Secretary Salazar Presents Operation Migration with Partners in Conservation Award

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today presented a Partners in Conservation Award to Operation Migration for their efforts to reintroduce the whooping crane to its native flyway in the eastern United States.

It was one of 26 national awards to individuals and organizations presented at a ceremony at Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C. to honor “those who achieve natural resource goals in collaboration and partnership with others.”

The 26 Partners in Conservation Awards recognize conservation achievements resulting from the cooperation and participation of a total of 600 individuals and organizations including landowners; citizens' groups; private sector and nongovernmental organizations; and federal, state, local, and/or tribal governments.

“The Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges,” the Secretary said. “Operation Migration has successfully reintroduced whooping cranes into their historic range in eastern North America by teaching them to migrate; few other organizations have such a direct interaction with the species they are trying to preserve.”

Operation Migration, based in Ontario, Canada is a founding member of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, a coalition of nine public and private agencies from Canada and the United States organized to reintroduce a self-sustaining population of whooping cranes (Grus Americana) into their historic range in eastern North America. Since 2001, eight generations of Whooping cranes have been taught to migrate in an effort designed to develop a self-sustaining population of the endangered species.

“These 26 awards recognize the dedicated efforts of people from all walks of life, from across our nation– and from across our borders with Canada and Mexico,” Salazar noted. “They celebrate partnerships that conserve and restore our nation's treasured landscapes and watersheds, partnerships that engage Native American communities, and partnerships that engage youth.”

List of Operation Migration Staff and Volunteers

Deke Clark

Liz Condie

Chris Danilko

Joseph Duff

Chris Gullikson

Beverly Paulan

Brooke Pennypacker

Heather Ray

Richard van Heuvelen

Paula and Don Lounsbury

George McCubbin

Gerald Murphy

Dale Richter

Nan Rudd

Walter Sturgeon

Jack Wrighter