MEDIA RELEASE

NWRS 2009 Employee of the Year Award
The Employee of the Year Award is presented each year to an individual whose career has shown a commitment to the conservation of our natural resources and superior effectiveness in advancing the cause of wildlife conservation.

 Baron Horiuchi, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii

As the only horticulturist in the Fish and Wildlife Service, Baron Horiuchi has spent the last 13 years developing and implementing propagation and out-planting methods for endangered Hawaiian plants at the Hakalau Forest NWR in Hawaii. He has created a unique program that engages many conservation partners and volunteer groups in the management of the Hakalau Forest greenhouse operation.

Through his exceptional effort and experience in plant propagation, Horiuchi has aided in the recovery of seven species of endangered plants, including two species with fewer than three individuals remaining in the wild. Horiuchi actively experiments with new ways to germinate, propagate, and out-plant endangered and common native plant species.

Horiuchi has a wonderful ability to engage all age groups, with a special talent for interpreting the conservation challenge of the greenhouse and out-planting operation, and getting people involved in the recovery effort. Every year, hundreds of individuals under Baron’s direction experience the satisfaction of helping to restore Hawaiian forest habitats for the benefit of endangered birds and increasing the population of extremely rare endemic plant species at Hakalau NWR.

Thanks to Horiuchi’s work, Hakalau serves as an inspiring model for how the restoration of Hawaiian forest plants may prevent many Hawaiian bird species from becoming extinct.

Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge consists of the 33,000-acre Hakalau Forest Unit and the 5,300 acre Kona Forest Unit, located at elevations between 2,000 and 6,600 feet on the east and west sides of the island of Hawaii. The sloping terrain is forested with some of the finest remaining stands of native montane rainforest in Hawaii.

— Find out more:

National Wildlife Refuge System: www.refugenet.org