Communications professional Jason Holm has been appointed Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs in the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Regional Director Robyn Thorson announced today.
Holm is currently the Assistant Regional Director for External Affairs in the Service’s Midwest Region, headquartered near Minneapolis, Minnesota, a position he has held for the past five years. Before that, he spent nine years with the military, first as a U.S. Army officer and then as a civilian Public Affairs Officer.
“Jason was selected for his high energy and passion for his work, his innovative approach and his dedication to conservation,” Thorson said. “Since joining the Service, he has become a trusted leader in the External Affairs community and has helped transform the communications capacity of the agency.”
Holm will lead an External Affairs staff of six people providing services in congressional affairs, media and tribal relations, web and social media, crisis communications and public outreach in the Pacific Region, which includes the states of Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. The region has responsibility for more than 400 threatened and endangered species and manages or co-manages nearly 270 million acres of land, water, coral reefs and ocean floor on 67 national wildlife refuges and five national monuments, 11 ecological services field offices, eight fisheries stations and a research lab, 15 national fish hatcheries and 26 state and tribal hatcheries funded, managed and/or administered through the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, and the world’s only wildlife forensics laboratory. The region also manages three South Pacific national marine monuments totaling 125 million acres of land and water and co-manages the 89-million acre Papahânaumokuâkea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the State of Hawai’i.
“I’m thrilled to be joining this established group of professionals in the Pacific Region,” Holm said. “It is exciting to be working on issues that are so challenging and intrinsically tied to our nation’s conservation goals.”
Since joining the Service, Holm has been instrumental in modernizing the agency’s communications capacity and he led the development of its social media effort. He also has been active in the agency’s program to develop its next generation of leaders.
Before going to work for the Service, Holm was the Deputy Chief of Public Affairs for the U.S. Army Pacific Command in Hawaii. Prior to that, he held positions as a public affairs officer for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. He was an officer in the U.S. Army, in both active and reserve capacities, from 1990-2005.
While working in military public affairs, he regularly dealt with high-level military, political and community leaders and managed complex, highly sensitive media campaigns.
Holm has a Bachelor’s Degree in criminal justice from the University of North Dakota and a Master’s Degree in Diplomacy and Military Studies from Hawaii Pacific University.
Holm and his wife, Susan, have three daughters. He starts his new position on November 7, 2011.
Pacific Region Selects New External Affairs Leader
