DU Staffers Receive 2024 Excellence in Conservation Awards
Awards are given annually by the DU Conservation Programs Committee
February 06, 2025 •
6
min read
Jessica Tyler, DU
Ducks Unlimited and its Conservation Programs Committee congratulate the winners of the 2024 Excellence in Conservation Awards.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Feb. 6, 2025 – Ducks Unlimited (DU) has announced its annual Excellence in Conservation Awards, created by DU's Conservation Programs Committee (CPC) to recognize outstanding conservation accomplishments and the staff members who made them possible.
Any extraordinary accomplishment that supports DU's conservation mission of filling the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever is eligible for recognition. The 2024 awards were announced during the CPC winter meeting in Galveston, Texas.
"These Ducks Unlimited staff members and partners were recognized for their extraordinary efforts, amazing achievements and careers dedicated to conservation," said DU Chief Conservation Officer Dr. Karen Waldrop. "Every year, we are grateful for the outstanding work of so many dedicated Ducks Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Ducks Unlimited de México staff members and partners."
The following 2024 Ducks Unlimited Excellence in Conservation Lifetime Career Achievement Award winners are recognized for sustained, long-term contributions to DU's conservation mission:
Senior Engineering Specialist Shane Hanna. Hanna has arguably impacted every project delivered to the Southern Region for nearly three decades. In addition to surveying, providing computer-aided design drawings and training and supervising incoming technicians, Hanna is also the Southern Region’s IT support person. Shane’s vast surveying and computer knowledge have helped the Southern Region achieve DU’s conservation goals.
Brian Hepworth, director of Regional Operations, Prairies and Boreal, Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). Hepworth began his career in 1991 as a DUC field biologist, moving to the Provincial Operations Manager position in Saskatchewan, where he led DUC operations on the prairies for ten years. For the past two years, Brian has served in a national leadership role as the director of Regional Operations for the DUC Prairie and Boreal teams. Hepworth has helped conserve tens of thousands of acres of critical waterfowl habitat, leaving a legacy for wildlife conservation. He recently retired, but his impact over 33 years has been incredible.
Steve Spezia, conservation consultant for Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. Spezia is well known for his work with numerous conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited, Quail Forever and the National Wild Turkey Federation. Working many years in the St. Louis area, he taught citizens the importance of conservation and natural resource management. For over 50 years, he has worked in conservation with private landowners, managing and protecting their land in perpetuity.
The following Ducks Unlimited Excellence in Conservation Exemplary Project Excellence Award winners are individuals or teams that undertook a unique or challenging project worthy of recognition.
Elkhorn Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration Project, April Zohn, manager of Environmental Compliance and Steve Carroll, manager of Engineering Services. The Elkhorn Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration Project enhanced and restored 121 acres of tidal marsh and 37 acres of native grasslands and seasonal wetlands in California. The project moved 545,000 cubic yards of soil from adjacent upland areas. It used the material to raise degraded marsh to address the system’s deficient sediment supply and projected sea level rise. The borrow area was re-contoured to create a new tidal marsh, native transitional habitat and seasonal wetlands. The degraded tidal marsh was raised by two to three feet, and seven miles of tidal channels were re-constructed.
Gray Lodge Wildlife Area Water Supply Project, Bobbie Renfro, project coordinator; John Ranlett, regional biologist; Meghan Patrick, biologist; Scott Heringer, regional engineer; Vince Thompson, director of Engineering Services; and Virginia Getz, director of Conservation Programs. The Gray Lodge Wildlife Area Water Supply Project benefited wetlands and agriculture. This project was a six-year permitting, design and construction effort. The $52 million project improved five and a half miles of canals and structures to deliver the full water allocation to support the California wildlife area’s wetlands and approximately 20,000 acres of rice lands.
