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Williams Names King as New Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 2004 Contact: Director of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Steve Williams today announced
that Mitch King, currently Deputy Regional Director for the Service's
Southeast Region, has been selected as the Service's first Assistant
Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration. "I'm pleased that Mitch has accepted this call to be the first Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration. He is widely espected by both the hunting and fishing community in the southeast and by his peers in the Fish and Wildlife Service. He will be a tremendous addition to my office in Washington," Williams said. A native of Kentucky with more than 27-years of federal service with the wildlife agency, King's present position involves leadership of Fish and Wildlife Service activities across the southeast. After graduating from the
University of Tennessee, King began his career with the Service in
1977 as a biologist stationed at Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, he
worked on wetland issues in the Mississippi River Valley. Since that
time, he has worked for the Service in Cookeville, Tennessee; Washington,
D.C.; Denver, Colorado; Bozeman, Montana; and Brunswick, Georgia.
His responsibilities have included the preservtion and restoration
of wetlands, working with Congress on Farm Bill legislation, providing
wildlife management assistance on Indian Reservation in Montana, resource
planning and budget management on National Wildlife Refuges and carrying
out the responsibilities of the Endangered Species Act. While in DC,
King served in a liaison position with the International Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies where he worked directly with State
and Provincial Fish and Wildlife Agencies on the implementation of
the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. King has also served as the Southeast Region's Assistant Regional Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs. In that capacity, he supervised the management of the Southeast Region's Federal Assistance Program and all activities associated with Migratory Birds including the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, Partners In Flight, and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative. He also served as the Acting Chief of the Southeast Region's National Wildlife Refuge System. King and his wife Carla have two daughters, one granddaughter, and one grandson. He is an avid hunter and angler and enjoys visiting his property in Montana whenever he has time. 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. For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://southeast.fws.gov/ or http://www.fws.gov/. NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at http://southeast.fws.gov. Our national home page is at: http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/. Atlanta, GA 30345 |
