Conservation leadership in 21st century America is far different than it was 50 years ago. Federal agencies have long been compelled to do the most with the people and funding they receive. However, now accounting for agency performance has become more formal and directed.
At the same time, some futurists have predicted that early in the 21st century the entire body of human knowledge would double every week. Moreover, the Refuge System of the 21st century must find ways to manage environmental challenges such as climate change, invasive species, biotechnology and water quality and quantity, to name a few.
Because national wildlife refuges are part of a larger conservation estate, the Service must lead and manage them in the context of the landscapes in which they exist. To meet the conservation community’s shared goal for functional landscapes with viable fish and wildlife populations, the Refuge System must participate in collaborative partnerships to support specific landscape-scale goals and objectives. Seeing the Refuge System as part of a bigger “whole” will most effectively contribute to the management of habitats and species across the landscapes in which wildlife refuges are a part of. Human and fiscal resources will be focused strategically on priorities, and the Service will manage existing wildlife refuges and acquire new conservation lands to meet specific goals for habitats and species. The Service will also be better positioned to use the Refuge System to ensure fish and wildlife populations have the opportunity to respond and adapt with changing climates.
Employees must be well-versed in the principles of strategic habitat conservation and will help lead the larger conservation community to set objectives, design conservation models, deliver conservation on the ground, monitor to determine results and test assumptions through targeted research. The Service must remain committed to operating in a collaborative and adaptive framework. Refuge System leaders at all levels will be effective members and beneficiaries of collaborative landscape conservation cooperatives, where shared goals within a landscape are attained by filling critical information gaps that then allow the Refuge System to more effectively target on-the-ground delivery efforts.
Together, all of these factors mean that today’s conservation leaders not only must exhibit professionalism and vision, but they also must become integral parts of their communities and learn to communicate clearly and frequently. This will increasingly mean using cutting-edge technology that did not exist decades ago. Professional development becomes imperative in such a climate.
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Leadership & Management
Recommendation: Reorganize the USFWS and NWRS to provide more visible and effective leadership of the Refuge System. First reorganize the FWS into 6 versus the 8 regions to help consolidate regional and administrative management. Generally, these regions would be Alaska, Pacific, North Central, South Central, Northeast and Southeast. (we can talk about the lines later). Then develop a process whereby Refuge Superintendents are established for States or “Provinces”. Provinces will be zones within larger states or possibly multiple small states. These Refuge Superintendents will replace higher ranking project leader positions, and report directly to the Regional NWRS Chiefs. The existing Refuge Supervisor positions would be abolished. The Superintendents will be primarily field based, located at a geographic or dominate refuge location for each State or Province.