Jackson Guard boss earns top Air Force honors Published Jan. 29, 2010 By Mike Spaits Team Eglin Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Steve Seiber's life-long passion for the outdoors has resulted in his being named "Best in the Air Force." Mr. Seiber, the chief of Eglin's Natural Resources Management section, better known as Jackson Guard, has been named the recipient of the Gen. Thomas D. White Natural Resources Conservation Award (Individual) for 2009. The award recognizes the individual or team that contributed the most to Air Force natural resources management during the previous three fiscal years inclusive of the current fiscal year. "To me, this (award) means the Air Force recognizes the efforts the men and women of Jackson Guard have made in supporting the military mission by being excellent stewards of the resources we have been charged with managing," said Mr. Seiber. Under Mr. Seiber's leadership, Eglin has realized several significant accomplishments including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreeing to downlist a tiny fish, the Okaloosa Darter, from Endangered to Threatened - a first on DoD lands for a vertebrate species. The Okaloosa Darter is found almost exclusively on Eglin's reservation. Mr. Seiber's efforts also resulted in phenomenal growth of the base's red-cockaded woodpecker population. In fact, the base met the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery goal five years early. "For all of us at the (Jackson) Guard, being part of the downlisting of one endangered species and meeting recovery goals set by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for another is very, very special," he said. "Only a handful of natural resources managers can say that they were part of the recovery of an endangered species." Under his leadership, Eglin's wildland fire management section led the nation with more than 112,000 acres of prescribed burning in 2009, directly aiding in the recovery of the reservation's red-cockaded woodpecker population, meeting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Red-cockaded Woodpecker recovery goals five years ahead of schedule. Mr. Seiber's innovative concepts have become the model for military installations and land management agencies throughout the United States. He developed a "real-time" Integrated Natural Resources Plan which is being implemented throughout the Air Force. Mr. Seiber credits his father for instilling a passion for the outdoors. "I have always loved the outdoors. My dad taught me to not only respect the forest and all that it offers, but to respect as he would say - how it works together," said Seiber. Knowing "how it works together" has given Mr. Seiber the solid foundation that is necessary to orchestrate the phenomenal challenge of balancing Eglin's military mission with its resurging ecosystem. "We are stewards of Eglin's longleaf pine ecosystem and all the interrelationships within it," said Mr. Seiber. Under his guidance, Mr. Seiber developed an "endangered species consultation" database that provides a real-time tool to 46th Test Wing planners that helps them avoid conflicts by steering missions away from environmentally sensitive areas. "Knowing the condition of Eglin's forest when I started working on Eglin in 1972 and seeing where we are now in our management and the drastic improvement in mission capabilities is the greatest reward. "My hope is that after I'm gone, my predecessors will continue the restoration of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem on Eglin, improve partnerships with our regulators and researchers and continue to improve teamwork and coordination with military mission planners."