Bill Miller, the new Project Leader of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (PINWR), brings to the job an impressive body of experience, a strong educational background, a passion for the land and wildlife in his care and an engaging, outgoing personality.
Miller’s official title is Project Leader of the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Complex and Conservation Area, which encompasses the Pelican Island, Archie Carr, Everglades Headwaters and Lake Wales Ridge refuges. He brings to the position 14 years in service, of which eight were managing Florida wildlife refuges.
On the job only since June 1, he’s been spending his time doing a lot of “diligent listening,” gleaning valuable input from refuge partners, support organizations, landowners, volunteers, and anyone else with a desire to help preserve and maintain what are among the most unique ecosystems on the planet.
On Father’s Day afternoon, Miller brought his family – wife Deborah, daughter Ruby, 8, and son Graydon, 6 – to visit his new office at PINWR headquarters. It’s a simple, tidy building down a gated, marl/sand road about 3 miles north of CR 510. Although only a couple hundred yards off A1A, it feels like scrub wilderness, just as it should. While mom and the kids went exploring, Miller talked about his experience and the projects he’ll be working on at PINWR.
Miller is a fourth-generation Floridian, born and raised in Miami, living up North only briefly when his dad’s job required a move to Ohio. The cold weather got old fast, and the family headed back south after about a year.
Miller earned an undergraduate degree in Forestry from the University of Florida and landed his first job with the US Department of Forestry. As a reforestation forester, he was assigned to the Florida City and Homestead area to conduct “re-greening” projects with the communities devastated by Hurricane Andrew. It was an eye-opening experience for the young forester, as he worked with adults and children to plant new vegetation.
After planting landscape trees and other vegetation at schools, homes, public spaces, sharing their joy in creating beauty where there had been bleak devastation, “to see them tired but happy at the end of the day” is a memory Miller still cherishes.
Miller next moved to Marathon in the Keys to work as an Environmental Resource Planner for Monroe County (where he also developed an abiding love of the Keys and their amazing, fragile ecosystem.)
His next position was as Urban Forester for the City of Charlotte, NC, during which time he also worked toward his Master’s degree at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Although it was a challenge, Miller was able to meld school and job requirements, studying and working on stream and creek restoration projects, and doing a lot of engineering and design, always striving to ”hit a balance” between the often divergent needs of development and the environment, a goal that remains key to virtually every USFWS project.
His Master’s completed, Miller moved back to the Keys, this time working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in charge of projects “consequential to the conservation efforts in the National Key Deer Refuge”, ensuring the best interests of the refuge were properly served. Living on Big Pine Key, Miller was Everglades Restoration Deputy Project Leader, covering NWRs at Crocodile Lake in Key Largo, Key West, Great White Heron Islands (off shore on the Gulf side of the lower Keys), and Key Deer on Big Pine.
Miller next headed north to Palm Beach, where he was Refuge Biologist at the Loxahatchee NWR, considered “the northernmost portion of the Everglades system.” While there, Miller conducted an exotics control program and wading bird surveys, which are a lot more involved that they sound. To ensure the well-being of the wading birds, “you need to get the water right.” He explained that, in the dry season, the water dries up into a much smaller area, forcing the fish to bunch together. This, in turn, allows the birds to catch the fish, for themselves and their young, without having to expend as much energy, and it can be considered “a successful bird year.”
Miller’s final position before coming to PINWR was a four-year stint as Refuge Manager at the Hobe Sound NWR.
One of the first projects on his new to-do list is “getting staff,” with four Fish and Wildlife Service staffers, including Miller, already on board and plans for a full complement of nine, to cover the entire refuge complex, by next year.
The Pelican Island Refuge access road has recently been improved, and Miller plans to rehabilitate the Centennial Trail leading down to the overlook, replacing the worn wooden railing with sturdier aluminum. There are plans for a new Phased Use building, next to the existing structure, which will serve as quarters for staff and visitors. Improved signage is also on the list.
Miller looks forward to a never-been-tried-before project that will get underway when the new biologist arrives: providing and protecting the habitat of the beach mice, who live amongst the plants along the dunes. The project includes dune development, encouraging the mouse-friendly sea oats, railroad vine, sea grasses, and eliminating “snags,” tree branches which provide perching habitat for beach mouse predators. “Beach mice don’t like woody cover,” explains Miller. “They prefer open, sandy patches.”
Miller is keenly aware of his responsibility as a steward of public funds and shares his philosophy: Always look for an opportunity to accomplish your tasks using what you already have. Fix things instead of buying new, whenever possible.
He believes refuge visitors deserve to have a great experience, to learn and to have fun, to value the scrub and appreciate how unique it is. “They should expect a high quality experience – bathrooms, fresh paint, safe boardwalks, everything fresh and new looking.”
Miller is a believer in partnerships with similarly focused agencies, organizations and other entities. “People care deeply about their refuges and, as public servants, we also care. People want to feel they are stakeholders in their public spaces.”
He emphasized how fortunate local residents are because both the Pelican Island and Archie Carr refuges are open and convenient to visit, unlike many others which either don’t allow public access or are extremely inconvenient to reach.
Miller wants people to know that he is accessible. “I will do everything I can to meet people’s expectations when they visit the refuges. It’s exciting to me to be able to show people how cool they are. This is the job of a lifetime!”
