Return to People behind the Eagles Profile of Brad Mann The thoughts running through Game Warden Brad Mann's head when the first bald eagle chicks arrived for the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative were simple: "I was thinking, 'I hope we haven't bitten off more than we can chew,'" Mann says. "We knew we were taking on a big responsibility to bring these birds to Vermont and put them under our care," Mann said, "but the historic importance really hit home when I saw that first eaglet." Mann has been around wildlife his entire life. He grew up in Newbury, Vt., Woodsville, N.H., and northern Virginia, his father and a neighbor influencing his love for the outdoors. He knew early that he wanted a career in wildlife management, and has been working to enhance and protect birds and animals ever since graduating from college with a degree in biology. Mann is the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife's point person in the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative, coordinating the DFWS's involvement in everything from project construction needs to planning and oversight. He also works day and night on everything from fish and game law enforcement to monitoring nesting loons in the Northeast Kingdom. "There's no such thing as a typical day, which is one of the things I love about my work," Mann said. "Each season brings a variety of different tasks, responsibilities and challenges, which keeps it interesting year-round." Spring brings fishing, all-terrain-vehicle patrols, boating issues and nuisance animal and rabies complaints. Summer brings more of the same, plus, sadly, an increase in poaching. It also means time spent in proximity to loons, as Mann monitors loon nesting and chicks on Holland Pond and Beaver Pond in Holland, as well as work on the bald eagle program. The fall brings an increased emphasis on hunting and night patrols for poachers, trapping, and hunter safety programs. Winter means all that, plus ice fishing and snowmobile patrol. Mann also assists other sections within Fish & Wildlife, along with other state, federal and local law enforcement departments and divisions. This has included coordinated Search and Rescue details throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, and work with the U.S. Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security, since much of his district includes the border with Canada. "It's hard to get bored when the job is always changing," Mann says. Mann, and all Vermont game wardens, carry the same powers of arrest as the Vermont State Police. "I really believe in protecting the wild species, and ecosystem, for the future, and I believe that my job plays an integral part in that," Mann says. He is pleased with how the eagle program has gone so far, though the distance from the Northeast Kingdom to the Champlain Valley, where the eaglets are raised in hack boxes, is daunting. "I believe that it is going quite well," Mann says, "though I feel a bit isolated sometimes, being way up here in the Kingdom. "It's very exciting," Mann says of the project. "I keep anticipating four to six years into the future, when we expect the chicks we are releasing will come back to the Champlain Valley to nest. To look right into the eyes of these birds, and imagine them soaring over Vermont, making their homes here, is a powerful vision shared by everyone working on the project." Terms of Use - Copyright 2007 Central Vermont Public Service Copyright photos CVPS, Floyd Scholz U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife Web related issues || Site developed by Interactive Media Advertising