The nonprofit Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida has announced Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologist Kipp Frohlich as its 2017 – 2018 Rodney Barreto FWC Employee of the Year.
The award was presented to Frohlich at the FWC’s public meeting on Feb. 7.
“We are honoring Kipp Frohlich today for many reasons, including his effective work over the past year bringing forward for Commission approval a plan to create 13 new Critical Wildlife Areas for protection, and improve five existing areas,” said Foundation Board Chair Richard A. Corbett. “These fragile nesting and roosting colonies for pelicans, herons, egrets, terns, plovers and other colonial shorebirds are located around the state and have been stressed by nearby human activity. Kipp and his FWC colleagues held 14 public workshops, working with federal agencies and many local stakeholders to strike a balance between conservation and nearby recreation. Formal designation and management improvements for all 18 were approved unanimously by the Commission.”
During his 30-year career, Frohlich has worked to resolve potential conflicts regarding the management of imperiled species. This includes representing FWC on Manatee Recovery Teams, working to improve stakeholder and partner participation in sea turtle conservation, and representing FWC on the Panther Recovery Implementation Team. While working to achieve consensus on these often-contentious conservation issues, Frohlich has earned the respect and trust of stakeholders and partners.
As deputy director of the FWC’s Division of Habitat and Species Conservation, Frohlich played a key role in developing FWC’s scientifically robust Imperiled Species Management Plan for 57 priority rare and endangered species in Florida. Development of the ISMP required involvement of diverse stakeholders and wide-ranging partner engagement. He was intricately involved in the legal and policy elements of the plan, and continues to support implementation of the plan.
“I’m very honored to receive this award,” Frohlich said. “FWC is a family and everything cited by the Foundation required the teamwork of many passionate people with whom I’m honored to work.”
The Rodney Barreto FWC Employee of the Year Award is named for its first recipient, Miami native and entrepreneur Rodney Barreto, who served as chair of the FWC for seven of his 10 years as Commissioner. Mr. Barreto currently serves on the Board of the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida and other conservation organizations.
The nonprofit Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida supports the work of the FWC and other public and private conservation organizations, with offices in Tallahassee and St. Petersburg. The Foundation has raised and given away more than $26 million for conservation and outdoor programs for youth since its founding in 1994. For more information about the Foundation, visit wildlifeflorida.org and our social media sites.
