Richard Hannan, an 18-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been named the Pacific Region’s Assistant Regional Director for Fishery Resources, Regional Director Robyn Thorson announced today.
Hannan, currently the Assistant Regional Director for Budget and Administration in the Service’s Alaska Region, succeeds Dan Diggs, who retired in January.
“With his scientific credentials and experience in a variety of the Service’s programs, Richard will be a valuable addition to our regional directorate team,” Regional Director Thorson said. “He will provide strong leadership for our fisheries program, which works with tribes, states and others to protect, restore and enhance fish and other aquatic resources.”
Hannan will lead the daily operation of the fisheries program and the implementation of its strategic plan. The fishery program is a network of 25 field stations with about 260 employees in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Hawaii. The network includes 15 national fish hatcheries producing approximately 60 million salmon and steelhead each year, three fish health centers, two fish and wildlife offices, three fisheries resources offices, the Service’s largest fish technology center and a Lower Snake River Compensation Program office. The Lower Snake Compensation Program office administers the production program and funds the operation of 26 state and tribal hatchery, research and fish health facilities using money generated by the Bonneville Power Administrations sale of hydroelectric power.
The program’s 2010 budget is $40.3 million, which includes $20 million in reimbursable funds from other agencies.
Hannan, who graduated from Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale, Washington, said he is excited about returning to the region that inspired his career choice.
“In high school, the time I spent enjoying the mountains and magnificent forests, fields and streams of the Pacific Northwest pushed me into a career in natural resource management,” he said. “Returning to the area and its resources is the fulfillment of a life-long dream.”
Hannan has been in Alaska since 1999. He had previously been the supervisor for the Fisheries and Ecological Services programs, managing operations in the Arctic and Southeast Alaska and overseeing the Region’s Conservation Genetics Laboratory. Before working in Alaska, Hannan was Deputy Chief of the Service’s Division of Endangered Species in Washington, D.C. He worked in the Washington Office for four years, serving in various management positions within the Division of Endangered Species.
Hannan started his career with the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was the Southeast Region’s Endangered Species Act consultation coordinator, working on controversial endangered species issues throughout the region. Before joining the Service, Richard was the Director of the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, where he worked for 14 years. Richard has a Master of Science degree in biology from Eastern Kentucky University.
He and his wife, Neesia, have two adult children. Hannan and his wife enjoy gardening, fishing, hiking, hunting, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, cooking and training their Chesapeake Bay retriever.
Hannan begins his new duties April 26.
The Fisheries Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has played a vital role in conserving and managing fish and other aquatic resources since 1871, when Congress established the position of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries in response to concern regarding the decline in natural food fish supplies. The Service has a proud history of leading Federal fishery conservation efforts along the West Coast since the first Federal salmon hatcheries were established more than 100 years ago. Throughout the years, the Service has taken a holistic approach to fishery conservation, focusing on a broad array of scientific fishery management and conservation efforts. Today, the Fisheries Program works with States, Native American Tribes, other governments, other Service programs, private organizations, public institutions, and stakeholders in a larger effort to conserve these important resources.
