threatened wood storks and bald eagles. His actions also significantly increased the effective habitat of the Delta National Forest.
Mr. Branning says that restoration and management have become his passions. He has become a wetland restoration advocate and frequently hosts groups on tours of his restored wetlands. Mr. Branning hopes his stewardship will leave a wetland legacy that his kids, grandkids, and society can learn from and enjoy.
— Kevin Nelms, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Greenwood, Mississippi
State, Tribal, and Local Program Development
Peg Bostwick
MI Department of Environmental Quality
Lansing, Michigan
Peg Bostwick became Michigan’s section 404 program coordinator in 1989 and has shaped the state’s wetland policy and programs for the past 15 years. Her dedicated professionalism, vast knowledge of state and federal regulations, and skilled diplomacy have allowed her to address complex state and federal government positions on wetlands and develop a sound partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ms. Bostwick is committed to developing a comprehensive wetland program in Michigan. She encourages the integration of wetland science into policies, statutes, and rules affecting wetlands, and has worked with scientists to support the development of indices of biotic integrity for Michigan wetlands and to facilitate the development of a geographic information system to support wetland protection. She launched Michigan’s wetland mitigation banking program, oversees grants for the integration of wetland protection into watershed plans and local protection efforts, and participates in state and multi-state interagency efforts, such as the Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium. Ms. Bostwick is often asked to provide input on national wetland policies and is currently vice-chair of the Association of State Wetland Managers. Her latest project is a state wetland conference that will highlight the 25th anniversary of Michigan’s wetland law.
In addition to being a national expert on state section 404 assumption and wetland policy, Ms. Bostwick is an extraordinary person. Her remarkable ability to remember detail, focus on individuals, listen carefully, and engage anyone in conversation makes her an effective advocate for wetland protection. Ms. Bostwick’s knowledge of wetland policy is vast, her enthusiasm endless, and her passion contagious. There is no other person in Michigan whose efforts have more positively shaped state wetland program direction in the last 15 years than Ms. Bostwick.
— Colleen O’Keefe, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing, Michigan
Wetland Community Leader
Barbara Salzman
Marin Audubon Society and Marin Bayland Advocates
Larkspur, California
Barbara Salzman was raised in Philadelphia, where as a child she noticed that “everything was built up.” When she moved to Marin County, California, she found much of the natural environment relatively unspoiled. She recalls, “I thought this was heaven, and it needed to be protected.”
Ms. Salzman began her “environmental career” in 1974 by opposing a plan for an ill-placed regional shopping center. She soon joined the Marin Audubon Society, where she focused on protecting the natural resources of her beloved San Francisco Bay area. Under her leadership, the group engaged in on-the-ground habitat restoration. Members quickly realized that funding was key to managing habitat, honed their skills at securing public and private financial partnerships, and took on successively larger and more expensive wetland restoration and enhancement projects.
Ten years later, Ms. Salzman and a small group of volunteers founded the Marin Baylands Advocates to protect and restore former tidelands diked for agriculture and largely under private ownership. The group raises money to buy these lands; today, it is responsible for the permanent protection of 1,008 acres of bayland and has assisted in protection of 1,600 other acres.
Ms. Salzman currently is president of the Marin Audubon Society and serves on the board of directors of six other environmental organizations. She has worked with many wetland-oriented nonprofit organizations in the bay area and has provided wetland-related advice to four regional and state advisory committees.
Ms. Salzman has helped ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy a healthy San Francisco Bay area, one of the nation’s most beautiful and sensitive regions. Her accomplishments demonstrate how much a determined group of volunteers can achieve with the right leadership and resources.
— Wayne White, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, California