Award-Winning Work

Protecting important landscapes isn’t easy work, so we think celebrating success in conservation is important when you get the chance. That’s why we’re proud to share that Kelly McDowell, Senior Project Manager with WildLandscapes, is the recipient of the 2021 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Realty Land Legacy Award for his exceptional work with the National Wildlife Refuge System!

Kelly worked as a wildlife biologist and refuge manager for more than 30 years with the National Wildlife Refuge System, where he sought to protect special wild places through land protection, restoration, and management. During his tenure, he worked with waterfowl, shorebirds, rails, American alligator, white-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, and forest songbirds. His body of work spans endangered species like whooping cranes, ocelots, aplomado falcon, and golden-cheeked warblers, and includes the restoration of habitats from bottomland hardwood, oak-juniper and thorn scrub forests, to prairies, prairie wetlands and coastal marshes. 

Furthermore, Kelly served as the Service’s lead for coordinating with the State of Texas to identify and implement land protection strategies to support recovery of wildlife and coastal habitats impacted by the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. 

During his time with the Refuge System, Kelly secured over $700 million in funding for wildlife conservation, and helped to expand the Refuge System by almost 100,000 acres by working with diverse communities to apply science-based landscape conservation. According to Kelly, this work and success was possible because of great working relationships with Texas Parks and Wildlife, NGOs, community leaders, landowners, federal partners, and the Service Realty program. Needless to say, he’s contributed more than his fair share to protecting the places that matter most.

Addition to the Wildlandscapes team

In other news, WildLandscapes has a new Communications Director! Hired back in August, Samuel Bowlin brings a range of experience to the team.

Like most of the crew, Samuel’s passion is conservation. While earning his B.S. in Natural Resource Ecology and Management from Louisiana State University, Samuel spent his summers conducting stream surveys in the Shenandoah Valley, tracking critically endangered pallid sturgeon up the Yellowstone River, and more.

After graduating, Samuel researched seafood markets, fisheries health, and natural resource policy with both Louisiana Sea Grant and the Environmental Defense Fund. Moving forward, he’s excited to focus on communicating WildLandscapes’ efforts and aspirations to anyone who cares to hear about them. Samuel lives in Boulder, Colorado, where he now spends his summers looking for places to backpack, and his winters looking for snow to ski.

You can get in touch with Samuel concerning any WildLandscapes related inquiries, comments, or requests for information at sbowlin@wildlandscapes.org.