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2010 National Wetlands Awards Recipients

Conservation and Restoration

Jim Wilcox
California

Education and Outreach

Bill Volkert
Wisconsin

Conservation and Restoration

Jim Wilcox
Feather River
Coordinated Resource Management
Taylorsville, California

Mr. Jim Wilcox is the Senior Project and Program Manager at Plumas Corporation for the Feather River Coordinated Resource Management group. He has designed and completed more than 40 successful projects that restored 48 miles of stream channels and riparian habitats, and pioneered the use of the pond-and-plug technique in northeastern California, successfully restoring 3,400 acres of meadow floodplains and wetlands, most of which lie in the Feather River watershed along the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Many organizations and individuals seek his input and guidance on restoration projects, as he has repeatedly gone out of his way to assist other organizations and share his expertise and experience. In working to restore the Big Meadows in Sequoia National Forest, Mr. Wilcox drove eight hours to visit the project after a flood event. He spent several weeks writing up a technical paper about the project’s response to share with the projects partners, all of which was voluntary and outside of the project requirements.

Education and Outreach

Bill Volkert
Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources
Horicon, Wisconsin

Mr. William Volkert has worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) as a Wildlife Educator/Naturalist at the 32,000-acre Horicon Marsh for the past 25 years. Designated as a Wetland of International Importance in 1990, Mr. Volkert has been instrumental in helping others to understand the significance of the marsh, where he has conducted 3,500 educational programs for 200,000 visitors, as well as providing more than 1,700 media interviews. Mr. Volkert also spearheaded the effort to create the Horicon Marsh International Education Center (HMIEC), a public-private effort between the WDNR and the Friends of the HMIEC, a group which he helped form. As a result of Volkert’s vision, motivation, and leadership, the Friends worked for over a decade to raise $3 million for the construction of the HMIEC facility. Mr. Volkert’s reach extends far beyond Horicon Marsh. He has provided training to 66 delegations of scientists from 41 countries and has made eight trips to Russia’s Lake Baikal—the world’s largest freshwater body—as part of a cooperative exchange with Russian scientists to develop education materials and further public awareness for environmental protection.

Landowner Stewardship

The Laszlo Family
(Jeff Laszlo and his niece Caitlyn)
Granger Ranches
Ennis, Montana

The Andrew and Anne Laszlo family has permanently protected more than half of their 14,000-acre ranch—making it the largest wetland and stream restoration project of its kind in the state of Montana. Over the past five years, they have worked with federal, state, and private conservation partners to protect and restore a major portion of the O’Dell Creek headwaters in Madison County, part of an 8,000-acre wetland complex. The area was drained for grass production back in the 1950s, but since 2004, the restoration effort has filled or plugged 16,000 feet of drainage ditches, restored more than 500 acres of wetlands, and created 35,000 feet of stream channel and adjacent riparian habitat. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of bird species increased from 11 to 90. The Laszlo family sees the restoration effort as part of a broader vision that supports sustainable cattle ranching and provides habitat for fish and wildlife. The commitment and dedication of the Laszlo family has inspired local conservation organizations, agricultural producers, school groups, hunters and anglers, community members, and other landowners to become involved in wetland restoration.

Science Research

Rebecca Sharitz
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia
Aiken, South Carolina

Dr. Rebecca Sharitz, professor and senior research ecologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, is the leading expert on the ecology of southeastern floodplain forests and Carolina bays—isolated, depressional wetlands. Dr. Sharitz has authored or co-authored more than 160 peer-reviewed papers or chapters and co-edited three books. She has received over 40 significant research grants, has trained more than 30 graduate students, 13 postdoctoral fellows, and more than 100 volunteers. She also has been invited to serve on four National Academy of Science committees. Her research was the first to show a link between flooding characteristics and forest regeneration, an important finding in understanding how southeastern floodplain forests react after experiencing hurricanes, alteration from dams, and discharge of thermally hot waters from nuclear reactors. Her research on the Carolina bays has shown that they have the greatest variety of plant seeds in the soil of any wetland type and that passive restoration—blocking drainage ditches—has proven to be an effective method to restore their natural hydrology and wetland vegetation.

State, Tribal, and Local Program Development

Michael Cain
Wisconsin Department
of Natural Resources
Madison, Wisconsin

Mr. Michael Cain served as an attorney with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for over 30 years. He authored or co-authored all of Wisconsin’s wetland protection laws and was instrumental in using the Clean Water Act’s §401 Water Quality Certifications to protect Wisconsin’s wetlands. Mr. Cain also played an important role in authoring the state’s nonfederal wetlands law to protect areas that have lost federal jurisdiction. Since the adoption of Wetland Water Quality Certifications in 1991, the rate of loss has slowed from 1,400 acres annually to only 250 acres per year. His leadership has helped build common ground among many stakeholders and overcome obstacles that have prevented stronger wetland protection in other states, all of which has been instrumental in helping to streamline wetland permitting in Wisconsin. After assisting with the hiring, mentoring, and training of his successor, Mr. Cain officially retired from WDNR last fall and is now pursuing teaching positions within the University of Wisconsin’s law schools.

Wetland Community Leadership

Jan Vandersloot
(posthumously)
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
Huntington Beach, California

Dr. Jan Vandersloot co-founded the Bolsa Chica Land Trust (BCLT) and—by organizing concerned citizens, meeting with local officials, and building coalitions—led a 17-year effort to successfully preserve 1,700-acre Bolsa Chica wetland ecosystem in Southern California. A regular fixture at California Coastal Commission (CCC) meetings, his deep understanding of the California Coastal Act (CCA) and the California Environmental Quality Act and passion for protecting both large and small wetlands resulted in significant protection for coastal wetlands across the state. As part of the BCLTs effort, they sued the California Coastal Commission over their plan to allow development in the Bolsa Chica wetlands. Their successful argument that the plan violated the CCA provided important precedent for wetland protection. Dr. Vandersloot’s effort protected hundreds of acres of wetlands. A day after his sudden and unexpected passing in November 2009, the CCC decided to raise the penalty for the destruction of wetlands and increase the stringency of restoration requirements. His leadership style brought people together because he calmly and factually argued his case for why wetland protection was so important.

Awardees In the News
Past Awards Recipients (1989-2009)