As one with Wisconsin roots and early trainings there, I knew of Kevin as a fellow “wildlifer” from UW-Stevens Point and then of his later graduate work on Cooper’s hawks at U. Missouri. I finally met him as a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service colleague in Denver in 2010 and quickly got to know him, as I held a similar position in the Service’s adjacent Region. From 2011 through 2017, Kevin and I co-chaired a team of biologists from all of the Service’s Regional Migratory Birds offices, first dubbed the “Strike Team” then soon after the “Eagle Programmatic Permit Implementation Team,” mainly working towards resolving potential negative impacts of energy development on eagles and other raptors.
We talked almost weekly during all those years, typically in evenings, to plan and brainstorm on Team business and meeting agendas. But, the chats almost always transitioned to everything from personal philosophies on current natural resource issues and politics to favorite cross-country ski spots in the Milwaukee area, etc., etc. I fondly look back on all that banter especially the times his great sense of humor and fun, witty sarcasm arose.
I’ll remember Kevin in many ways. As a professional, he was among the most relentless, astute, determined, seemingly indefatigable defenders of wildlife resources I’ll ever know, on par with those passionate souls who, against all odds, dedicated their lives to saving wetlands in the “Prairie Pothole Region.” Kevin and I held fairly similar positions in our respective Regional offices and often worked on eagle conservation issues with the same private energy entities, even interacting on projects along our Regions’ boundaries on occasion. Several times, energy folks confided that when it came to conflicts over protecting eagles and other migratory bird resources, Kevin was a force to be reckoned with, a no-nonsense, all-business guy who was always clear, direct, and resolute. At times when many of us Service biologists moved slow or indecisively on tackling difficult conservation procedural and policy questions, Kevin moved ahead promptly and generated guidance documents that the rest of us adopted and the resource benefited from. I and others respected and directly benefited from his leadership and substantial, practical experience.
I very much regret not being able to spend much time in person with him, away from work. His great smile, the twinkle in his eye, and especially his unique big laugh were an absolute joy to be around …unforgettable. Kevin truly was a very sweet, personable man… who else among us run-of-the-mill biologists would make time each year to send Christmas cards to colleagues and friends, and devote much time to nurturing young professionals?
- Bob Murphy, Wildlife Biologist, US Fish & Wildlife Service (retired)