Michael Dombeck, Global Environment Management (GEM) Pioneer Professor and UW System Fellow of Global Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, has received the 2003 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for Conservation Biology. He was selected for "extraordinary leadership in conserving biodiversity, promoting watershed protection and restoration and defending ecosystem integrity while serving as chief of the U.S. Forest Service."

Dombeck, who came to UWSP in 2001, also received the Audubon Medal, the fourth Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award from the LBJ Foundation, and the 2001 Presidential Rank Award as a Distinguished Executive for his role as chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1997 to 2001. He recently was named to the boards of the National Wildlife Federation, Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Johnson Foundation. A native of Stevens Point and a 1971 graduate of UWSP, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1997. He earned a master�s degree from the University of Minnesota and a doctoral degree from Iowa State University.

One of the most renowned and respected of contemporary conservationists, Dombeck dedicated a quarter of a century to managing federal lands and natural resources in the long-term public interest. He is the only person ever to have led the nation�s two largest public land management agencies. His leadership in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and as former chief of the Forest Service impacted nearly 500 million acres. He is most noted for significant efforts toward watershed health and restoration, sustainable forest ecosystem management, sound forest roads and roadless area protection. He affected a moratorium on road building in 58.5 million acres of roadless areas in the National forests, and focused on the importance of old growth forests, and water.

Dombeck�s journey on the path to conservation has been lifelong. From his summers as a fishing guide in Wisconsin�s lake country, through his advanced studies in biology, to his acclaimed career in natural resource management, Dombeck has made protecting wildlife and wild places a priority, both personally and within the organizations he has served.

With a membership of 6000 in 90 countries, and the prestigious journal, "Conservation Biology," SCB is the premier professional society for those seeking to conserve biological diversity. The SCB awards are presented on an annual basis in five different categories to organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to its mission.

The awards represent the highest recognition that the society bestows upon colleagues in the struggle to study, protect, sustain and restore biodiversity. Other 2003 awardees include Jane Lubchenco, Valley Professor of Marine Biology at Oregon State University; the Aldo Leopold Foundation of Baraboo; Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, federal director of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Queretaro, Mexico; and Sarath Kotagama, professor of environmental science at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. Previous awardees include E.O. Wilson, Al Gore, Georgina M. Mace and the park guards of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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