ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico--For the past decade, David Haukos has studied unique regional land features that weren't much valued by traditional land users. Most of these playas--small shallow depressions that hold water during part of the year--are not valuable for cultivation and landowners don't reap tangible benefits from them, they have largely been ignored.

But for the past 10 years, Haukos has been conducting invaluable research on the role of playas in the ecosystem of the High Plains; and tirelessly spreading the news of his findings. Recently, his efforts helped secure a 160-acre Playa and Prairie Nature Center on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Haukos, a migratory bird specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's

Unique to the High Plains and other semi-arid regions of North America, playas play an extremely important role in the ecosystem, according to Haukos. Though the shallow basins only hold water during parts of year, they offer great habitat to wildlife throughout the entire year.

In the Southern High Plain, about 25,000 playas provide crucial breeding, wintering, and migration habitat for many species of migratory birds. They also offer refuge to native plant species, which have struggled to maintain a foothold against expanding agricultural fields. The basins also act as natural flood control mechanisms, and, in the Southern part of the ecosystem, they recharge the Ogalala aquifer.

Because most playas are not valued for farming, grazing, or other common agricultural uses, Haukos saw fit to establish a large-scale project site aimed at educating the public on the value of these natural wonders. Through a cooperative arrangement with Texas Tech University, Haukos received assistance from two professors at Texas Tech's College of Education to develop the environmental education curriculum for activities that are being conducted on the 160-acre playa and prairie nature center.

After they developed a master plan for the outdoor complex--which includes an 18-acre playa basin--and restored some of the degraded habitat, Haukos and team trained 15 public school teachers in how to use the project to educate their students about conservation of wetlands. Also, they conducted workshops for the Girls Scouts of America, the Native Plant Society, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Council, and Texas Tech University professors, administrators and students.

"Basically," said Haukos, "it has been a 160-acre outdoor classroom for more than 1,000 students." Not only did Haukos teach others about the environment through the nature center, he also peddled the project, soliciting grants in excess of $100,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Watchable Wildlife Program, Eisenhower Education Grant Program, Lubbock County, Edwards Ecosystem Team, and the Playa Lakes Joint Venture to initiate this project. Texas Tech generously contributed over $150,000 to secure the site.

"David's career has been exemplary," said Nancy Kaufman, Regional Director of the Southwest Region. "I am very proud he received this honor. He has demonstrated a great deal of hard work and perseverance."

Haukos' unique office location--on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock--provides valuable opportunities for him to interact with scientific and educational communities in the region. In addition to his normal duties as migratory bird management specialist, Haukos has served as the Partners for Wildlife field operative in the Playa Lakes Region of Texas, delivering about $125,000 for over 20 private wetlands projects in FY 1999. One of his private wetlands projects was presented the Lone Star Land Steward Award by Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. and the Private Lands Advisory Board.

Also, Haukos teaches a class at the university, participated as a member of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Team, and is Chairman of the Pacific Flyway White-winged Dove and Four-Corners Band-tailed Pigeon Subcommittees. In 1999, he co-authored a book with Dr. Loren Smith, entitled Common Flora of Playa Lakes, which received the Outstanding Book Award from the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society.