Director Receives Honor for Waterfowl Research

Dr. Stephen P. Havera, director of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Forbes Biological Station in Havana has received the 2004 Conservation Achievement Award from Ducks Unlimited.

The award is in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the field of waterfowl research and conservation. The award was announced at the recent North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Spokane, Wash.

Ducks Unlimited specifically cited Havera’s research that documented the effects of lead shot on waterfowl and his studies of river ecology. His accomplishments include two books about the waterfowl of Illinois that are the standard references for waterfowl ecology and management.

Partnership honored for enhancing habitat

Creative cooperation that improved duck habitat in the Illinois River Valley has earned the Wildlife Management Institute’s 2004 Touchstone Award for a central Illinois partnership. The award was presented during the annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Spokane, Wash.

The award recognizes the contributions of Ducks Unlimited, Caterpillar, Inc., the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and a variety of businesses and private citizens who worked together to enhance wildlife habitat on more than 10,000 acres during the past three years.

Caterpillar provided heavy equipment, while Ducks Unlimited offered biological expertise and IDNR land managers identified wetland sites in need to attention. Wetlands were created or reclaimed, degraded habitat improved and necessary maintenance performed.

The Illinois River Valley Habitat Initiative was a notion conceived by Mike Hitchcock, owner of Hitchcock Scrap Yard in Canton and Jay Alexander, then manager of building equipment for Caterpillar, Inc.