Narrows Project, John Denton, manager of Conservation Programs; Kevin Warner, manager of Engineering Services; and Thomas Parker, regional engineer. The Narrows Project is a $3 million project that will create over 1,100 acres of wetlands and provide over 1,700 acres of public access managed by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Colorado's heavily populated front range. This project is on Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) lands that have been sitting idle and used only as marginal grazing lands in this short grass biome since their acquisition in the 1970s. This project will provide public access and wildlife-based recreation in the heavily populated Denver/Greeley/Fort Collins metro area.
The Distinguished Individual Achievement Award honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding performance, contributions or achievements that meaningfully support Ducks Unlimited’s ability to deliver on our conservation mission. The 2024 winners are:
Regional Engineer Brian Marker, P.E., based in Boise, Idaho. He began his career with DU in 2013, covering projects in Southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Over the last several years, Brian has maintained a strong conservation delivery program in his core conservation area, provided engineering leadership in a reinvigorated conservation program in Utah, and led engineering on significant projects to help other conservation teams. He mentored a new regional engineer and played a key role in mentoring and supporting other engineering staff. He contributes his unique breadth of experience in wetlands engineering, geotechnical engineering and topographic surveying to many of our complex projects and conservation teams.
Regional Engineer Andrew Schippers completed the first three IDALS Nutrient Reduction Wetlands for Ducks Unlimited in Iowa. The completion represents a major shift in conservation in Iowa and in a priority area for DU, impacting waterfowl, people and communities throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Schippers surveyed, designed and completed three complex wetland projects in Dotson, Moline and Wallace, Iowa. These three projects' scope, design and function promote Schipper's flexibility and ability as an engineer to find solutions for water delivery and project success.
Bruce Toay, manager of Conservation Programs. Toay has been a critical component to the compounding success of conserving habitat in DU’s Level I Conservation Priority Area in the Prairie Pothole Region by building and adapting new protocols for soil health programs. Bruce has led the charge in securing $33.7 million in three years for conservation practices geared towards grassland restorations in a landscape that reports rates of grassland loss at unprecedented levels. Bruce’s knowledge of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, ability to cultivate partnerships and willingness to be a resource to other DU programs and external partners has had landscape-level habitat conservation impacts that have not been seen before.
The Outstanding Contractor Award recognizes a contractor, consultant or other paid service provider for DU that has demonstrated superior quality in their work, exceeded project expectations or maintained exemplary standards of professionalism and reliability. The 2024 winner is:
BCI Contracting, Inc., Dave Porter, Dan Porter and Drew Porter. BCI Contracting, Inc. was selected by DU and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to construct Phase 1 of the Barnes and Agency Lake Units Wetland Restoration Project at the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in Klamath County, Oregon. The project will reconnect over 14,000 acres of managed wetlands and pasture on the north end of Upper Klamath Lake to the lake, resulting in enhanced lake fringe and open water habitat for waterfowl and other wetland-associated bird species, increased refugia for critically endangered fish species and enhanced water storage capacity for water users in the Upper Klamath Basin. Implementation of the project required work in a large and dispersed work area, including extensive earthwork in soft peat soils in saturated site conditions and project delivery in one construction season to align with downstream dam removal on the Klamath River. BCI worked closely with cultural monitors from the Klamath Tribes throughout construction to ensure excavation work did not disturb culturally sensitive artifacts. BCI’s professional competence and solution-oriented approach to construction were instrumental in delivering this project on time and budget.
"Ducks Unlimited has a talented, passionate Conservation team working diligently to succeed in our mission, as demonstrated in our Conservation for a Continent campaign. These dedicated professionals routinely deliver exceptional conservation results, playing a critical role in accomplishing our goals," said CPC Chair Dr. Christine Thomas. "Each year, the Excellence in Conservation awards program conveys the gratitude of DU's volunteer leadership by highlighting the impressive talent and expertise of the DU conservation staff."
About Ducks Unlimited
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing wetlands, grasslands and other waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has restored or protected more than 19 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science, DU’s projects benefit waterfowl, wildlife and people in all 50 states. DU is growing its mission through a historic $3 billion Conservation For A Continent capital campaign. Learn more at www.ducks.org.
Media Contact:
Gregg Powers
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