White Bear Lake, MN – Tim Richardson, Director of Government Affairs for Wildlife Forever, has been named the newest member of the Boreal Songbird Initiative Board. The Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and outreach about the importance of the North American Boreal Forest to birds, other wildlife, and the global environment.

“We are excited to welcome new Boreal Songbird Initiative board member Tim Richardson,” said the Boreal Songbird Initiative. “Tim brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the fields of conservation and campaign management. He will be a tremendous asset as BSI furthers its mission of helping to establish Canada’s boreal forest as the best conserved landscape on Earth.”

Tim Richardson is the Government Affairs Director for Wildlife Forever with a special focus on ecosystem-scale wildlife and fisheries issues. Tim was a pioneer leader in both the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon restoration efforts. Tim’s leadership helped secure $350 million in mitigation funding for Native Alaskan villages and coastal rainforests from the $1 billion Exxon settlement, helping permanently preserve 400,000 acres of critical Alaskan habitat in Prince William Sound and the Kodiak Archipelago. Tim’s ongoing work after the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon has lined up $161 million so far for projects helping to conserve the largest coastal marsh in Texas by keeping saltwater intrusion out of the marsh habitats that are vital for waterfowl, songbirds, shellfish and finfish as well as hurricane storm surge protection for coastal cities and industry.

Tim’s work for Wildlife Forever has included anti-invasive species messaging to hunters, anglers and outdoor recreators that have reached audiences with over two billion impressions. He has also led Wildlife Forever’s Alaska coastal habitat improvement via habitat acquisition in the Copper River Delta and by helping Wildlife Forever utilizing the George W. Bush Administration’s program of forest road removal on Afognak Island after timber harvest had occurred. Those projects benefit spawning salmon systems and nesting waterfowl habitat by reducing gravel road sediment run-off. Forest road removal on private Alaska Native Corporation lands also prevent off road vehicle trespass benefiting Kodiak brown bears, Roosevelt elk and Sitka blacktail deer by reducing unlawful human disturbance.

“Tim’s experience with multispecies conservation will be a great asset benefiting songbirds across Canada and Alaska’s magnificent boreal forests,” said Pat Conzemius, President & CEO of Wildlife Forever. “We greatly appreciate the government and stakeholder relations skills he has demonstrated with Wildlife Forever.”

Tim Richardson is the co-author of the book Kodiak Bears & the Exxon Valdez and was a consultant on the National Geographic film “Giant Bears of Kodiak Island,” broadcast to a global audience of more than 1 billion people in ninety nations.

About Wildlife Forever: Our mission is to conserve America's wildlife heritage through conservation education, preservation of habitat and management of fish and wildlife. Wildlife Forever is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to investing resources on the ground. Recent audits reveal that 94% of every dollar supports our award-winning conservation programs. Please, Join Today and learn more about the Fish Art Contest™, Clean Drain Dry Initiative™ and Prairie City USA® at www.WildlifeForever.org.