President's Podium | The Wildlife Society News

By Winifred B. Kessler

Since joining The Wildlife Society (TWS) as a graduate student in 1973, I have appreciated it as a major shaping force in my own career and the wildlife profession overall. A meeting I attended inWashington D.C. last month brought this vividly to mind.The meeting was a gathering of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (WHHCC), established under the authority of the Federal Advisory Committee Act to provide advice to the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture on matters concerning wildlife conservation and the hunting heritage.

The WHHCC includes 18 members selected to represent a wide spectrum of interested communities. All are senior-level representatives of their organizations and/or have the ability to represent their designated constituency. There are six additional ex officio members from federal government and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

In my first face-to-face meeting, I was very impressed with the Council?s level of engagement on key issues of national significance, and also that both the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture took time in their crammed schedules to meet with us.

I have the privilege of serving on the WHHCC because TWS put my name forward during the most recent call for nominees. My role is not to represent TWS alone, but also the broad constituency of ?wildlife and habitat conservation/management organizations.? It?s my first opportunity to weigh in at such a high level on matters that are critical to the future of America?s wildlife, habitats, and hunting heritage ? a real high point in my natural resources career.

Looking back, however, I see that experiences and opportunities enabled by my TWS involvement have been prominent throughout my career. These include serving on TWS committees and working groups, helping to draft the Society?s strategic plan, organizing conferences and workshops, hands-on leadership development gained as a Council member, immersion in the scientific peer-preview process, weighing in on policy decisions, and on and on.

As a federal employee with the U.S. Forest Service, I often felt at a loss when filling out my individual development plan (IDP), a yearly requirement. While the concept of professional development is extremely important, the list of suggested short courses and training sessions seemed lame. Time management? Team-building 101? Leadership skills? I did not regard such training as a promising pathway to professional advancement. Rather, one advances through personal engagement in challenging, real-world experiences that develop higher-order skills and abilities.

It?s impossible to say how much of my professional development and career advancement came from being an active member of TWS. I know the following to be true, however: Without my TWS involvement I may have held the same jobs, but I certainly would not have had the same career.

I share this perspective to encourage those entering the wildlife profession, or those TWS members whose engagement has been limited, to think of TWS as the most significant opportunity you may ever have for unleashing your own potential and advancing your career. No matter what your job is, the experiences afforded by TWS?s diverse committees, working groups, subunits, publications programs, conferences, mentoring and communications networks, government affairs activities, and leadership positions offer unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional development.

I suspect you?re thinking that your employer views TWS involvement as something apart, and possibly detracting from, your ?real job.? It?s true that many employers do not recognize the skills, contacts, knowledge, and experiences offered by TWS involvement as priceless opportunities from a professional development standpoint. How can wildlifers help turn this around?

Here is where the IDP comes in, or whatever your agency, organization, or company calls its training and development form. Midway through my Forest Service career I began filling out the IDP?s ?Development Objectives? line with such items as ?Stay at the leading edge of science and policy issues in the wildlife field.? And for the next line, ?Proposed Training,? I would enter ?Attend The Wildlife Society Annual Conference? or ?Serve as an Associate Editor for the Wildlife Society Bulletin.? I was always careful to elaborate on these experiences in my year-end evaluation, showcasing the benefits provided to me and my agency.

Later on, as a senior manager, I encouraged my employees to build meaningful development experiences into their IDPs, and increasingly these took the form of engagement with professional societies such as TWS. A signed IDP is like a contract, so in effect it allowed employees to plan attendance at key conferences and workshops rather than scrambling at the last minute for travel approval.

Perhaps your situation is different, and you find it difficult to sell the professional development benefits to your employer. But because those benefits are substantial and real, it is well worth pursuing them on your personal time as an investment in yourself. I continue to invest uncounted hours and weekends in voluntary work for TWS and other conservation-focused organizations, and feel the richer for it.

Back to the WHHCC meeting in Washington D.C. last month. The second observation I wanted to share is about how out-front TWS is on the leading national issues affecting wildlife, and how well-regarded our efforts are in the conservation arena. The meeting agenda included a strong emphasis on wildlife health, including such issues as lead toxicity and management, chronic wasting disease, white-nosed syndrome, and the transmission of diseases between wildlife and livestock.

The meeting materials provided to all Council members included the special issue of The Wildlife Professional (Spring 2012) focusing on wildlife diseases. The TWS Technical Review titled Sources and Implications of Lead Ammunition and Fishing Tackle on Natural Resources was repeatedly referred to during experts? presentations and discussions on the lead issue. And Council members? binders included Jim Miller?s recent article in The Wildlife Professional (Winter 2012) addressing wildlife disease threats and other serious problems associated with the intensive deer-breeding industry.

A particularly proud moment came during the update on wild horse and burro management on public lands. This has been one of the most intractable issues for the federal land management agencies, and a great source of concern and frustration for all who care about the health, wildlife, and habitats of western rangelands. A significant new development is the formation of the National Horse and Burro Rangeland Management Coalition, a partnership of wildlife conservation, hunting, agriculture, and natural-resource organizations seeking to identify proactive and comprehensive solutions for horse and burro management. (For more information visit wildhorserange.org).

The diversity of the member organizations, including some ?powerhouses? of conservation influence, may be just what is needed to make headway on this most difficult issue. Why am I so proud? Terra Renz, TWS?s Deupty Director for Government Affairs, is a leader in this effort, providing vision and considerable ?horsepower? to get the coalition going. This is one more example of TWS at the leading edge, bringing science to bear on even the most political issues.

Source: http://news.wildlife.org/the-wildlifer/the-wildlifer-2013-march/presidents-podium-5/

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