Wildlife Species

Ben Deeble, Sage Grouse Coordinator, Missoula, MT
Deeble currently leads the National Wildlife Federation’s Adopt-a-Lek program for sage grouse conservation and population monitoring. Since earning his master’s degree in environmental studies at the University of Montana researching remnant populations of sharp-tailed grouse, Deeble has gained experience assessing upland bird habitat quality and conservation strategies throughout the West. He has developed volunteer-based sage grouse survey projects in Wyoming, Nevada, Oregon and Montana as part of efforts to improve understanding of population trends through partnering with agencies and developing advocates for sage grouse and their habitats, and served on the Rangewide Sage Grouse Strategy Working Group. As part of his responsibilities for education and outreach regarding grassland and shrub-steppe bird conservation Deeble is chair of the Local Sage Grouse Working Group in southwest Montana, a board member of the Montana Wildlife Federation, president of the Big Sky Upland Bird Association, and gives many public presentations around the western U.S. annually.

Hank Fischer, Manager, Special Projects, Missoula, MT
(Large Carnivore)
Fischer has been intensively involved with large carnivore conservation for the thirty years he has worked in the northern Rockies as a professional conservationist. He is the leader of NWF’s program to retire grazing allotments that conflict with wildlife. Since 2002 the project has retired 23 allotments totaling nearly 500,000 acres, all in the Yellowstone ecosystem. He is the author of Wolf Wars: The Remarkable Inside Story of the Restoration of Wolves to Yellowstone Park; The Montana Wildlife Viewing Guide and Paddling Montana. He holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Montana.

Margaret Fowle, Manager, Raptor/Waterfowl Project, Montpelier, VT
Fowle is a wildlife biologist and manager of the Raptor Recovery Project at the National Wildlife Federation’s northeastern field office. She coordinates Vermont’s peregrine falcon and bald eagle recovery programs for NWF. Margaret has written Vermont state recovery plans for both bald eagles and peregrine falcons. She has also worked on projects to protect loons and other waterfowl by reducing the amount of lead tackle used in Vermont’s waters. Fowle is a member of the Vermont Scientific Advisory Group on Birds and was on the Bird Technical Team for Vermont’s State Wildlife Action Plan planning process. Prior to NWF, Fowle was an avian rehabilitator at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. She received her master’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Vermont, where she studied the population dynamics and food habits of double-crested cormorants in Lake Champlain.

Tom France, Director and Counsel, Missoula, MT
(Western Wolves, Grizzlies)
In 1981, France accepted a position with the NWF and is currently Director and Counsel of the Northern Rockies Natural Resources Center (NRNRC). France currently sits on the Board of Directors for both the Five Valleys Land Trust and High Country News. He has been involved in campaigns to restore wolves to the Rockies, reintroduce grizzlies to the Seaway-Bitterroot and to reform hard rock mining in the West. France also served on the Missoula Mayor's Roundtable and currently serves on the Governor’s Yellowstone Grizzly Bear roundtable. He was lead counsel in Montana Environmental Information Center v. Dept. of Environmental Quality, which established a fundamental right to a clean and healthful environment for Montana residents and National Wildlife Federation v. Dept. of Environmental Quality, which required the full reclamation of hard rock mines, including open pits. France has a BA in History/Political Science and his Juries Doctorate from The University of Montana.

James Gore, Adopt-a-lek Volunteer Coordinator, Missoula, MT
(Sage Grouse)
Jay Gore holds a master’s degree in wildlife management from the University of Maine, and had a 20-year career with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service as an endangered species wildlife biologist before retiring in 2001. In 2004 Mr. Gore was hired as a part-time “Adopt-A-Lek” coordinator. He has been extremely successful at recruiting NWF members and supporters to volunteer for the project.

Laura Hartt, Environmental Policy Specialist, Atlanta, GA
(Florida Panther)
Hartt specializes in Florida panther recovery and Everglades’s restoration. She is a member of the Florida Panther Recovery Team and has helped draft portions of the revised recovery plan. Hartt has a bachelor’s degree in biology, with minors in chemistry and zoology, and a master’s degree in wildlife ecology. Her research areas include predator-prey dynamics, population viability analyses, and exotic species impacts on freshwater communities. Hartt holds a B.S. from California State Polytechnic University Pomona, a M.S. from Utah State University and a J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School.

Dr. Douglas Inkley, Senior Wildlife Biologist, Reston, VA
Inkley is a certified wildlife biologist with expertise in ecology and wildlife management, and is the National Wildlife Federation’s Senior Scientist. Inkley has worked on a broad diversity of wildlife issues including endangered species conservation, state wildlife funding, national wildlife refuge legislation, waterfowl conservation and wetlands conservation. Frequently working with the media and as a public speaker, his current focus is on the impacts of global climate change on fish and wildlife resources. Inkley served as Chair of The Wildlife Society’s Global Climate Change and Wildlife Technical Review Committee and was the lead author of the 2004 report Global Climate Change and Wildlife in North America published by The Wildlife Society. He received the 2005 Conservation Education Award from The Wildlife Society as the lead aurthor of the Global Climate Change and Wildlife in North America. He received the 2007 Communications Award from Ducks Unlimited for work on publicizing climate change impacts on wildlife. Inkley studied wildlife ecology throughout his academic career, with degrees in zoology and physiology (Ph.D.-University of Wyoming), natural resources planning (M.S.-University of Vermont) and wildlife management (B.S.-Michigan State University).

Dr. Sterling Miller, Senior Wildlife Biologist, Missoula, MT
(Black Bears and Grizzlies)
Miller is a certified wildlife biologist and an expert in large carnivore biology and predator-prey relationships, with particular expertise in black bears and grizzly bears. He presently teaches wildlife biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and at the University of Montana at Missoula. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife science from the University of Montana at Missoula, as well as master and doctorate degrees in wildlife biology from the University of Washington at Seattle. Prior to joining NWF, Miller worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for 21 years as a bear research biologist. He is a former president and vice president of the International Association for Bear Research and Management.

Dyanne Singler, Land Stewardship Manager, Boulder, CO
(Wolves)
Singler works on issues facing wildlife on public and tribal lands. She has been active in wolf conservation in the West, serving as an author on Colorado’s wolf plan. Singler was previously a member of the Florida Panther Recovery Team with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, director of the wildlife center at The Conservancy of Southwest Florida and research technician for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource and University of Wisconsin Veterinary School studying the effects of canine parvovirus and canine distemper on gray wolves. Singler earned her degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and is currently pursuing a master of public administration.

Dr. Steve Torbit, Regional Executive Director, Boulder, CO
(Ungulates)
Torbit is trained as an ungulate nutritional ecologist, wildlife physiologist and disease ecologist. His areas of expertise include agriculture and energy impacts on wildlife, particularly in the intermountain West. His research subjects have included mule deer, elk, and pronghorn and bighorn sheep. He ran the black-footed ferret program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and also has worked for wildlife agencies in Wyoming and Colorado. Torbit holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, a master’s degree in zoology and a doctorate in wildlife biology from Colorado State University.

Kathy Wohlfort, Associate Wildlife Biologist, Raptor & Waterfowl Recovery Program, Montpelier, VT
Wohlfort works in the Vermont Peregrine Falcon Recovery Program and the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative. Ms. Wohlfort has expertise in loon biology and has worked to reduce the threat of lead poisoning in New England loon populations. Wohlfort has also done research on the migration patterns and nesting ecology of the wild turkey for New Hampshire Fish and Game and University of New Hampshire. She received her master’s degree in conservation biology from Antioch New England Graduate School, where she studied the impacts of shoreline development on the nesting success of common loons in southwest New Hampshire.