Board of Directors
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Chair: Cynthia (Cindy) Uptegraft Barry
Cindy is a second-generation Service employee; she lived on several national wildlife refuges in the Northeast and Midwest Regions from 1959-1972, as the daughter of FWS retiree (now deceased) Darrell “Dick” Uptegraft. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. Cindy’s FWS career started in 1977 as the first Outdoor Recreation Planner at the John Heinz NWR at Tinicum (Philadelphia). She then moved to the Northeast Regional Office (refuges) and Headquarters (Division of Budget). After completing a year with the Departmental Manager Development Program (1989), she moved to the Pacific Regional Office in Portland, Oregon, with positions in External Affairs and Ecological Services. Cindy served as Manager of the Endangered Species program from 1993-1997, Geographic ARD for the Klamath/Central Pacific Coast Ecoregion from 1997-1998, and, from 1998-2003, the Ecological Service’s Program ARD. At the time of her retirement (March 2018), Cindy was the Deputy ARD for Ecological Services in the Pacific Region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii, and the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands). After a 41-year career, Cindy is now a Life Member of the Retirees Association and continues to host family and friends at her home on the shores of the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA. Her two sons, Creighton and Kyle, are now adults, and their mom’s pride and joy.
Vice Chair: Paul Tritaik
Paul retired on September 30, 2020 after 38 years of service. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree, Paul started his career as an animal caretaker at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, assisting the captive propagation of bald eagles and Andean condors. In 1989, Paul was hired as an outdoor recreation planner at Okefenokee NWR in Georgia, to help run the public use program. In 1991, Paul became the first refuge manager of the new Bond Swamp NWR in Georgia, a satellite of Piedmont NWR, where he formed new partnerships and initiated management programs. In 1993, Paul was selected to be refuge manager at the first refuge, Pelican Island NWR in Florida, then a satellite of Merritt Island NWR. There, Paul stabilized and restored the historic island, expanded the refuge, restored over 300 acres of coastal habitat, built the Centennial Trail boardwalk, and coordinated the Centennial Celebration in 2003. Paul also served as the first refuge manager of another new refuge, Archie Carr NWR, to coordinate its expansion and partnerships for the nation’s largest sea turtle nesting population. In 2008, Paul transferred to J.N. “Ding” Darling NWR as the project leader where he also managed Pine Island NWR, Matlacha Pass NWR, Island Bay NWR, and Caloosahatchee NWR. Paul expanded the “Ding” Darling refuge, restored marsh and mangrove habitat, and added many improvements to visitor facilities, including solar energy. Paul also served many other roles and details, including the Southeast Region’s employee representative on the Heritage Committee, a National Friends Group Mentor, and the Southeast Region’s Hunting and Fishing Team. Since retirement, Paul has established Tritaik Consulting to assist others pursuing conservation objectives, like the City of Sanibel. Paul’s goal as a member of the FWS Retirees Association Board of Directors is to help the Association be a voice and resource for all FWS Retirees, to help FWS Retirees stay engaged with the FWS mission, to support the FWS Retirees’ role in preserving our heritage, and to continue to foster a culture of family with those we served with and those that continue our life’s work.
Treasurer: Doug Frugé
Doug Frugé Originally from southwestern Louisiana, and after completing a BS degree in Zoology from McNeese State University in Lake Charles and an MS in Fish Biology from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Doug began working for the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1978 at the Ecological Services Field Office in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He moved into the NWRS in 1980 as an Assistant Refuge Manager at the Upper Ouachita and D’Arbonne NWRs in northeastern Louisiana. Then on to Alaska in 1982 as the Oil, Gas and Minerals Coordinator for the NWRS in Alaska at the Regional Office. In 1984 he moved up to Fairbanks as Deputy Refuge Manager of Arctic NWR in Fairbanks. While in place there he transferred in 1987 to a fish biologist position at the Fairbanks Fisheries Assistance Office. In 1989 he returned to ES at the Field Office in Ft Worth (and Arlington), Texas as Deputy Field Supervisor. In 1991 he went back into the Fisheries program to a newly established position as Gulf Coast Fisheries Coordinator in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In 2008 he moved to the Mountain-Prairie Regional Office in Lakewood, Colorado as the Program Supervisor for the Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program, supervising the field stations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Doug retired from the Service in 2017 and lives in southern Vermont.
Secretary: Jessy Jacobs
Jessy Jacobs earned her Master’s Degree at Cornell University, studying armadillos in Mississippi. Following up on this Mississippi connection, Jacobs started her career with USFWS in the Jackson Mississippi Area (later Field) Office in 1981, working in the Endangered Species program, which became her life-long passion. In 1984, she transferred to the Annapolis, MD ES office, where she remained for 11 years. Continuing to work in the Endangered Species Program, Jacobs also taught the Recovery Planning course at NCTC for several years and did a detail in FWS Headquarters to finalize the first edition of the Service’s Recovery Planning Guidelines. Then in 1995, she and her mate Dennis Lassuy, another FWS employee, moved to Portland OR with their baby daughter, where she (not her daughter) worked in both the Regional and Field offices. Another move in 2002 brought this FWS family to Anchorage Alaska, where Jacobs worked primarily in the Anchorage Field Office Endangered Species Program, and did a stint in the Regional Office, helping Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration (a.k.a. Federal Aid) administer the State Wildlife Grant Program. Jacobs retired from FWS in 2012. Post-retirement, as a “hobby,” Jacobs worked as a contractor for the NMFS Anchorage Endangered Species Program from 2015 to 2020.
