FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Environmentalist & birder Rich Paul of Florida died Friday

[Dthomp2669@xxxxxxx]

Although this is not a Tennessee bird item, I thought that  some of you may 
have "birded" Florida and knew this man whose reputation was  well known 
outside that state.  I don't believe I ever met him, but I have  heard many 
fine 
words about his expertise.  Please forgive if I am posting  this article from 
the 
TAMPA TRIBUNE inappropriately. 
Dee Thompson, Nashville, TN 
Nov 12, 2005 
Rich Paul Remembered As Environmental Blessing

TAMPA - -- Rich Paul always was being told his ideas were for the birds. 
He took it as a compliment. 
As top guardian of Tampa Bay's coastal nesting grounds for nearly a  
quarter-century, Paul went about protecting Florida's avian future with a quick 
 wit, 
formidable intelligence and tireless passion tempered by practicality, his  
friends and associates said. 
Paul died Friday at a hospice in Temple Terrace where he had been staying for 
 about a week as he battled the final stages of cancer, said his wife, Ann. 
He  was 59. 
"It's truly a sad day," said Jake Stowers, an assistant Pinellas County  
administrator who sat on committees with Paul, from the founding of the Agency  
on 
Bay Management in 1984 to a predecessor group convened to discuss the  
region's environmental challenges. 
"He was a great example of a true environmental steward. ... Rich set the  
standard that many of us try to attain." 
A bird lover since his grade school days in New Jersey, Paul had been poised  
to receive Audubon of Florida's Guy Bradley Award recognizing a lifetime of  
achievement, his wife said. The ceremony was postponed because of Hurricane  
Wilma. 
Ann Paul, a biologist who had worked with Paul since 1991, took over as  
manager of Audubon's island sanctuaries in Tampa Bay when her husband retired 
in  
late 2003. The two married almost six years ago. 
Efforts Recognized
Rich Paul received national, state and local awards for his work with birds  
and on behalf of the environment, and his research frequently was cited in 
state  and national publications. In August, Hillsborough County commissioners  
recognized his efforts with the You've Made A Difference award. 
Paul knew how to negotiate a maze of laughing gull nests without jeopardizing 
 the entire colony, how to free a panicky pelican from deadly fishing line 
and  how to discourage snakes and raccoons from raiding nests and putting a 
huge 
dent  in the season's bird census. 
For decades he posted warning signs at bird colonies, patiently explained how 
 some species are flirting with extinction and shooed picnickers away from  
protected island rookeries. 
"These birds are one dog or one picnic away from failure for the whole year," 
 Rich Paul said in a 2003 interview, shortly before his retirement from 
Audubon.  "So there's tremendous suspense every year when these birds start 
nesting: Are  they going to make it or not? ... There are times when I almost 
can't 
breathe  when I'm trying to explain this and I'm looking at some of these 
birds." 
Even so, associates said, Paul probably did more to protect wildlife with his 
 comments in boardrooms or by taking public officials, industry leaders and  
schoolchildren on boat tours of the nesting islands he cherished. 
Gray Gordon, vice president of Mosaic Fertilizer, went to work at the  
company's phosphate processing plant on the Alafia River in 1971 when it  
belonged 
to City Service Co. He hadn't been there long when Rich Paul dropped by  and 
persuaded him to track down a missing lease agreement that allowed Audubon  to 
oversee a pair of the plant's spoil islands known as the Alafia Banks and  
considered a prime nesting area. 
"Rich was the first person I met from the community," Gordon recalled. Paul's 
 influence led to more than Audubon control of the islands. The phosphate 
plant  has changed hands several times, but corporate sponsorship of Audubon's  
educational and stewardship programs has continued, Gordon said. 
Chris Smith, who has worked on educational programs with the Pauls at the  
phosphate plant, said Mosaic's new environmental education center overlooking  
the nesting islands will open in a few weeks. When it does, she said, the  
boardwalk and islands will be named for Rich Paul. 
His Work Yielded Results
Former Hillsborough Commissioner Jan Platt, who also sat on environmental  
panels with Paul, said the former bird warden didn't mince words about threats  
to Florida's wildlife habitat. Platt said Paul pushed philosophies that led to 
 Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection 
Program,  which uses tax revenue to buy land for preservation. 
Stowers said Paul was well-spoken but shrewd enough to know he wasn't going  
to turn all industry and development leaders into environmentalists, so he  
learned the art of compromise. 
Ann Paul agreed. "He used his sense of humor and powers of persuasion to help 
 sway the public and associates of various agencies to protect wildlife and 
its  habitat," she said. 
Other associates marveled at Paul's knowledge of birds and the Tampa Bay  
area. Even after he had his stomach removed early this year, Paul was out  
kayaking and counting species on Lake Thonotosassa for a bird survey, said 
Scott  
Emery, a faculty researcher at the University of South Florida. 
Emery said he was amazed at how quickly Paul could identify a bird from its  
flutter or call. 
"He was the best field ornithologist I ever saw," Emery said. 
Paul sometimes expressed frustration at job duties that required him to  
juggle fundraising with scientific research and island patrols. 
But Ann Paul said her husband lived the life he loved. 
"It was his vocation and his avocation," she said. "He was kind of a 24/7  
kind of person. He was very fortunate to be able to do in his profession the  
thing that gave him pleasure on a personal basis. 
"We all talk about having a dream job, and he did." 
RICHARD TOMPKINS PAUL 
BORN: April 26, 1946 
DIED: Nov. 11, 2005 
SURVIVORS: Wife, Ann, of Tampa; son, David Timothy Paul, of  Tallahassee; 
daughter, Laura Elizabeth Paul, of Belleville, Mich.; brother,  Douglas Paul, 
of 
Boston; sister, Alice Runis, of Denver; and parents, George and  Doris Paul, 
of Middlesex, N.J. 
SERVICES: A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. Nov. 29 at  Hillsborough 
River State Park. Stowers Funeral Home in Brandon is handling  arrangements. 
MEMORIAL GIFTS: Audubon of Florida, 410 Ware Blvd., Suite 702, Tampa  FL 
33619 
Tribune file photo by JAY CONNER 
RICHARD TOMPKINS PAUL 


This story can be found at: _http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB525IGXFE.html_ 
(http://www.tampatrib.com/MGB525IGXFE.html) 



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