The new year brought a new face to the Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge. Sally Flatland has been hired as the Refuge Manager, taking over for former manager Cathy Nigg. Nigg, who had served as Refuge Manager for over six years, accepted a position as a Refuge Supervisor in the regional office in Minnesota. Flatland most recently worked as the manager for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona, where she also held the positions of station biologist and assistant manager. She has spent the last 26 years in the fish and wildlife service, working at wildlife refuges on the west coast including in San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, Quivera, Delta, Malheur, and Finley, as well as at the Kulm Wetland Management District.

Flatland was closely involved with the recent endangered masked bobwhite quail recovery program in southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. She managed the only captive population of masked bobwhite quails, and helped restore their semi-desert grassland habitat. She then helped develop a second captive facility in Mexico and transferred 140 endangered quail across the international border. In addition to her years of field work, she is a trained wildland firefighter. The Port Louisa refuge staff believes, given all her experience, she’ll be a tremendous asset for them, and Flatland is excited to join the Port Louisa team.