With Federal-state-private partnership efforts playing an increasingly important role in wildlife conservation, Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has appointed Service veteran Phil Million as Special Assistant for Conservation Partnerships. In his new position, Million is charged with establishing new conservation partnerships and strengthening existing cooperative arrangements.
"The conservation community has been one of the Service's greatest allies throughout this century," Clark said. "Without the strong working partnerships we have enjoyed with anglers, hunters, and non-government conservation organizations, Americans simply would not see the rich biological heritage we do today."
"This new position should result in improved cooperation and communications between the Service and its partners, both old and new. This will translate into even greater progress for fish and wildlife conservation in the future," Clark added. "I am pleased that Phil will be putting his years of experience with the conservation community to work strengthening our ties with groups that share our wildlife conservation goals."
Million joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in September 1973 as Chief of Radio and TV Program Coordination. After serving as a Public Information Officer in the Department of the Interior from 1980 to 1984, he returned to the Service as chief of its Public Affairs Office, directing the Service's media relations, audio visual production, and printing and publication efforts. In this position, he also worked with many outdoor conservation and recreation organizations on joint public information and educational programs.
Million, 60, was born in Boonville, Missouri. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1960. His Federal service also includes positions with U.S. Army Intelligence and the U.S. Department of Education. An avid fly fisherman and hunter, Million resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, June. They have three grown children.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries 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.
