Wildlife refuge manager fulfills childhood dream

Forget dreams of being an astronaut or firefighter. When Mitch Ellis was growing up, this critter-loving fellow always knew his true calling.

Ellis dreamed of becoming a wildlife refuge manager.

That may sound like a pretty grown-up goal for a youngster in Ajo, Ariz., but Ellis' dream turned out to be a good one. It was downright prophetic. Just a few months ago he assumed leadership of not just one wildlife refuge, but all three located in the Yuma area.

"Since I was 10 years old I knew that was what I wanted to do. As a young child I thought managing a refuge sounded like a fun thing to do, but when I got a little older I realized it was an important thing to do too. We provide anchorpoints for biodiversity."

Friends may have laughed at Ellis' unique dream back then, but those folks are certainly impressed today. Ellis did in fact grow up to become a faithful employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an organization that has benefited from his time and talents since the 1980s.

Ellis, 44, currently serves as project leader - the top position - for the Southwest Arizona National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The organization was recently restructured to oversee all three local projects: Kofa, Cibola and Imperial Wildlife Refuges.

Ellis says how much he loves working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but while his job is clearly an administrative one, his love of the job still goes back to the animals.

"It's great when we restore wildlife habitat and then get to see the critters respond to it. That's a lot of fun. I've always loved the outdoors and wildlife, and it's an honor to serve these programs."

Ellis fell in love with all things furry, scaled and winged while growing up in Ajo, where his family worked for the now-defunct Phelps Dodge Copper Mine.

Ellis' face beams with clear satisfaction when he talks about growing up in Ajo, south of Gila Bend and just north of the international border.

"It was a small town so I could jump on my bike and go anywhere I liked. Mom just said, 'Be home by dinner.' It was kind of like a Spanish Norman Rockwell. I really enjoyed growing up there."

Ellis' father introduced him to nature by taking him hunting and fishing and by taking the family on outings and vacations to natural destinations, including the Imperial Sand Dunes west of Yuma.

"A couple buddies and I would always go out in the back 40 and ride our bikes and see what kind of snakes and lizards we could find. We never hurt anything, of course, but I would bring snakes home to my mom and she would get excited at times."

He was also lucky enough to have Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge right at his back door. It was a major source of inspiration that would shape a growing Ellis.

"My best friend's father was the refuge manager. I saw that work like that was something more than a hobby," he said. "You could make a living from it."

Ellis graduated high school in 1981 and attended University of Arizona. His introduction into the Fish and Wildlife Service turned into to a storm of promotions and transfers.

"Working for the government, you move around a lot. It's kind of like being in the military," he said. "Luckily my wife is an adventurer, too. We both like going to different places and meeting people."

He started out at the Havasu Wildlife Refuge. He was then sent to attend a law enforcement academy in Georgia for a few months. He next worked as assistant refuge manager at locations in Alabama and West Virginia. His first manager job brought him Yuma, where he oversaw the Cibola programs from 1996 to 2001.

Ellis' next promotion took him to another kind of wilderness - the political jungle of Washington, D.C. He served as the Fish and Wildlife Service's headquarters, where he was charged with creating and overseeing a law enforcement program. The need for such a program came on the heels of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ellis says he enjoyed the challenging and high-profile job, but he missed being out in the field. He also longed for his beloved desert.

"I love Arizona. I ventured away from this state, but I've always come back."

Ellis oversaw Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge south of Tucson for three years before coming to Yuma a few months back.

"Refuges are just special places, not just for people to recreate, but places reserved for wildlife," he explained. "People really don't know about the refuge system, but it's important work."

He added that balancing a place's wildlife needs with its human recreation certainly amounts to a challenge, too.

"It's a wonderful thing that people want to go out and enjoy their public lands, but it's an art almost to be able to manage these areas so that people can enjoy them without hurting these lands."

His refuge complex presents quite a large challenge in terms of physical size, too. All three refuges add up to 700,000 acres of land.

"It's not really bad pressure. It's good pressure. I like being busy, being challenged. I would be bored otherwise."

Besides, he adds, he's right where he wants to be: living in Yuma and working in the desert.

"We always loved Yuma. It's not a little sleepy town. This is a thriving town. We're very happy to be back here. Yuma fits us well."