Welcome to Kenmare

Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 31--8/01/2007)

Couple assumes posts on the beautiful prairie and wetlands of Lostwood Refuge

By Caroline Downs

Doug Leschisin and Connie Mueller weren’t certain they could leave their positions at the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern South Dakota after 18 years and be happy anywhere else.

Then they moved to the Lostwood Wetland Management District Complex west of Kenmare.

"Lostwood, to us, was the logical next step," Mueller said. "If you look at pristine prairie, there’s no place like Lostwood. It’s beautiful here!"

"My primary interest is waterfowl and breeding waterfowl," added Leschisin. "This is one of the hot spots."

Leschisin accepted the position as deputy project leader of the complex, while Mueller was hired as the wildlife biologist. The husband and wife purchased rural property in the Stanley school district and plan to build a home, but for now they live in staff housing on the Lostwood NWR with their daughters Geena, 14, and Hanna, 11, son Alex, 8, and assorted chickens.

The couple arrived at Lostwood with a full slate of experience. Mueller, who earned her wildlife degree from Utah State University, worked at national wildlife refuges in Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota. Her primary professional interests include habitat management for prairie birds and environmental education.

Leschisin received his college degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and the University of Minnesota, and worked several seasonal jobs across the country before landing a full-time position at Eufaula NWR in Alabama. "I did a lot of neat things there," he said, "like banding wood ducks in the dark and dodging alligators to get to them!" The Wisconsin native regaled his Southern co-workers with tales of ice-fishing, which they didn’t believe until he showed pictures from his Christmas vacation that year.

He is also familiar with North Dakota, having worked for the Kulm and Devils Lake wetland management districts. His professional priorities have been habitat management and protection for waterfowl and other prairie nesting birds.

The couple assumed their new posts in early June. "I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with the refuge," Leschisin said of his first weeks on the job. "It’s 26,000 acres of beautiful prairie and wetlands."

He’s been learning the locations and characteristics of the many waterfowl production areas within the Lostwood and Crosby districts in order to determine his management priorities. "That’s just a fancy way of saying I’m doing a lot of exploring," he said, with a smile.

Leschisin is comfortable in his role with refuge management and attributes his career choice to his childhood on a dairy farm. "I grew up a farm kid, hunting, fishing, and walking in the woods, marshes and lakes," he said. "I enjoyed waterfowl then, so I thought that would be an interesting thing to do."

He compared his work in habitat management to agriculture. "This is the same thing, only for wildlife," he said. "I get to be a farmer again, in a sense."

Mueller entered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from a completely different background. "I grew up in the Twin Cities," she said, "and I wanted out! I wanted to be out. There was this little patch of city park near us, and I explored it down to the littlest ant!"

She persisted in taking wildlife courses at college, despite the discouraging words she heard. "There were people who tried and tried and tried to talk me out of it," she said. "But now, I feel like a fish out of water when I go back to the Twin Cities!"

Mueller’s main focus this summer has been the piping plover project, which actually encompasses nesting sites from Medicine Lake, Montana, to the John E. Williams Preserve Area near Turtle Lake, North Dakota. "How many people get paid to watch birds and go to the beach every day?" she asked, then laughed as Leschisin pointed out her "beaches" were a little rocky and inaccessible in places.

She arrived after the birds had nested, so she immediately started collecting data on the hatching and fledging success with her crew. "I need to figure out what I can bring to this picture with fresh eyes," she said, adding that plover management is an international effort with Canada and Mexico, and the protocol for collecting and reporting information on the birds needs to be standardized.

"In the past, people who had [my] position laid the groundwork," she said as she described their efforts to develop the equipment and databases used in the plover studies. "Now, it’s taking it to the next step. We need to look at the big projects, like grazing, and see if we’re achieving what we want for these birds. And if we’re not, then we need to tweak it."

Along with exploring the complex, Leschisin has been getting acquainted with the refuge’s neighbors. "I’ve met several of the cooperators," he said, "especially those who are grazing cattle here this summer to help with our habitat management. I’ve met the local conservation officers, and I’m trying to work my way into a meeting of the County Commissioners, to inform them about our habitat management projects."

He welcomes questions and calls from anyone interested in activities on the complex, including the easement and Private Lands programs. "If I can’t answer something, I’ll find someone who can," he said.

The couple’s children have already been active in 4-H and other community events, but Mueller’s field work has kept her busy with birds. "I know all the plovers in the neighborhood, but not all the people," she said, laughing.

In their free time, the couple enjoys hunting and their children’s activities. They also garden, with Leschisin tending to the plants and weeds and Mueller handling the canning. "I grow it and Connie processes it," Leschisin said, then grinned when his wife reminded him how she starts the seeds in their greenhouse each winter.

They both admitted uncertainty about the move to Lostwood. "Change is difficult, but it’s been a wonderful change," she said. "Looking ahead, the road looks great."

"We’re excited to build on a new station and a new complex," said Leschisin, referring to restructuring efforts last year that separated the Lostwood refuge and Crosby and Lostwood wetland management districts from the former Des Lacs Complex. "Lostwood is now at the forefront of the wetland management districts."

He and Mueller expressed gratitude and respect for the staff members they have replaced, including Karen Smith, Will Meeks and Robert Murphy. "We believe in the groundwork of those people in front of us," Mueller said. "We’re supportive of what’s been done, and we want to build on it."

The couple also extends an invitation for people to visit and enjoy the refuge and waterfowl production areas that make up the Lostwood Complex. "We work here," Mueller said, "but it’s their refuge!"

Leschisin and Mueller can be reached at the Lostwood WMD Complex headquarters during business hours or by telephone at 701-848-2722.