Draft:Carrol L. Henderson

Carrol L. Henderson
Born	1946-1947 Zearing, Iowa, U.S.

Carrol L. Henderson (1946-1947) is an American conservationist and wildlife advocate.

Henderson is widely credited with starting the first Minnesota Nongame Wildlife Program with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 1977. Henderson was the programs first director, and spent 44 years with the department until his retirement in 2018.

Henderson's advocacy has led to a number of reforms in Minnesota, including the state's ban on lead shot in waterfowl hunting, which eventually led to a federal ban. His work also led to the "Chickadee Checkoff," or "Loon Line," which allows Minnesota taxpayers to donate their tax refunds, or pay additional taxes to the Nongame Wildlife Program. Since its inception, the Chickadee Checkoff has raised millions for the departments projects.

When Henderson started at the Nongame Wildlife Program in 1977, the program had no budget and he was the sole employee. In 2018, the program grew to a $3 million annual budget and 14 employees.

Henderson's restoration work includes Bald eagle, Eastern bluebird, Trumpeter swan, frogs, and North American river otters.

Early Life

Henderson was born in Zearing, Iowa. He credits growing up around farms and the wildlife found on them and growing up hunting as part of his concern and interest in wildlife.

In an interview for Audubon magazine in 2021, Henderson stated

"I was always finding bird nests" and that he was "obsessed to the point that when my parents for grandparents gave me little bird books, I would literally wear the covers off."

Education and Early Career

Henderson attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. There he studied Zoology. He later attended the University of Georgia in 1968 and received a masters in Forest Resources. After graduate school, Henderson studied land use in Costa Rica.

Henderson's early work in Costa Rica produced three books: Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, Butterflies, Moths, and Other Invertebrates of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, and Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Field Guide.

Henderson's first job in wildlife management was as assistant wildlife manager at Lac qui Parle in Minnesota.

Minnesota Nongame Wildlife Program

In 1977, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Section of Wildlife Chief Roger Holmes saw a gap in the programs in the DNR. Focused largely on protecting game species, such as White-Tailed Deer, and Pheasant, the DNR had largely left non-game wildlife, such as swans, river otters, and reptiles, unaddressed. To address the gap in programming, Holmes created the Nongame Wildlife Program, and hired Henderson as it's sole employee.

As nongame wildlife program supervisor, Henderson was charged with creating a statewide program for the management and preservation of nongame species. His starting budget was $25,000 a year, including his own salary.

In 1980 the Minnesota Legislature, led by the work of state senator Collin Peterson, created the Nongame Wildlife Tax Checkoff law, known colloquially as the "Chickadee Checkoff," or the "Loon Line." This new law allowed Minnesota taxpayers to donate part of their refunds to the nongame program, or increase their taxes to benefit the program. Programs like the Chickadee Checkoff had been implemented in other states, like Colorado. Thanks to this, the programs funding exploded from the meger $25,000 it had been operating with, to almost $500,000. Since 1981, the Chickadee Checkoff has generated $30 million for the program.[citation]

With the new cash influx, Henderson was able to focus his efforts on ambitious projects. The Nongame Wildlife Program grew to six staff, hiring one for each of the then-recognized regions. In 1983, the program submitted a Plan for the Management of Nongame Wildlife in Minnesota to the Minnesota legislature. The 35-page plan outlined the purpose and scope of the Nongame Wildlife Program, and defined nongame wildlife as a resource, as well as "analyzing the past, present, and future condition of the resource."

Peregrine Falcon restoration

The first large undertaking Henderson led was the restoration and recovery of the Peregrine Falcon in Minnesota. Due in part to the use of pesticides, including DDT, and frequent killings, Peregrine Falcons were one of many different bird species facing a sharp decline in their populations. In 1981, Henderson, the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, and other Minnesota conservation organizations, worked together to return falcons to Minnesota. Working around the United States and Canada, Henderson and the group were able to purchase falcons and release them across the state. Since then, Minnesota has had a sustained population of Peregrine Falcons.

River Otter restoration

With a booming fur trade in Minnesota, River Otter populations were decimated in the early 1800s.

Trumpeter Swan restoration

Similar to the River Otter, Trumpeter Swans were hunted for their beautiful feathers and pelts, and their meat. The Trumpeter Swan had been forced nearly to extinction by the end of the 1800s, and had completely disappeared from Minnesota. In the 1960s, Three Rivers Park District (then called Hennepin County Park Reserve District) worked to establish a breeding flock from 40 swans purchased from the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

Henderson and University of Minnesota Ornithologist Jim Coopercreated a proposal for restorating the Trumpeter Swan to Minnesota in 1982. At the time, Trumpeter Swans were on a sharp decline due to hunting for their feathers, meat, and pelts, with only 69 swans remaining in the continental United States.

