Denver, CO - The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announces David Lucas, our Colorado Front Range National Wildlife Refuge Complex Manager, as the 2024 National Wildlife Refuge Association Refuge Manager of the Year. David was honored at the 2024 National Wildlife Refuge Association awards ceremony on September 18, 2024, in Washington DC.
This prestigious award is presented to an individual refuge manager that has demonstrated exceptional dedication and made significant contributions to the conservation and enhancement of the National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System.
Over the last ten years, David’s inspirational leadership transformed the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR from a U.S. Army Base to a premier Urban Refuge visited by over one million people a year. This remarkable achievement was followed by the more recent successful opening to the public of the Rocky Flats and Two Ponds NWRs, which support thriving wildlife populations with multiple urban connections.
David’s leadership and hard work brought many improvements to the refuges in the Colorado Front Range NWR Complex. These improvements included hiring bilingual rangers, building nature-based recreational opportunities such as hiking/biking trails, archery, and recreational catch and release fishing; managing and growing a healthy and successful bison herd; restoring 15,000 acres of short grass prairie, mixed grass prairie and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitats; and successfully reintroducing the endangered black-footed ferret to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR landscape. These amazing efforts in conserving wildlife and their habitats in an urban environment and in connecting urban communities to the outdoor are a result of David’s vision and leadership, an amazing NWR team, and coordination and collaboration with the local communities and partners.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.
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