Communications: Helen Clough
Helen retired as the Alaska Regional Chief of Refuge Policy and Planning in 2013 after an almost 40-year career in federal natural resource management; the last 23 years with the Service. She graduated from the University of California, Davis in 1973 with a degree in anthropology. Before her Service tenure, Helen worked for the Bureau of Land Management in California and the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska. While all her Service time was in Alaska, Helen spent time in every region, Washington DC, and at the National Conservation Training Center. Since she retired Helen has continued to be involved in natural resource issues serving on the board of the River Management Society, assisting with various training courses, and planning a number of national conferences. She also has taught classes on the Alaska National Interest Conservation Act especially how it affects the National Wildlife Refuge System. Helen, her husband and their dogs spend as much time as possible traveling on their boat in Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington state.
Grants: Lewis E. (Lew) Gorman III
Lewis E Gorman III Inspired to care for nature through his boyhood experiences in Scouting, Lew sought a career in as a wildlife biologist. It needed to start with a bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts in 1971, followed by a Masters degree in Science from the University of Delaware in a degree program that was then termed Agricultural and Food Economics. It was then off to active duty in the US Army as a Second Lieutenant assigned to an Infantry Battalion as a Medical Service Corps officer at Ft. Richardson, AK. After a military and civilian career in healthcare administration spanning 25 years that his military service spawned, he was selected for a finance and outreach position at USFWS Headquarters in 2003. The prodigal son had come home. After working less than a year in Fisheries and Habitat Conservation, he was offered a position as the Endangered Species Program Liaison to the Department of Defense, a department he had way more experience with than the USFWS. After about six years the position morphed into the Partnerships Coordinator where the target audience was all partners and supporting FWS initiatives like Connecting People With Nature and Youth in the Great Outdoors. He finished his 15-year career working in Endangered Species Recovery, retiring in 2018. He currently serves on the Boy Scouts of America Conservation Committee, and as the Chair of his town’s environmental board that seeks to connect people with nature and to manage the town’s natural open space lands.
Heritage and Membership: Deborah Holle
Deborah was born and raised in rural NW Oklahoma on a farm where her family raised cattle and wheat. She attended Oklahoma State University and received a BS degree in Zoology and a Masters in Wildlife Conservation, studying coyotes on Wichita Mountains NWR. Later she and her husband Terry Friggel moved to Piedmont NWR in Georgia for 2 1/2 years where she worked in forest management and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers before transferring to St. Marks NWR south of Tallahassee, Florida. She was transferred to National Key Deer Refuge in the Florida Keys as Project Leader and worked with numerous endangered species for 7 years before transferring to Balcones Canyonlands NWR. While at Balcones, Deborah worked on Goldenchecked Warblers, Black-capped Vireos and was part of a large Habitat Conservation Plan for the Austin Area. During her 36-year career she served on several committees including the Uniform Committee, Promises Team for Refuges, Promises Implementation Team, Leadership Development Counsel and the Fire Weather Working Team as the FWS Administrator for the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. She was also active in The Wildlife Society and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist. She retired in 2014 with 36 years on National Wildlife Refuges. Currently, she and her husband Terry reside in Austin, Texas and are busy being grandparents and volunteering with local organizations. Deborah is working with the local Master Naturalist Group as well as the Friends of Balcones and is on the FWS Heritage Committee
Board Member: Conrad A. Fjetland
Conrad graduated from a small high school (graduating class of nine) in western Michigan in 1959. He attended Michigan State University, receiving a B.S. in mathematics in 1964. After serving as a communications officer in the Navy, he returned to Michigan State for a Master of Science degree in resource development with an emphasis on wildlife management. His first job with the FWS was as a summer student at Seney NWR in 1968. In 1969 he returned to Seney as an assistant manager. In 1970 he transferred to Lacreek NWR as assistant manager. In 1973 he accepted a position in the newly created area office in Pierre where Conrad worked in River Basin Studies (soon to be Ecological Services) on the Oahe Irrigation Project. In 1975 he was accepted into the Departmental Training Program in D.C and returned to Pierre after the program as Realty Officer to supervise the two wetlands acquisition offices in South Dakota. In 1977 Conrad was selected as the project manager of the new Ecological Services field office in Columbus, Ohio. From there he moved in 1979 back to D.C. as Chief of Program Development for the Habitat Preservation program. As part of the reorganization in 1982, he became Assistant Regional Director for Endangered Species, Fisheries, Federal Aid, and Engineering for the Southwest Region and remained permanently stationed in Albuquerque until he retired March 31, 1997. In 1997 Conrad entered law school and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2000 from Arizona State University. While in law school he had two papers, one on the MBTA and another on Endangered Species and Indian Treaty Rights, published in law journals. He then obtained law licenses in Arizona, Idaho, and Texas and practiced law until 2013 and then started writing a series of four books called “Rebirth of the Human Race,” which are now all published by Covenant Books.
Board Member: Patrick Martin
Patrick grew up in a rural setting in north central Kansas and that probably set his course for a career in natural resources. It’s always better to be outside, whether running creeks and fields as child’s play or on the job as an adult. He graduated with a degree in Forest Management after studies at Kansas State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia. After a season with the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming, his first career job was with the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1987. Over the course of twelve years, he served mainly as a Forester for the Western District but was part of the general land management and permitting operations of several TVA reservoirs. During that time, he also satisfied a life-long dream by taking a year-long sabbatical to backpack around the world. In 1999 he transferred to FWS at Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge in a forester position to be part of a new forest management initiative at the refuge focused on developing habitat for forest-interior songbirds. He moved into the refuge management series at J.N. “Ding” Darling NWR (Florida) in 2006 and then Marais des Cygnes NWR (Kansas) in 2010. He retired at the end of 2020.