The Interior Departments U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced several changes in assignment for members of its Senior Executive Service team.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service is fortunate to have a cadre of senior managers who are dedicated to our conservation mission and who have served in a variety of positions throughout the agency," said Service Director H. Dale Hall. "All of these managers have served with great distinction, and I am grateful to have their assistance as we move forward with the Services important work on behalf of fish and wildlife conservation."
The new assignments are as follows:
Mitch King, currently Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration, has been named as the permanent Regional Director for the Mountain Prairie Region in Denver, Colorado. The Mountain Prairie Region includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah. King replaces former Regional Director Ralph O. Morgenweck who accepted a new assignment with the Service as a senior science advisor in December 2005.
Rowan Gould, currently Regional Director in Alaska, will move to Washington, D.C., to fill the position of Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration. This position works closely with State fish and wildlife agencies and oversees the Services Federal Assistance program which annually provides millions of dollars in grants to States and other partners.
Thomas O. Melius, currently the Services Assistant Director for External Affairs, will become the Alaska Regional Director in Anchorage, Alaska.
Elizabeth Stevens, currently Deputy Assistant Director for Endangered Species, will succeed Mr. Melius as Assistant Director for External Affairs in Washington, D.C.
Mitch King was named Acting Regional Director for the Mountain Prairie Region in December 2005. He served as Assistant Director for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration from September 2004 - December 2005. He previously held a number of positions in the Services Southeast Region, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, including Deputy Regional Director, Acting Regional Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Assistant Regional Director of Migratory Birds and State Programs, Geographic Assistant Regional Director for portions of the Southeast, and Field Supervisor for the Georgia Ecological Services Office in Brunswick, Georgia. He has previous experience in the Mountain Prairie Region, having worked as Assistant Project Leader for the Montana Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance office in Bozeman, Montana, and in positions associated with implementation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. He also served on a special detail to the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Washington, D.C. He holds a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Rowan Gould holds a PhD in fish pathology and fish biology from Oregon State University. Before coming to Alaska as Regional Director in 2003, he served as Deputy Regional Director for the Pacific Region in Portland, Oregon. He has served as Deputy Assistant Director of Fisheries in Washington, D.C., in Alaska as Assistant Regional Director for Refuges and Wildlife from 1991-95 and as Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services and Fisheries from 1987-91, and held several research positions within the Service.
Tom Melius has served as Assistant Director for Migratory Birds and State Programs as well as Assistant Director for External Affairs. He has previously served as Director of Conservation Policy and Senior Advisor at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. From 1995 to 1997 he was a Senior Professional Staff member on the U.S. Senates Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation where he formulated policy for fishery management with the National Marine Fisheries Service, US Coast Guard, and for coastal programs, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He advised the Committee on international conservation matters involving wildlife trade, marine mammals, and endangered species. Tom was a professional staff member on the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1985, to January 1995. He holds a B.S. degree in Wildlife Biology and a M.S. degree in Fish and Wildlife Science from South Dakota State University.
Elizabeth Stevens has worked for the Federal Government since 1984, including assignments at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the General Services Administration. She joined the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987 as a Special Assistant to the Director on Alaska issues and later as Special Assistant to the Assistant Director for Fish and Wildlife Enhancement. In 1992, Ms. Stevens was selected to fill the position of Associate Regional Director in the Services Mountain-Prairie Region. She later assumed several top management positions in the Denver office. In 1998, she joined the newly established California/Nevada Operations Office in Sacramento, California as the Deputy Manager. In 2001, Ms. Stevens returned to the Services headquarters office in Washington, D.C., to serve as the Deputy Assistant Director for Endangered Species. She was born and raised in Alaska and is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University.
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 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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For more information about the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
