<body><div><p>Robert Gallo, known to everyone as “Bob,” died last Saturday. Like the Gallo family in general, he was very much a private person who preferred his contributions to nature and other public service went unpublicized. Nonetheless, he was a major benefactor to birds and wildlife, especially with his key role in the recovery of the Aleutian Cackling Goose, a formerly endangered species he helped bring back from the brink of extinction.</p><p>Gallo worked closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Audubon Society in their efforts to preserve the winter habitat of the endangered geese for almost forty years. He provided conservation easements on property he owned west of Modesto to assure the geese would have ample wintering and feeding grounds, and followed closely the recovery of the diminutive geese from a population of fewer than 600 individuals to more than 200,000.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0KUoAn_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0KUoAn_0u2V8enS00" width="800" height="483" ><figcaption>Aleutian Cackling Geese by Jim Gain</figcaption></figure><p>Recovery efforts for the geese included the establishment of the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge (SJNWR) and resulted in a burgeoning population of waterfowl on refuge land and private property along the confluence of the Tuolumne, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus Rivers, west of Modesto. As is the case with most efforts to save an endangered species, the recovery program for the Aleutian Geese also provided protection and refuge for other species, including Sandhill Cranes, White Pelicans, Snow Geese, numerous species of ducks, and countless numbers of what Gallo called, “the little dickey birds.”</p><p>“I don’t know all their names, but I like to see all the dickey birds in the atriplex and brush along the river,” said Gallo, of the sparrows, towhees, and other small birds that flourish on refuge and easement land.</p><h2>San Joaquin River Wildlife Refuge and Easements by Jim Gain</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2xmm1n_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2xmm1n_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ></figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=427Qdk_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=427Qdk_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1yBLJQ_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1yBLJQ_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Fxulx_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Fxulx_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0cC16T_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0cC16T_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3d7nqx_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3d7nqx_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1evs29_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1evs29_0u2V8enS00" width="1600" height="900" ><p>Most everyone knew that when Bob Gallo said, “It’s snowing in Modesto,” he meant that a large flight of Snow Geese had arrived from their northern breeding grounds to the winter habitat that also serves Aleutian Cackling Geese. There are times when upwards of 40,000 Snow and similar Ross’ Geese share wintering grounds with the Aleutians.</p><p>Gallo explained his role in the largest wine-making business in the world as resulting from his desire to make his own way in the world of business and commerce.</p><p>“I wanted a way to get out from the shadows of my father (Julio) and my uncle (Ernest),” he said. “I knew a man who had a mine where they produced the raw materials for glass, and I thought we could figure out a way to develop our own bottling operation.” Thus was born Gallo Glass, an outgrowth of the winery’s Modesto headquarters.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3Cqqxo_0u2V8enS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Cqqxo_0u2V8enS00" width="800" height="533" ><figcaption>In Memoriam</figcaption></figure><p>A firm believer that nature and agriculture could coexist in sustainable relationships for both, Bob Gallo took a special interest in innovative ways to promote conservation of wildlife in the greatest agricultural regions in the world.</p><p>Along with his late wife Marie, who was a patron of local arts and culture, Bob Gallo leaves a legacy of public service as great as his role in the growth of the largest winery in the world. He lives on in the miracle of migratory flight, celebrated by the orchestral music of ducks, geese, cranes, and all the other denizens of the refuge he did so much to establish and maintain.</p></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

A Defender of Wildlife has Fallen: RIP Robert Gallo

Robert Gallo, known to everyone as “Bob,” died last Saturday. Like the Gallo family in general, he was very much a private person who preferred his contributions to nature and other public service went unpublicized. Nonetheless, he was a major benefactor to birds and wildlife, especially with his key role in the recovery of the Aleutian Cackling Goose, a formerly endangered species he helped bring back from the brink of extinction.