President Obama Nominates FWS, BLM Directors

President Obama has nominated Bob Abbey to head the Bureau of Land Management and Sam Hamilton to run the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Abbey is a veteran public land policy leader and chief architect of the Great Basin Restoration Initiative. He logged more than 32 years in public service, working with state and federal land management agencies, before retiring from the federal government in July 2005. 

“Through his decades of public service, Bob Abbey has shown again and again that he is the consummate professional natural resource manager,” said Secretary Salazar. “His dedication to our country’s national system of public lands and his commitment to building partnerships make him an ideal choice to lead one of the most complex federal land managing agencies.”

Abbey served for eight years as the Nevada state director for BLM, providing direction and oversight for 48 million acres of public land managed by the bureau in the state.  He oversaw a staff of 700 employees in eight field offices and the state office and managed an annual operating budget of $51 million. 

From 1999 through 2005, Abbey was the chairman of the executive committee for the implementation of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act and oversaw the allocation of more than $1.5 billion in funds for resource management and environmental projects within the state. 

During his federal career, Abbey was the principal BLM proponent for the Great Basin Restoration Initiative, testifying before congressional committees and working with both the BLM director and the Secretary of the Interior to elevate the status and funding levels for restoration activities in the Great Basin. 

Most recently, Abbey was a partner in a private consultant firm called Abbey, Stubbs, & Ford, LLC with offices in Las Vegas and Reno Nevada.  He also continued his advocacy within the private sector as a member of the University of Nevada College of Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Committee and as a board member on several statewide and national non-profit organizations.

Hamilton, a career senior biologist and manager with the Fish and Wildlife Service, currently is director of the agency’s Southeast Region.

“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.