The Interior Departments U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced proposed changes in assignment for members of its top leadership team in several Regional and Washington headquarters offices.
"The Service has a team of talented and dedicated leaders," said Service director Steve Williams. "After nearly a year as Director, I am proposing new assignments within the leadership team to better apply talents of top managers to priorities and challenges before us." All of the positions involved in the proposed changes are part of the governments Senior Executive Service. The assignments are subject to review and approval by the Interior Departments Executive Resources Board.
The proposed new assignments are as follows:
- David B. Allen, currently the Services Alaska Regional Director in Anchorage, to Regional Director of the Services Pacific Region in Portland, Oregon. The Pacific Region includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the U.S. Trust Territories in the Pacific Ocean.
- Anne Badgley, currently Regional Director in Portland, to Executive Director of the Regional Ecosystem Office in Portland, which is responsible for implementing the Northwest Forest Plan.
- Rowan Gould to Regional Director in Anchorage for the Alaska Region. Gould is currently the Deputy Regional Director in Portland, Oregon.
- Dan Ashe, currently Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, to Senior Science Advisor to the Director. In this new position, he would be responsible for strengthening the Services science programs, one of the top priorities of Director Steve Williams.
- William F. Hartwig, currently Regional Director for the Great Lakes - Big Rivers region in Twin Cities, Minnesota, to Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in Washington, D.C. This position directs policy and budget development for the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, including land acquisition.
- Robyn Thorson to Regional Director in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region (Region 3), which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Thorson is currently Assistant Director for External Affairs in Washington, D.C.
- Thomas O. Melius to Assistant Director for External Affairs in Washington, D.C., with responsibility for the agencys Congressional and public affairs, Native American relations, and training through the National Conservation Training Center. Melius is currently Assistant Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs.
- Paul R. Schmidt to Assistant Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs. Schmidt currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Director in that program, which oversees migratory bird management and the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program.
Dave Allen has logged more than 30 years as a career Service employee and has been in Alaska for 11 years, serving the last 8 years as Regional Director. He previously served as Deputy Regional Director in the Services Southeast Region and as Assistant Regional Director for fishery resources for the Northeast Region. He holds a B.A. from Macalester college in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Master of Science degree from Fordham University in New York.
Dan Ashe joined the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995 and served as Assistant Director for External Affairs before becoming head of the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1998. From 1982 until 1995, he was a member of the professional staff of the former committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the U.S. House of Representatives, working on a wide range of environmental policy issues. He holds a graduate degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from the Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Badgley has been Regional Director of the Pacific Region since 1998. Prior to that she served as Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs in Portland. She came to the Service in 1996 after serving as chief of staff for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. She has also worked as an aide to former Senator Brock Adams of Washington State and as deputy director of congressional and intergovernmental affairs for the Interior department, and has practiced law forSeattle-based firm Perkins Coie. She holds degrees in communications and psychology from the University of Washington, an MBA from UCLA, and a law degree from the University of Washington.
Rowan Gould holds a PhD in fish pathology and fish biology from Oregon State University. He has previous experience in Alaska, having served there as Assistant Regional Director for Refuges and Wildlife from 1991-95 and as Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services and Fisheries from 1987-91. In 1989 and 1990, in addition to his normal duties, he was responsible for coordinating the Services activities in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and served as the Interior Departments representative to the inter-governmental oil spill damage assessment management team. Immediately before coming to Portland, Gould served as Deputy Assistant Director of Fisheries in Washington, D.C. He has also held several research positions within the Service.
Bill Hartwig has been Regional Director in Minnesota since 1995. He has previous experience in the Refuges program, having served as Services Chief of Realty in Washington, D.C., for several years before becoming Deputy Assistant Director for Refuges and Wildlife in 1991. He acted as Assistant Director for Refuges and Wildlife from January 1994 until becoming Regional Director in April 1995. He holds a bachelors degree in outdoor recreation from West Virginia University and a masters degree in administration from the George Washington University.
Tom Melius has served as Assistant Director for Migratory Birds and State programs since 2000, and previously served as the Services Assistant Director for External Affairs. He is the former director of conservation policy and a senior advisor at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and served as a senior staff member on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He has also worked as an assistant director for the National Rifle Association in Washington, D.C., supervising the groups hunting information, awards, and education programs. He holds a masters in wildlife and fisheries science from South Dakota State University.
Paul Schmidt has been a career Service employee for more than 25 years, serving as Deputy Assistant Director for Refuges and Wildlife, Chief of the Division of Migratory Bird Management, special assistant to the Director and Deputy Director, Deputy Assistant Regional Director in Alaska, and Refuge Supervisor in Alaska.
Robyn Thorson has worked in three Regional Offices of the Service, serving as deputy Regional Director in Alaska from 1995-1999 and as Assistant Regional Director for Budget and Administration in the Services Southwest Region in Albuquerque from 1993-1995. She served in other positions in Alaska, the Pacific Regional Office in Portland, Oregon, and in Washington, D.C. She also served as Associate Regional Chief Biologist for the U.S. Geological Surveys Biological Resources Division from January 1999 to August 2000. She holds a B.A. from Colorado Womens College and a law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law.
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 540 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.
(Photographs and more complete biographies of the individuals named in this press release are available on the Services website at http://offices.fws.gov/orgcht.html. To see the biographies and pictures, click on the title for the individuals current position.)
