Mark Musaus

Acting Director of Financial Operations
mmusaus@refugeassociation.org

Mark served as Chief Operating Officer for the National Wildlife Refuge Association for 5 years, ending in 2021. Before and after that position, he served as Regional Representative and Financial Liaison.

Mark retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2012 as the Deputy Regional Director for the Southeast Region after a 38+ year career. From January 2012 until he retired, he served in the role of deputy regional director for the Service’s southeast region. He helped oversee the supervision of 1,500 employees in 10 states and the Caribbean in diverse Service programs ranging from the National Wildlife Refuge System to the Endangered Species Program, Migratory Birds, and Wildlife Law Enforcement.

Born in Venezuela and raised in NJ, he earned his B.S. in biology and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Grove City College (1975). He was selected for the Fish and Wildlife Service Student Trainee Program in 1974, serving one summer at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. He has served as assistant refuge manager at Choctaw (AL), J.N. Ding Darling (FL), Piedmont (GA), and Tennessee (TN) national wildlife refuges, and as the deputy project leader at Savannah Coastal Refuges (GA).

In 1998, he was selected as the project leader for the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee and Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuges. In May 2007, he accepted the position of Chief of the Division of Visitor Services and Communications for the National Wildlife Refuge System. There, he administered recreation and visitor use programs, including hunting and fishing, environmental education, wildlife observation, and photography on 550 national wildlife refuges. He led communication and outreach programs for the refuge system, partnerships with other federal, state, and conservation organizations, worked closely with congressional staff, and helped to further develop the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Friends Program.

Mark received the Refuge Manager of the Year Award in 2000, the Department of Interior Superior Service Award in 2001, and the DOI Take Pride in America, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Land Manager of the Year award in 2005. He and his wife Linda reside in Newnan, GA, and have two married daughters and three grandchildren.

Mark currently serves as Vice President of the Coalition of Refuge Friends and Advocates.