In order to ensure Trumpeter Swans not be hunted to near extinction again, DNR Section Chief Roger Holmes set penalties for killing swans, including $3,000 fine and confiscation of firearms.

At the time, Minnesota was the first state to start a major Trumpeter Swan restoration project, which created it's own challenges. Henderson and his biologist, Steve Kittelson, needed to find the most responsible way to transport and care for hatchlings and Trumpeter Swan cygnets. This included figuring out the right time to collect eggs during the 34-day incubation period for Trumpeter Swan eggs so that the eggs would be able to endure the small differences in temperature during transit, and so that they wouldn't break on the flight from Minnesota to Alaska, where they were to collect the Trumpeter Swan eggs.

For transit, Kittelson adapted a similar suitcase to the ones used by United States Fish and Wildlife Service to carry Whooping Crane eggs. The foam liner featured cavities to hold the eggs, and the suitcase was temperature regulated using fans and hot water bottles. Henderson and his team would have to replace the hot water bottles every two hours using the plane's coffee maker.

In this first clutch of Trumpeter Swans, Henderson and his team chose to wait until the swans were 23 months of age, rather than release them earlier due to the high mortality rate in a swan's first year.

For three years, from 1982 through 1985, the Nongame Wildlife Program released Trumpeter Swans, from Red Rock Lake, Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge, the Minnesota Zoo, and Brookfield Zoo. By Spring 1987 the Nongame Wildlife Program released 21 two-year-old Trumpeter Swans in Becker County, Minnesota.

Twenty-one juvenile swans were set to be released in 1987 from the Minnesota Zoo, Brookfield Zoo and Three Rivers Park District. Henderson contacted the Minnesota Air National Guard and organized a training flight to get the swans to their final destination, the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. Planes were preferable to cars, as bumpy roads and dog kennels had the potential to injure their legs. Henderson was also able to convince CBS News to send a camera crew, and an estimated 40 million viewers watched the segment on the swans release. The swans were released

In 1988 the program released five Trumpeter Swans at Swan Lake, Nicollet County. The Dakota called Swan Lake Manha tanka otamenda, meaning "Lake of Many Large Birds." This lake is the first documented nesting site in the United States before their initial disappearance from Minnesota. ABC News sent a film crew and reporter Roger A. Caras for this second release. During the program, Caras stated:

"The magnificent trumpeter swan, gone from the lakes of Minnesota for over a century, has been summoned home. … They are being brought back by the citizens of Minnesota with funding from a checkoff system on their state tax forms. … The swans are gifts that Minnesotans have given themselves."

From 1987 to 1994, 217 swans were released to northern Minnesota. In another 139 were released to southern Minnesota between 1995 and 2012. As of 2021, Trumpeter Swans boast a population of over 30,000.

Henderson wrote about a moment he shared with a Trumpeter Swan in 1997 on the Mississippi River near Monticello.

"I sat on the rocks at water's edge with my camera in hand. In the middle of the river, one swan parted from the flock and swam toward me. I photographed the swan as it drew closer–within 50 feet, then 40 feet, then 20 feet. Finally, it swam so close that I had to turn my camera sideways to get the whole swan in my viewfinder. Then the swan stepped from the water and I could see a leg band. I focused on the leg band and took a photo. It was swan number 619-71888...Back at my office, I looked up the swan's band number and had discovered I had collected this swan as an egg in Minto Flats on June 10, 1988. We had reared that cygnet and released it into North Chippewa Lake in Tamarac NWR on May 23, 1990. I can surmise only that the swan on the river had stopped by to say "Hi, Dad. And thanks."

Deepwater Horizon Research

Henderson's research on Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been used to demonstrate the long term impact on migrating birds.

Personal Life

Henderson met his wife, Ethelle, in Costa Rica.

Bibliography and written work

• Oology and Ralph's Talking Eggs: Bird Conservation Comes Out of its Shell, University of Texas Press, 2007
• Birds in Flight: The Art and Science of How Birds Fly, Voyageur Press, 2008
• Landscaping for Wildlife, Minnesota State Document Center, 2002
• Woodworking for Wildlife: Homes for Birds and Animals, University of Texas Press, 2010
• Wild About Birds: The DNR Feeding Guide, 1995
• Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica
• Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality,
• Traveler's Guide to Wildlife in Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Natural resources, 1997
• Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, University of Texas Press, 2010
• Butterflies, Moths, and other invertebrates of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, University of Texas Press, 2010
• Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, University of Texas Press, 2010
• Feeding Wild birds in America: Culture, Commerce & Conservation, Texas A&M University Press, 2015