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ransitions.. .
<br />Who's Coming and Going
<br />Marvin Moriarty, a Vermont native and avid
<br />outdoorsman, returned in December to
<br />the land of his roots as the new Regional
<br />Director for the Northeast Region. Moriarty
<br />left his position as Deputy Regional Director
<br />for the Great Lakes and Big Rivers Region,
<br />a position he held for 15 years. Moriarty
<br />started working for the Service in 1972 on
<br />wetland and water quality restoration in the
<br />Delaware and Chesapeake bays. Born in
<br />Springfield, Vermont, Moriarty holds a
<br />Bachelor of Science degree in biology from
<br />St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia. His
<br />outside interests include photography,
<br />fishing, canoeing and canoe-building. An
<br />enthusiastic cross-country and back-country
<br />skier, he also enjoys winter camping.
<br />Chris Tollefson is the new Chief of Federal
<br />Duck Stamp Office. He transferred from
<br />Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., where he
<br />covered many issues including Migratory
<br />Birds and State Programs.
<br />Director Steve Williams welcomed
<br />Carol Pollio back to her regular fisheries
<br />biologist's job in Arlington, Virginia following
<br />a six-month tour of active duty with the
<br />U.S. Coast Guard. Pollio, a Coast Guard
<br />lieutenant commander who has been
<br />a Reservist for 20 years, worked as a
<br />contingency planner for the Coast Guard
<br />Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, VA, from
<br />April to October, 2003.
<br />John M. Seals was named the new supervisor
<br />of the Service's Mora National Fish
<br />Hatchery and Technology Center, located
<br />in Mora, NM. Seals, a 12-year Service
<br />veteran, will oversee technology
<br />development at the facility, centered around
<br />hatching and raising the endangered Gila
<br />trout, a rare fish found only in southwest
<br />New Mexico and central Arizona, in
<br />state-of-the-art water recirculation systems.
<br />Formerly the Chief of the Division of Aquatic
<br />Nuisance Species for the Service, Sharon
<br />Gross accepted a position at USGS in Reston,
<br />Virginia, that began on November 30, 2003.
<br />Norman E. Olson, Chief of the Division of
<br />Conservation Planning and Policy in the
<br />Northeast Region, retired in August 2003
<br />after 26 years of combined federal service. A
<br />U.S. Army veteran, Olson began his planning
<br />career with 11 years in the private sector,
<br />followed by two years with the former
<br />Heritage Conservation and Recreation
<br />Program of the National Park Service.
<br />In 1982, the Service hired Olson to help
<br />implement the Alaska National Interest
<br />Lands Conservation Act. His pioneering
<br />work on six national wildlife refuges in
<br />Alaska foreshadowed our current techniques
<br />in refuge planning and public involvement.
<br />In Washington, D.C., Olson served as the
<br />lead planner for the Refuges 2003 project.
<br />His leadership and professionalism earned
<br />him great respect throughout his career,
<br />and his contributions to the Service will
<br />be long-lasting.
<br />After more than 35 years of employment
<br />with the Service, all in the National Wildlife
<br />Refuge System, Dave Heffernan retired April
<br />3, 2003. Heffernan's career started at Hutton
<br />Lake NWR in Wyoming in 1967 and took
<br />him to Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, and
<br />Minnesota refuges. After working in the field
<br />for over 10 years, he moved to Washington,
<br />D.C. as Refuge Manager in the Division of
<br />Operations and then as Refuge Program
<br />Specialist before moving to Atlanta to work
<br />in the Regional Office. He finished his career
<br />with the Service in Colorado at the Regional
<br />Office in Region 6 as the Deputy Chief,
<br />National Wildlife Refuge System. He and
<br />his wife left in June for a two-year tour with
<br />the Peace Corps in Mongolia.
<br />Lee Carlson left the Service last summer
<br />after a 29-year career with the Service in
<br />Ecological Services. Carlson started in 1974
<br />with the Division of River Basin Studies in
<br />Galveston, Texas, before moving to the
<br />Regional Office in Region 6. In 1989, he
<br />became the Colorado State Supervisor for
<br />Ecological Services, and will finish his career
<br />as the Colorado ES Field Supervisor, a
<br />position he has held since 1994. In April 2003,
<br />the Lakewood Field Office, under Carlson's
<br />supervision, was awarded the Transportation
<br />Environmental Stewardship Excellence
<br />Award by the Service and the 2003
<br />Environmental Excellence Award in the
<br />Ecosystems Habitat and Wildlife by the
<br />Federal Highway Administration for their
<br />Shortgrass Prairie Initiative project which
<br />works to protect habitat and species through
<br />conservation easements and partnerships
<br />with private landowners while working to
<br />provide for Colorado's transportation needs.
<br />Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge
<br />Manager John Koerner retired April 3, 2003,
<br />after 32 years with the Service. The past 15
<br />years, he lived and breathed Sand Lake
<br />NWR as the refuge manager. Before that,
<br />he worked in Valentine, NE, and Madison,
<br />Pierre, and Waubay in South Dakota.
<br />Koerner graduated from Ohio State
<br />University in 1971 with his Master's degree.
<br />He plans to retire from the Service, but will
<br />start working at a golf course in Aberdeen
<br />to fill his hours and fuel his love of golf.
<br />Over 29 years of work with the Service
<br />ended this spring for Grady Towns. Towns
<br />was the National Environmental Policy
<br />Act Coordinator for Region 6 when he
<br />retired February 3, 2003. He was involved
<br />in innovative projects such as black-footed
<br />ferret recovery, Environmental Justice
<br />review, the Federal Leadership Forum
<br />on energy issues, and region-wide
<br />NEPA training.
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