Contacts
Georgia Parham, 812-334-4261 x203
Wendi Weber has been selected as the new Assistant Regional
Director of Ecological Services for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Midwest Region, headquartered in Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Weber succeeds
Charlie Wooley, who became the Service’s Midwest Deputy Regional Director
in January 2004.
Weber’s responsibilities will include directing the Service's
Midwest Ecological Services program, including oversight of staff in 10 ecological
services field offices and the regional office. Ecological Services administers
the Endangered Species Act and works to recover imperiled species; seeks
damages for resources injured or damaged by contaminants; helps private landowners
restore wildlife habitat; and ensures compliance with the National Environmental
Policy Act and other laws and programs aimed at conserving and protecting
fish and wildlife resources.
“ We know the fish and wildlife in the Midwest Region’s
eight states will benefit from Wendi’s experience,” said Regional
Director, Robyn Thorson. “Throughout her career, she has demonstrated
excellent scientific knowledge and a common-sense approach to resolving issues.”
Weber began her Service career in 1998. Prior to her selection
as assistant regional director, she served in the Service’s Pacific
Regional Office Endangered Species program, in Portland, Oregon, as a supervisory
biologist.
Weber’s previous assignments included supervisory biologist
and advisory positions with the Service’s Washington Office, Division
of Endangered Species. She also worked as a marine research associate with
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and a research biologist
for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia.
“ I look forward to living and working in the Twin Cities
area,” Weber said. “I am excited for the opportunity to work
with the many partners within and outside of the Service to conserve the
countless wonderful natural resources of the Midwest.”
Weber, a native of Rochester, New York, holds a master’s
degree in forest resources from the University of Georgia, and a bachelor’s
degree in zoology from the University of Rhode Island.
Weber and her family will relocate to the Twin Cities area
this summer.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal
agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife
and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services
field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands,
and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes
hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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