News Release

Five FWC employees honored by the Florida Wildlife Federation

For immediate release:  June 17, 2008
Contact:  Henry Cabbage, 850-528-1755

For 70 years, the Florida Wildlife Federation (FWF) has honored outstanding people who dedicate their lives to conservation of wildlife and natural places in Florida.  This year, four of the honorees work for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and one is a former FWC employee. The federation recognized them at the 71st Annual Conservation Awards Banquet and Benefit at the Collier Athletic Club in Naples, June 14.

Victor J. Heller, retiring assistant executive director of FWC, received the Lifetime Achievement for Wildlife Conservation Award for his 30 years of service, leadership, good humor, dedication and love of the outdoors.  Before his current position with the FWC, Heller worked as a regional wildlife biologist in South Florida, especially the Everglades, and worked his way up the ranks. Before the then- Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission merged with the Marine Fisheries Commission, Heller became the assistant executive director.  Heller is a lifelong hunter, bird watcher and outdoorsman.

Recently retired FWC Lt. John Reed, was a dedicated law enforcement officer.  During his 30 years of service, he had his share of outdoor adventures.  Not only did he protect the state from wildlife and fishery law violators, but also escorted former governors and even Prince Andrew of Great Britain on airboat rides through the Everglades.  Reed loves the outdoors and sharing that love of nature with others. The FWF honored him with the Outdoorsman of the Year Award.

First placed on the endangered species list in 1967, the Florida panther's numbers continued to decline.  In 1981, the FWC worked with other agencies, organizations and leading scientists to develop the first Florida panther recovery plan.  A year later, Florida schoolchildren selected the Florida panther to be the official state mammal.

Today, only about 100 panthers remain in the wilds of Southwest Florida.

One person dedicated to the recovery of the panther is wildlife biologist and Florida Panther Team Leader for FWC, Darrell Land.   During his 20-plus years of panther work, he has spent countless hours studying panthers in the South Florida wilderness, enduring heat, humidity, and of course, mosquitoes.  Land has taken his hard-earned panther knowledge and applied it to today's critical conservation issues by working with other governmental agencies, private landowners and environmental consultants.  For his commitment, devotion and perseverance, the FWF honored him with the Wildlife Conservationist of the Year Award.

Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, Troy Starling, began his career with the FWC in 2001.  Starling has earned a reputation for outstanding work ethic.  Starling not only volunteers his weekends and holidays, working as a field-training officer, coordinates with the Putnam County SWAT and dive teams but also carries out his day-to-day duties - arresting wildlife and fishery lawbreakers.

Dupuis Management Team, consisting of FWC biologist Valerie Sparling and two other dedicated people, received the Land Conservationists of the Year Award.

The team worked diligently to turn a 22,000-acre former dairy farm into a wildlife management area.  They spent extensive hours restoring the land to its original state after years of farming and a devastating fire burned the property and the last remaining tree actively used by red-cockaded woodpeckers, a species of special concern.

Sparling manages public hunting in the area, conducts wildlife surveys for game species, monitors bald eagle nests and monitors re-introduction of red-cockaded woodpeckers. The FWF is a private, statewide, non-profit citizens conservation education organization composed of thousands of concerned Floridians and others from all walks of life who have a common interest in preserving, managing and improving Florida's fish, wildlife, soil, water and plant life.