RGS & AWS is growing its conservation delivery team to improve habitat right where it’s needed most
as told to Kristyn Brady
This spring, RGS & AWS set out to grow its conservation delivery team in an important region for American woodcock – the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of North Carolina, South Carolina, southeastern Virginia and eastern Georgia – expanding the footprint of the organization and its habitat work based on cutting edge research.
President and CEO Ben Jones sat down for a Q&A to discuss this new forest conservation director role, how hiring in a new region affirms the organization’s business model and what success looks like for upland birds and other game species in the Southeast.
First, can you describe this new role and its relevance to the organization’s unique approach to conservation of the American woodcock?
The forest conservation directors are the architects of our regional habitat delivery programs and we currently have talented and knowledgeable leaders doing this work in four other regions. This takes that successful model to a new landscape.
Being able to grow our team in this way just affirms our business model that we put in place in 2020 to address the urgent need for landscape-scale conservation by building regional networks and leveraging financial returns from forest products. At the time, we were saying, “Trust us, this is going to work.” And now we have such a proof of concept that we’re expanding onto an entirely new landscape to support a bird that is really important for a lot of people who are into upland hunting.
How did you know when it was time to expand the team in the Southeast?
That’s the really fun part. For years, we’ve funded and helped to carry out research on the status of the American woodcock, particularly by helping with the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative study run by the University of Maine. RGS & AWS have joined many partners in putting GPS transmitters on woodcock in the eastern part of the continent, and – for the first time ever – we’re getting a really comprehensive look at their migration timing and patterns.
Of particular importance to us is the data gathered on their stopover and overwintering habitats. And, after years of this study, we can see which landscapes are really important for woodcock at certain times of year. That has led directly to the placement of this position in the coastal plain and piedmont of the Carolinas because the research showed us that about 30% – or one in three woodcock in the Eastern Flyway – stops over or winters in that region.
It’s been 10 years since the Ruffed Grouse Society launched our partner organization, the American Woodcock Society, which was designed specifically to work on these landscapes where woodcock spend their winters and there aren’t any ruffed grouse. In many other places, these two birds live side by side, are kind of synonymous for upland hunters, and both benefit from any improvement to the habitat. But there were geographies that benefited only woodcock and only for a portion of the year – and they were being overlooked.
So, this is really the first conservation delivery region for us that’s totally focused on woodcock, which is really exciting. Our members supported the research, have been engaged with the results and now there’s actionable intel that this is an important landscape. It’s time to deliver habitat there.
Are you expecting the person in this role to replicate the successes of the other forest conservation directors or does the new landscape demand a new way of working?
I think the forest conservation director role is core to our business model and the shift that we made in 2020. So, yes, it’s going to replicate the same growth in conservation delivery that we’re seeing in other regions where we’ve put the right person in place.
For example, right next door in the Southern Appalachian region, we didn’t have anyone on the ground until we brought on Nick Biemiller in 2020 in this same position. Today, Nick has a full staff and about $4 million in active habitat agreements. He’s working with state agencies, on the national forests and on private lands in a place where we needed to capitalize on more habitat work. Four years later, we have a largely self-funded network. And I think that’s possible in this new region, as well.
But the habitat is different. The forest management practices will be different. Land ownership patterns and forest product markets vary so widely from the Southeast compared to, say, the upper Great Lakes that you might as well be on different planets. One of the first orders of business for this new forest conservation director will be to write a regional business plan, because you can’t just take the Great Lakes business plan and apply it to the southern Virginia, the eastern Carolinas and Georgia.
How much do you think the success of others in this role speaks to the passion of the individual employee? What else are you looking for in a candidate?
The passion of the employee is important. But our forest conservation directors need to be really strong leaders and strategists, because they have to put together a network of foundations, federal partners, state partners and private landowners.
They also need a really deep understanding of and pragmatic experience in the fields of forestry and wildlife biology. We often refer to our conservation delivery staff as wildlife foresters. I don’t want to say they’re unicorns – because there are definitely people who have an interest and specialize in both sides – but we’re asking to combine that with, say, five to 10 years of field experience, a really strategic mindset and demonstrated work with partners. We’re looking for a very special person to do well in this role.
What kind of relationship will this person have with the local chapters?
A key part of this position is communicating with our local supporters, rank-and-file members and donors. Because, if we’re not talking about the work with these folks, it’s as if we’re not even doing it. The forest conservation directors tie in with the chapters, not just to get them motivated and inspired by projects but also to coordinate with them on local fundraising and how we can leverage those dollars with bigger grants and conservation agreements. Most funding agencies or foundations require a 25% or 50% non-federal match, and motivated local chapters and fundraisers are critical. For every dollar they raise, we’re securing $4, $5 or even $10 more to achieve our mission. That can’t happen without collaboration.
Beyond fundraising, the person in this role will also make sure local members are informed and ready to be mobilized for public comment periods and other opportunities to advocate for conservation projects, funding and policies. That part is really important, too.
And that kind of work is easier to do with in-region knowledge and contacts than from a national office hundreds of miles away, right?
Exactly. From the national office, we can’t keep our fingers on the pulse of everything that’s going on regionally or within each state. It’s essential to have local eyes and ears on the ground. Plus, when it comes to national forest management, our folks in the region can show up and speak with someone at the U.S. Forest Service face to face or be waiting in the lobby when they come into the office in the morning. It’s that in-person contact and local relationship building that you just have to have.
Each forest conservation director isn’t an island, though. They are part of the national team and feed information up that we may need to act on in Washington, D.C. They also meet with each other regularly to share knowledge, current practices, new research coming out and information on funding sources.
Can you give an example of a time when the forest conservation directors from different regions have actually inspired each other to do things differently than before?
Oh, absolutely. I think most often a shift might come from someone else’s insight on forest product markets. Because the beauty of the way we manage forests is that it puts a commodity product on the market. So, there’s been a lot of idea sharing among the regions about different approaches and ways to think about how to get wood cut or how to partner with forest product companies to do more habitat work. They trade advice on matching grants with state partners or how to leverage and work more closely with the different regional joint ventures. It’s a constant exchange of information.
Is there already a wish list of projects for the new forest conservation director to get started on, particularly based on the data that you’ve already collected about where the birds are?
Yes. We’ve already started talking to forest service partners in the Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests in South Carolina and the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina, and there’s a lot of interest in kickstarting projects when this person comes on. The hopper is already pretty full of proposals for this person to run with. They should be hiring staff very quickly.
What do you like best about this move into the coastal forest of the Southeast?
I love that this is all about woodcock, which is such a compelling bird – they’re so quirky and cool and a really important gateway bird for recruiting new hunters. If you have somebody just starting out with upland hunting, taking them on a woodcock hunt can be a great way to introduce them to the dogs and the cover. Plus, this is a totally wild bird experience. There’s no put-and-take woodcock hunting.
I also love that this is the 2024 version of what Ruffed Grouse Society has done for more than 60 years, which is act based on good science. And I can’t wait to see who comes to us with applications and start having these discussions to fill this role. Because with all our recent hires, from state coordinators to forest wildlife specialists, we always get to talk to some really amazing people.
View the job description for the Coastal Plains/Piedmont Forest Conservation Director.
