InterviewRefuge

An Interview with Dennis Woolington: A Federal Wildlife Employee
                transcribed by Greg Ruckriegel

How long have you been working with the National Wildlife Reserve?

I worked for the Forest service in Oregon, in Louisiana.  Then in Alaska, I worked for the department of fish and game.  There was the forest service in Oregon.  I came out here in 91.  I’ve been working in different fields but I’ve been with the department for thirty-four years now.

What positions are available in your field?

There’s the department head that’s responsible for the program and three executives working under him for the day to day operations.  They are responsible for different regions.  I hold an equal position.  I work in the local offices and oversee the local area.  Typically there are six or seven jobs in the field, depending on the size of reserve: someone to drive truck, run a back hoe, maintenance, constructions, and management, but for a smaller region, we typically have one guy who’ll do it all.

Can you describe a typical day?

My day is far from typical.  Today, I had spent the morning on the computer for about an hour.  Then, I went out to San Louis Reservoir for a field study on the habituate for the local bird population.   But my days can range from field work, environmental studies, or coordinating field trips for local schools.  It can get complicated.  I may be training one day, out in the field another.  But I’m responsible for overseeing the local region or forty-seven hundred acres of land.  Although, I typically write letters, reports, or assist in field studies.  If land was zoned for residential but changed back to a preserve that requires a lot of work.  That’s what I do, what I’m educated in, biology and environmental science.

What’s the difference of the State workers and the workers for the National Wildlife Reserve?

Well, our goals are the same.  We both work to preserve the habitat of local game.  But our methods are different.  They’re funded through the department of fish and game, so a lot of what they do is in accordance with their constituents.  We’re funded under the Department of Interior with appropriations from the general fund.  We do the same thing; organize hunting and fishing; we also work in coordination with photography, observation, environmental education, and nature interpretation. 

How did the area’s National Wildlife Reserve come to be?

The local preserves are divided up into three parts.  Merced was acquired in 1951, San Louis in 1966, and the San Joaquin, Stanislaus County wildlife was acquired in 1987.  A big part of the purchase is paid by the Federal Duck Stamps.  There are also fee titles. 

What are fee titles?

Fee titles are trusts or deeds to the land.  There paid in full, and it gives the use of land for private use.  It’s an easement for wildlife conservation.  There are 160 different private duck clubs.  Many of them use fee titles which help preserve the conservation of our wildlife.

How new is the idea of the auto tour?

There have always been plans for tour routes.  Part of what we do is to keep the land open to the public.  There are the driving trails and the hiking paths.  There’s not much new there.  But parts of the preserve happen to be reworked.  There’s a handicap zone on the auto trail for fishing; that’s new.

What do you like most about your job?

The San Louis, Merced area is known for its birds.  There’s approximately one hundred eighty thousand waterfowl’s that fly through here.  That’s sixty percent of their population, so the area is very important for them.  We’ve been recognized by the United Nations for our conservation of wetlands.  Then there’s the revival of the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle, to be able to pull them away from extinction and off the list of endangered species.  I think that’s the best part of my job.  It’s hard work, but it’s also the most rewarding.

 ~fin