Dr. Lee Simmons gets award

Dr. Lee Simmons, retired director of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, received the Nebraska Wildlife Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Simmons was honored Thursday during the organization’s annual Falling for Wildlife fundraiser at Mahoney State Park. Simmons retired earlier this year after more than four decades leading the zoo to world-class status in wildlife conservation. He is chairman of the Omaha Zoo Foundation.

The state wildlife federation also honored three others.

— Kalli Kieborz of Valentine, Neb., executive director of the Niobrara Council, received the Professional Conservationist Award. Kieborz has led the council for nine years in its mission of administering and protecting the federally designated Niobrara National Scenic River. The 76-mile stretch of the Niobrara is one of the nation’s top recreational rivers.

— Dr. Alec Engebretson, an information science professor at Doane College in Crete, Neb., received the Conservation and Education Award. Engebretson and his students created a Web site for the wildlife federation’s statewide adopt-a-stream program.

— World-Herald reporter David Hendee received the Conservation Communicator Award. Hendee, a World-Herald journalist since 1976, was nominated for his work covering conservation, water issues and the outdoors.

The Nebraska Wildlife Federation is an independent state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. It has nearly 700 members.