Chris Seal has worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program for more than two decades. In this role, he partners with private landowners, non-profits, watershed councils and SWCD’s to fulfill USFWS priority goals and improve wildlife habitat on private lands. He is one of 220 biologists in the US who have helped restore over 6 million acres of habitat. Chris has been a key partner in restoring wetland habitat at both our Masonville and Muddy Valley Habitat Reserve properties. He has provided matching funds and technical advising for oak habitat restoration on private lands as part of our Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Chris has been an important advocate and advisor on numerous District property acquisitions and has helped support Miller Woods by contract growing plants for local wetland projects. He is always willing to listen to needs, hash ideas out and help with either through technical or financial means. We appreciate his partnership!

In his own words. “It’s not really the work I do in the county, but that of the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (for whom I just happen to be the local point of contact). USFWS has been working on a voluntary and collaborative basis with private landowners and other conservation partner’s (including of course Yamhill SWCD) in Yamhill County for over 20 years now. This work has been focused on the restoration and conservation of the Willamette Valley’s rare and declining habitats. Of particular emphasis in this county has been Oregon white oak and native prairies, particularly those occupied by, or having restoration potential for, threatened and endangered species such as Kincaid’s lupine and Fender’s blue butterfly (among others). In fact, it’s this sort of collaborative partnership that has contributed to the recent down-listing of Fender’s blue butterfly from endangered to threatened due to recovery actions with landowner’s and Yamhill SWCD and other partner’s throughout the range of the species. All that said, USFWS also works on riparian, floodplain, and wetland restoration benefiting other species of conservation concern (both terrestrial and aquatic). We look forward to continuing this work in the years ahead with Yamhill SWCD and county citizens too!”