Dedicated to the memory of those that gave their lives in service to our wildlife resources
Brandon White, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife technician, died in a helicopter crash on August 8, 2020 on Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in Brewster County, Texas while conducting aerial surveys for desert bighorn sheep.
Sources: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department news release, August 9, 2020.
Dewey Stockbridge, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist, died in a helicopter crash on August 8, 2020 on the Black Gap Widlife Management Area in Brewster County, Texas while conducting an aerial survey for desert bighorn sheep.
Sources: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department news release, August 9, 2020.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Dittmar, state wildlife veterinarian for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, died August 8, 2020 in a helicopter crash on the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in Brewster County, Texas, while conducting an aerial survey for desert bighorn sheep.
Sources: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department news release August 9, 2020.
Benjamin Joel Peterson, a biologist for Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., died March 31, 2020 in a helicopter accident while conducting aerial wildlife surveys in Audubon County Iowa.
It was recently announced that 5 employees of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources tested positive for a latent form tuberculosis in 2019 after testing white-tailed deer for chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis. Hundreds of other employees and volunteers were offered testing but no results of such testing have been announced. Investigations of the incident did not discover exactly how the workers became infected.
Source: The Bridge (MI), March 6, 2020
Raptor biologist John David Bittner died January 9, 2020 while rappelling down a cliff in San Diego County, California to change the batteries on a camera installed on the cliff to monitor a Golden Eagle nest.
He received a B.S. in Zoology and Wildlife Management from The Ohio State University (1968) where he also conducted graduate studies in Avian Reproduction and Natural Resources (1975-1977). He worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio Dept of Natural Resources, and taught at three different Universities. He co-founded the Wildlife Research Institute in 1993.
Source: San Diego Union Tribune, January 10, 2020. Ramona Sentinel, January 16, 2020. Wildlife Research Institute.
In May, 2018 USFWS wildlife technician Amber Kornack was collecting bear hair samples in Montana and despite following recommendations to make noise with whistles and hand claps to alert bears, she ended up walking to within 12 feet of a male grizzly bear. Once the bear noticed her, it attacked, and bit her head causing a skull fracture. She managed to drive it away with bear spray and ended up walking 2 miles with this severe injury in order to get back to her vehicle. The bear was relocated in 2019 after causing problems in a populated area.
Sources: Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 29, 2019, NBCMontana.com
The South Carolina Wildlife Federation has established a scholarship for those pursuing environmental fields in memory of Nicole Hawkins, who died during a prescribed fire at Fort Jackson earlier this year. For more information on how to apply or to donate, go to http://www.scwf.org/chadwick-fund
Federal land management agency employees are continuing to be attacked or threatened on a regular basis. These incidents resulted in opening up many domestic terrorism investigations. Check out the GAO report.
Mark Alan Jackson, a Kansas Parks and Wildlife Department temporary employee, died June 25, 2019 while spraying weeds on the Milford Wildlife Area when the ATV he was riding overturned, rolled down, and embankment and pinned him underneath.
Source: Kansas Parks and Wildlife Department Press Release; Junction City (KS) Post.