External Affairs Program

Text Version

02-06
Contact: Patricia Foulk, Sacramento - (916) 414-6566, (cell) 916 425-0627

STEVE P. THOMPSON GAINS TOP FISH AND WILDLIFE POST
FOR CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA

Steve P. Thompson, a 25-year career veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been named Manager of the Service’s California-Nevada Operations (CNO) Office. He succeeds Michael J. Spear, who retired in May. Thompson has been serving as Acting CNO Manager since June.

"Steve Thompson is the ideal person to take the helm of Service operations in these key Western states," said Marshall Jones, Acting Fish and Wildlife Service Director. "He has served the Service with distinction in significant land management positions in the field and at the regional and national levels. His outstanding leadership skills, hands-on experience, partnership philosophy and demonstrated ability to work with diverse stakeholders will continue the CNO’s commitment to find solutions to the myriad conservation challenges faced by California and Nevada."

In his new post, Thompson will oversee Service programs in California and Nevada that employ approximately 784 Federal employees who administer the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act, manage 46 national wildlife refuges and three national fish hatcheries.

Prior to coming to Sacramento in June, Thompson was based in Atlanta as the Regional Chief for the National Wildlife Refuge System in the Service’s Pacific Region, and the Geographic Assistant Regional Director for the Lower Mississippi River Valley, where he administered programs covering the states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. He also served for three years as the Branch Chief for Resource Management for the National Wildlife Refuge System Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Thompson began his career with the Service as a wildlife biologist at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon, and filled progressively responsible biologist posts at Puget Sound National Wildlife Refuge in Olympia, Washington, and Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Fallon, Nevada, before becoming refuge manager at Laguna Atacosa National Wildlife Refuge in Rio Hondo, Texas. In 1994 he was chosen as first "Refuge Manager of the Year" by the National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

Thompson, 48, was born in Nevada and raised in both Nevada and California, where he graduated in 1976 from Humboldt State University with a bachelor of science degree in wildlife management. A competitive swimmer, avid birdwatcher and hunter, Thompson and his wife Renee have two grown daughters.

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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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 governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

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Contact us: Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825
Phone (916) 414-6600 ~ FAX (916) 414-6713 ~ email: fw1sacweb@fws.gov

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a part of the United States Government Department of Interior

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