NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT

ICF’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce its selection of our new President and CEO, hydrologist and wetland ecologist, Dr. Richard Beilfuss.

“From its beginning, ICF has exemplified leadership and excellence in the study and conservation of cranes,” notes Joseph Branch, Chairman of ICF’s Board of Directors. “Rich brings over twenty year’s professional experience with cranes, but his major contribution has been to the emerging field of environmental flows. Rich’s work blends science and policy, and considerable people skills, to ensure that our water resources – rivers, lakes and wetlands – continue to nurture cranes, other wildlife and humanity.”

ICF uses the remarkable charisma of cranes in bringing diverse people and new allies together to solve problems vital for us all. The long-term future of cranes depends in large part on the decisions that people make for water and wetlands as human demand soars and variable climates threaten the security of water supplies. ICF has been working with land owners to promote healthy wildlife and wetlands on farmlands in Wisconsin as well as far eastern Russia and the valleys of Uganda. Crane projects now alleviate poverty through the sustainable use of water and wetlands in the Mekong Basin of Southeast Asia and Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa among other places.

“Cranes will not survive unless we tackle the big issues,” explains Rich Beilfuss. “Yet the same measures that safeguard landscapes nurturing cranes are effective at addressing human needs. I learned this first in Vietnam, where we searched for creative solutions to save the vanishing wetlands of the Mekong Delta for threatened Sarus Cranes and the impoverished people there. Later, our work to save vulnerable Wattled Cranes and other wildlife on the enormous floodplains of southern Africa led to a unique partnership with the Zambezi River authorities and dam operators for sustainable water management that will greatly benefit local fishing and farming communities.”

Beilfuss recently returned to ICF after serving four years as Director of Scientific Services for the Gorongosa Restoration Project in Mozambique, where he lived with his wife Katie and their two children. From 1992-2005, he served as ICF’s Director of Africa Programs, cultivating and supervising conservation efforts in more than a dozen African nations. Beilfuss also has contributed his expertise to ICF’s long-term efforts in Vietnam, China, Nepal, and elsewhere.

Beilfuss’ academic background and training reflect the breadth of thinking ICF seeks in its leadership—he has a Ph.D. in Land Resources, two Master’s degrees (Civil and Environmental Engineering and Water Resources Management), and a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics. Beilfuss is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he advises graduate students and teaches a course on environmental flows, and was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to the Examining Board of Professional Geologists, Hydrologists, and Soil Scientists.

From the end of March through June, 2010 an ad hoc Transition Committee of ICF’s Board of Directors conducted a thorough search for a new President and CEO. The Committee sought someone who could guide ICF’s strategic development with vision, discipline, and passion.

“Rich exemplifies ICF’s commitment to serving this remarkable, and highly endangered, family of birds while improving the lives of the people whose support and energies are essential to creating a long term future for the cranes,” exclaimed Branch. “We are delighted with his acceptance of the Presidency, and look forward to Rich's leadership of this world class conservation organization.”