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IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – A Bureau of Land Management partner, and Idaho Falls District employee, received national recognition March 10 during the 87th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. These awards were given during this important gathering where more than 150 separate meetings and functions serve as the annual forum to set conservation policy in North America.

The BLM Conservation Leadership Partner Award went to the Southeast Idaho Habitat Mitigation Fund funded by Itafos Conda LLC. The award recognizes external organizations or individuals representing a conservation organization for outstanding partnership in the development and implementation of conservation programs and activities that have directly benefited fish, wildlife, and/or native plants on public lands.

Itafos Conda LLC, voluntarily provided nearly $1.2 million to establish a regional Habitat Mitigation Fund to mitigate the impacts of the Rasmussen Valley phosphate mine. BLM officials then worked with the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust in Pocatello and tribal, state, and federal agency partners to leverage the initial $1.2 million Habitat Mitigation Fund and expand the funding and scope of habitat-mitigation projects. The strategy worked: Itafos Conda’s contribution led to additional investments of $3.5 million in federal, state, and private funds for a total of $4.7 million to create or enhance wildlife habitat.

“Itafos and the Habitat Improvement Team were a powerful combination resulting in the enhancement of off-site wildlife habitat mitigation to ensure sustainability of wildlife in Eastern Idaho,” said Idaho Falls District Manager Mary D’Aversa.

The Southeast Idaho Habitat Mitigation Fund serves as a model for conservation efforts and is available to meet similar habitat conservation purposes for ongoing mine permitting and other habitat-disturbing proposals in southeast Idaho. The Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust, an independent non-profit land trust based in Pocatello, solicited applications for projects to use this funding. The Habitat Improvement Team (HIT) consisting of wildlife biologists representing federal, state, and tribal natural resource trustees reviewed applications and awarded the funds to implement 10 habitat improvement projects through the Fund. These projects are already having a net positive effect on fish and wildlife habitat in the southeast Idaho region.

For the other honor, the Jim Yoakum Emerging Professional Award went to Ryan J. Beatty, a fisheries biologist for the Upper Snake Field Office in Idaho. The award recognizes the accomplishment of early to mid-career BLM wildlife or fisheries biologists who have shown the initiative to make notable contributions to their profession and have demonstrated a high level of professionalism, leadership, and commitment to managing wildlife and fisheries on public lands.

Ryan began his career as a Fisheries Biologist with the BLM in 2007 and has been with the Upper Snake Field Office since 2015. Ryan hit the ground running with complex bull trout issues in the Little Lost Valley and has helped transform how the field office performs aquatic monitoring, ramping up multiple indicator monitoring throughout the field office. He also established an adaptive livestock management process on bull trout streams whereby grazing indicators were monitored during the grazing season.

Ryan also excels at teaching and mentoring and his enthusiasm for fisheries science is infectious. He welcomes opportunities to engage with local youth in area schools, and his elementary school presentations and activities are hugely popular.

Ryan has a proven track record of collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. He is a member of the American Fisheries Society and represents the BLM on four interagency councils and committees. Ryan has recently worked with Trout Unlimited, the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust, and BYU-Idaho on various fisheries projects and research. Among the rural communities BLM serves, Ryan is well regarded for his ability to communicate with ranchers. He fosters working relationships that help resolve conflicts and develop collaborative efforts that benefit both fisheries and families whose livelihoods depend on public lands.

“Ryan’s technical wheelhouse, dedication and coordination makes him an exceptional fisheries biologist with a very bright future,” said District Manager D’Aversa. “We are lucky that he is part of our organization.”

-BLM-