[env-trinity] FWS Regional Director Sam Hamilton will be nominee to head FWS

[Byron Leydecker]

FWS Southeast Regional Director Sam Hamilton will be nominated to be the
next director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Interior Department
announced today.

The text of DOI's press release follows. It has not yet been posted online.


                                                         Date: June 9, 2009
                                       Contact: Hugh Vickery (202) 208-6416



          Secretary Salazar Lauds President's Intent to Nominate
        Sam Hamilton as Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised
President Obama's announcement that he intends to nominate Sam D. Hamilton
to be the next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hamilton, a
career senior biologist and manager with the Service, currently is director
of the agency's Southeast Region, The nomination requires Senate
confirmation.

"Sam has vast experience with every aspect of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service's mission, making him an ideal nominee to direct the agency,"
Salazar said. "Throughout his career, he has been an innovative leader in
developing new conservation initiatives and resolving complex and
controversial environmental issues. He will be a strong advocate for sound
science and effective management of our nation's fish and wildlife."

Hamilton, who has been with the Service for 30 years, was appointed
Southeast Regional Director in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997, serving as senior
operating executive with full strategic planning and management
responsibility for a $484 million budget and a 1,500-person work-force that
operates in 10 states and the Caribbean.

As regional director, Hamilton has been responsible for the oversight and
management of more than 350 federally listed threatened and endangered
species and 128 national wildlife refuges. He has provided leadership and
oversight to the department's restoration work in the Everglades, the
largest ecosystem restoration project in the country, and oversaw recovery
and restoration work following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which
devastated coastal wetlands, wildlife refuges, and other wildlife habitat
along the Gulf of Mexico.

Hamilton's leadership fostered creative solutions and innovation that led
to the establishment of a carbon sequestration program that has helped
biologists in the Southeast restore roughly 80,000 acres of wildlife
habitat.  His emphasis on partnership bolstered the Service's fisheries
program and helped establish the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership to
restore vital aquatic habitats across the region.  This partnership is a
key piece of the National Fish Habitat Action Plan.

Prior to becoming regional director, Hamilton served as assistant regional
director of the ecological services in Atlanta and the Service's Texas
state administrator in Austin.

Hamilton graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of
Science degree in biology in 1977.

                                    ###