Ray Charles Erickson, 1918–2019

AmericanOrnithology.org Volume 137, 2020, pp. 1–2 DOI: 10.1093/auk/ukz068 IN MEMORIAM Ray Charles Erickson, 1918–2019 Matthew C. Perry Emeritus Scientist, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA Published November 30, 2019 Ray Erickson with Whooping Crane colt at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in late 1960s (courtesy of USFWS). Following completion of his doctorate, Ray began his long career with the USFWS by returning to the Malheur Refuge as a wildlife management biologist, conducting wildlife inventories and studying stock grazing/waterfowl nesting relationships and other management issues. In 1955, he moved to Falls Church, Virginia, to head habitat management on 9–11 federal refuges. Two years later he transferred to the Division of Wildlife Research as research staff specialist for wetland ecology. It was at that time he became concerned with the serious plight of the Whooping Crane (Grus americana) and other declining species. He devised a program of research on avian propagation designed to identify the species’ needs and determine Published by Oxford University Press for the American Ornithological Society 2019. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US. Ray Erickson, an Elective Member (1978) of the American Ornithologists’ Union (now American Ornithological Society), died August 16, 2019, in Mt. Angel, Oregon. He was a long-time employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service (USFWS) whose early work on the Whooping Crane and other endangered species contributed significantly to the publication in 1968 of Rare and Endangered Fish and Wildlife of the United States (the “Red Book”) by a USFWS committee on which he also served. Publication of the Red Book spurred public opinion, which in turn led to the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Ray Charles Erickson was born to Isaac and Martha Erickson January 30, 1918, in St. Peter, Minnesota. His parents fostered his early interest in nature, and a professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Jacob Uhler, introduced him to his son, Francis (Fran), who was working for the Bureau of Biological Survey in Washington, D.C. Fran Uhler became an important mentor for the young Ray Erickson as well as a lifelong friend. Ray remained in St. Peter for undergraduate study at Gustavus Adolphus earning an A.B. in biology in 1941. He interrupted his undergraduate studies to spend a year at the Bureau of Biological Survey working with the Alabama Polytechnic Unit on analyses of food habits. During this time Fran and Ray made frequent trips throughout the Chesapeake Bay area with other biologists who had similar interests in plants and wildlife. Following his graduation Ray returned to the Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) studying the stomach contents of raptors. In September 1941, he enrolled in a graduate program in wildlife management at Iowa State University, where he was employed as a technician identifying stomach contents of red foxes for the Iowa Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit. He earned an M.S. in 1942 with his thesis research on the breeding habits of the Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Princeton, Oregon. Pursuit of further graduate work was interrupted by World War II, where Ray served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from April 1943 until January 1946, primarily in the South Pacific as a boat division deck officer for amphibious landing craft. Following the war, he returned to Iowa State to earn a Ph.D. (1948) for further studies on Canvasbacks at Malheur. 2 In Memoriam M. C. Perry The Auk: Ornithological Advances 137:1–2, © In addition to the recognition he received from the AOU, Ray was honored for his work by other organizations. For his work with endangered species he was awarded the National Wildlife Federation’s Special Conservation Award in 1975, the Zoological Society of San Diego’s Wildlife Conservation Award in 1979, and the Whooping Crane Conservation Association’s Award in 1980. Gustavus Adolphus presented him with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1976. Ray was elected to membership in the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 1956, and served as its Secretary for several years in the 1960s and as President from 1967 to 1970. One of the scientists who worked with Ray described his leadership style with the words, “He gave us a long leash.” Ray was self-deprecating. He credited his parents and teachers for having given him sound advice and often expressed that he had been “lucky” in some of his experiences and jobs. Ray married Helen (Jo) Haworth in 1953. They had three children. Jo passed away in 1996. In 2001 Ray married Grace M. Cranor, who died in 2015. Ray is survived by three children. 2019 American Ornithological Society corrective measures for their recovery through research and more effective management. That program was described in his most frequently cited paper, “A Federal Research Program for Endangered Wildlife” (Transactions of the Thirty-third North American Wildlife Conference, 1968). He was a charter member of USFWS’s Endangered Species Committee and served as Assistant Director of Endangered Wildlife Research at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center for 15 years until his retirement in 1980. Following retirement Ray moved back to Oregon and remained involved in conservation efforts, serving as a member of the Governor’s Oregon Natural Heritage Advisory Committee. During his career Ray published over 35 scientific and semi-popular articles. These included papers describing his work on the ecology of the Canvasback and others on his conservation work with the Whooping Crane and other species. At the age of 90 he wrote a memoir entitled From Ladybugs to Whooping Cranes documenting his interesting life and career. Although unpublished it is available to the public through the USFWS historical archives maintained at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.  (...truncated)