They claim it’s the mission. That admirable goal of conserving the fish, wildlife, and plants of the globe (“for the continuing benefit of the American people”) accounts for the almost-maniacal devotion to duty that motivates most Fish and Wildlife Service employees.

But, as most of us know, it’s really about the food.

Well before training center smorgasbords, decades before regional office clambakes and central office holiday spreads, food played a central role in the life of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

It has something to do with being an agency populated by hunters and anglers who shoot, spear, trap, fish, net, seine, or otherwise “reduce to possession” the fowl of the air and the fins of the sea. We simply recognize the importance of conservation of animals and plants to people…and that part of the value in their preservation consists of, well, eating them. more

Representatives of the National Park Service, the Office of Surface Mining and the United Nations came together on Dec. 11 to plant five American chestnut trees on Governors Island. The event marked OSM's commitment to plant 38 million trees over the next three years through its Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative. A public-private partnership, ARRI is planting the trees in support of the United Nations'“Seven Billion Tree” campaign.

“Four hundred years ago Native Americans and Dutch settlers referred to this island as ‘Nut’ island because of the large number of nut trees,” said Linda Neal, superintendent of Governors Island.” There were so many that the Dutch set up a sawmill here, which produced timber for the first cabins in Manhattan. The trees planted here today will reflect a connection to the island's rich history while also symbolizing its future as an oasis for respite and renewal. So it is fitting that this park was chosen as the New York City venue for this tree-planting campaign.” more