Interior Secretary Appoints PF’s Nomsen to Wetlands Post
PF Vice President to sit on North American Wetlands Conservation Council

St. Paul, Minn. – March 23, 2005 – Pheasants Forever’s (PF) Dave Nomsen, vice president of governmental affairs, has been appointed to the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Council).  Gale Norton, secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, made the three year appointment.  Nomsen has served as an alternate member on the Council since 1999.  His new appointed term will run from March 1, 2005 through March 1, 2008. 

The Council was established by the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) to review and recommend project proposals to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, which has the ultimate authority to approve funding for projects under NAWCA.  Created on December 13, 1989, NAWCA is an international agreement that provides a strategy and funding for the long-term protection of wetlands and associated upland habitats needed by waterfowl and other migratory birds in North America.

“I am honored to join this distinguished group of conservation leaders,” reported Nomsen.  “NAWCA has truly been a success story in our efforts to protect and restore this continent’s wetland habitats.  I look forward to contributing to that wetland conservation legacy.”

The Council includes the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the executive secretary of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, four state representatives (one from each flyway), and representatives from non-governmental organizations appointed by the secretary of the Interior. 

In a letter to Nomsen, Secretary Norton wrote: “I look forward to the valuable experience in species and habitat conservation you will bring to the Council.  Your previous service as the alternate member has demonstrated the commitment that you and Pheasants Forever, Inc., bring to the important work of this Council.”  More than $630.5 million has been invested through NAWCA with total partner contributions amounting to nearly $1.9 billion.  Approximately 23.2 million acres of wetlands and associated uplands have benefited as a result. 

Nomsen is a Clear Lake, Iowa native, where his father was the chief pheasant biologist for the Iowa Conservation Commission (now the Iowa Department of Natural Resources).  Following his father’s conservation lead, Nomsen received a master’s in wildlife management from South Dakota State University.  He has been with Pheasants Forever since 1992, where he began as PF’s wildlife biologist for Minnesota.  Today, Nomsen is PF’s voice on Capital Hill and one of the most respected and knowledgeable advocates in support of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  With extensive experience in wetlands conservation, Nomsen points out his work with South Dakota’s Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit as the source of his most important knowledge about wetlands.  While with the Unit, Nomsen conducted national wetlands inventories and worked on projects related to the functions and values of prairie wetlands.  He makes his home in Alexandria, Minnesota with his wife, Melanie, and their daughter Amanda, 19, and son Jason, 16.

PF is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education.  Such efforts benefit landowners and wildlife alike.  PF has more than 110,000 members in over 600 local chapters across the continent.