Staff Report - Spring 2006

In October, President Cooper met with Fish and wildlife Service Director Dale Hall and others to discuss priorities for the coming year. Cooper and Hall agreed that the following six items should receive special emphasis from the states and the Service:

•  Finalization and implementation of new Wildlife Refuge policies.

•  Development and implementation of conservation feature through the 2007 Farm Bill.

•  Endangered Species Act reauthorization.

•  Implementation of Comprehensive State Wildlife Strategies.

•  Initial completion and implementation of the National Fish Habitat Initiative.

•  Habitat recovery efforts as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

On February 27, President Cooper and Vice President Parker met in Washington , DC with Association staff to discuss planning for succession within the Association, future operations, and priorities for 2006-07. Follow-up discussions will take place at the North American conference and at the Association's September meeting.

Changes in Member Agencies

The following changes in leadership in member agencies have occurred since last September's meeting. Dave Schad was named Director of Minnesota DNR's Division of Fish and Wildlife on January 20, replacing John Guenther who retired at the end of the year.

Karen Brown retired as Assistant Deputy Minister for Environment Canada. Cecile Cleroux is now Assistant Deputy Minister of the Environmental Branch, and Brian Gray is Assistant Deputy Minister for the Science and Technology Branch.

The directorships of Rhode Island , New Jersey , Illinois , Virginia , Oregon and the District of Columbia have not been officially filled, but until then, they are being capably handled by Mike Lapisky (RI), Dave Chanda (NJ), Sam Flood (IL), Gerald Massengill (VA), Roy Elicker (OR) and John Siemien (DC).

Among our federal members, Mitch King assumed duties as Denver Regional Director for the Fish and Wildlife Service at the end of December. Rowan Gould has been named Mitch's replacement as Assistant Director for Federal Assistance and State Programs. Tom Melius replaces Gould as Regional Director in Alaska , and Beth Stevens assumed Melius' position as Assistant Director for External Affairs. Matt Hogan has been Acting Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks since Craig Manson left in January. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announced her resignation effective the end of March, and Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett will serve as Acting.

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Staff Personnel

Jeff Johnston started January 1 in the position formerly held by Len Singel coordinating Automated Wildlife Data Systems, Information Technology and Data Utilization. Jeff will work from his home office in Arkansas with periodic trips to Washington . Dr. Amber Pairis started March 6 as State/Federal Science and Research Liaison replacing Dr. Russ Mason who is now Game Bureau Chief for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Kristine Gielow, a recent graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing , Michigan , and Tina Dobrinsky on a two-month assignment from the Fish and Wildlife Service, have been helping out on federal budget analysis and agriculture conservation issues respectively.Finally, I have informed the Executive Committee that my last day with the Association will be September 27, 2006. They anticipate posting a job announcement in April and tentatively having a new person reporting for duty on September 5. Don MacLauchlan will be ending 14 years of full-time work with the Association on July 31, 2006. Don will work part time in the Fall until he finishes some projects currently underway

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee held their annual winter meeting December 8 and 9, 2005 in Washington , DC . During this meeting the committee made staff salary adjustments for 2006, finalized committee assignments for 2006, voted to take the proposal for a name and logo change to the membership, elected John Frampton (SC) to the ExecutiveCommittee replacing Ira Palmer , plus they received reports on the Association's financial status, the National Conservation Leadership Institute, Farm Bill reauthorization, legislation and federal land policy, the upcoming economic survey, avian influenza, direction of the Wildlife Management Institute, legal issues, status of wildlife action plans, development of an Association business plan, and fundraising for the Conservation Education Strategy.

On February 1, the Executive Committee met by phone to conduct AWARE business, to discuss legal issues, avian influenza, and the new Energy and Wildlife Policy Committee.

On March 17, the Executive Committee met by phone to discuss the search process for a new Executive Vice President and finalization of agendas for the Executive Committeeand Business Meetings at the North American conference.

To view the report, click here to download the pdf. If you're looking for a previous issue, contact us at 202/624-7890 or info@fishwildlife.org.