Department of the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt today announced that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie will leave her position due to health reasons.
In his memo to all employees, the Secretary said, "All of you who have worked with Mollie Beattie know well the extraordinary spirit, commitment and verve she has brought to the Fish and Wildlife Service and to the Department of the Interior over the past three years. She has been an inspiration and a bright light to all of us here, as well as to so many people outside the Department who want the Service to flourish and to succeed in its important conservation missions."
"Mollies indomitable will and her sense of service brought her back to the Directorship full-time twice after serious operations in circumstances that would have been daunting for almost any other human being. Reluctantly, however, she has concluded that, given her medical condition, she can now no longer discharge the duties of the Directorship full-time, and so I have agreed with a heavy heart to honor her request to leave the Department."
"We will miss Mollies presence as a colleague and a friend, but I hope we will honor her values and her humanity by renewing our efforts to carry forward programs, such as the protection of endangered species and stewardship of the Wildlife Refuge System, that she holds so dear."
"John Rogers, who has filled in for Mollie during the last year when she was unable to be here, will continue to do so as Acting Director."
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 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 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. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
