The Kingfisher Award

The Anglers of the Au Sable honored two DNR veterans at our January board meeting in Okemos when Anglers president Rusty Gates presented the Kingfisher Award to Jim Truchan and Gary Whelan.

They were cited for their outstanding contributions to the multi-year Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hydropower relicensing process, still underway. Their diligence has resulted in the highly praised and unprecedented settlement with Consumers Power for the dams on the Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon Rivers. This agreement and their continuing efforts regarding FERC relicensing of other Michigan rivers have been recognized by FERC, national and state-based hydropower oversight coalitions, and by many conservation organizations.

The settlement has been adopted by other states as a model to be emulated. The review and analysis procedures developed by Truchan and Whelan are also being copied by agencies in other states.

The Anglers established the Kingfisher Award as a special tribute to honor an extraordinary achievment. We are very pleased that Truchan and Whelan are its first recipients.

Jim Truchan is the FERC Program Manager for the DNR Fisheries Division. With over twenty years of experience in aquatic ecology, Truchan has also served as Supervisor of the Civil Litigation branch of the Environmental Enforcement Division, and as Division Chief of the Environmental Response Division. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees from Michigan State University.

Gary Whelan is a habitat protection specialist and FERC Project Coordinator. He brings considerable technical expertise to the FERC effort, specifically regarding the impacts of hydropower facilities on stream ecology and the required mitigation efforts. Prior to his eight years with the DNR, he served as a stream research biologist for four years at Michigan State University. Whelan holds a bachelor's degree in fisheries management from the University of Wyoming and a master's degree in the same discipline from the University of Missouri.

RWOL

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