John Rogner was unanimously voted in as the newest member of the Illinois Audubon Society Board of Directors during the June 2018 meeting. Rogner recently concluded a 34-year conservation career in government, working at both the federal and state level and will take up his new seat on the board at the upcoming September meeting.
From 2013-2018, John worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Coordinator of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, leading a coalition of federal, state and private conservation organizations in Great Lakes basin-wide collaborative natural resource planning. During this period, he also provided leadership in the establishment of two new national wildlife refuges (Hackmatack and Kankakee) in the Chicago region, eventually serving as Manager of both.
From 2009 – 2013 John served under an appointment by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn as Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Prior to that he served as Field Supervisor of the Chicago Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a position he held since 1997. He directed all of the Service’s programs in endangered species conservation, environmental contaminants, conservation planning assistance, habitat restoration, and environmental education in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area. During this time, he also served as Chair of Chicago Wilderness, a coalition of more than 240 organizations dedicated toward conserving the biodiversity of the Chicago region.
John began his career with the Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he held various positions implementing the regulatory program under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, eventually becoming Chief of the Regulatory Branch.
Mr. Rogner has undergraduate and graduate degrees in biological sciences from Northern Illinois University, we are thrilled to have him join us.