Dan Ashe (left) is congratulated on his new role as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. (Courtesy photo)
The U.S. Senate earned praise from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar for the confirmation last week of Dan Ashe as the 16th director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. According to a press release issued last week by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Ashe, a career employee of the agency, will assume his duties immediately. Ashe is the son of Harvard’s Bill and Betty Ashe of Myrick Lane, and follows in the footsteps of his father, a 37-year veteran of the Fish and Wildlife Service who was instrumental in the formation of the Oxbow Wildlife Refuge.
Salazar said, “Dan Ashe has served with distinction and integrity in the Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 15 years. He has worked tirelessly to prepare the Service to meet the resource challenges of the 21st century, and his leadership and vision have never been more necessary. I’m excited to work with him to foster innovative science-driven conservation programs and policies to benefit our nation’s fish and wildlife and its habitat.”
On Dec. 3, President Obama formally nominated Ashe, who has served as the service’s deputy director for policy since 2009, to be the agency’s director. As deputy director, Ashe developed policy and guidance to support and promote program development and fulfill the service’s mission.
“I’m humbled by the trust that the secretary and the president have placed in me, and most of all, by the responsibility of leading the finest wildlife conservation organization in the world,” Ashe said. “As director, I will strive to create an atmosphere where we can bring to bear our collective imagination, our tenacity, and our commitment to public service to address today’s challenges to the future of our nation’s fish and wildlife heritage.”
During his tenure with the service, Ashe has helped to craft the strategy that will guide the agency’s efforts to deal with the effects of a changing climate. That plan outlined interagency cooperative efforts across landscapes as the most effective way to help fish and wildlife populations adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Ashe also been a leader in the development of the agency’s Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are intended to leverage resources and strategically target science to inform conservation decisions and actions.
President Obama awarded Ashe a Presidential Rank Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service.
Prior to being named deputy director, Ashe served as the science advisor to the service’s director from 2003-2009, providing leadership on science policy and scientific applications to resource management.
Ashe served as the chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System from 1998 to 2003, directing operation and management of the 93 million-acre system, and the service’s land acquisition program.
From 1995 to 1998, he served as the Fish and Wildlife Service’s assistant director for external affairs, where he directed the agency’s programs in legislative, public, and Native American affairs, research coordination, and state grants-in-aid.
Prior to joining the Service, Ashe served as a member of the professional staff of the former Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1982 until 1995.
Ashe was born and spent his childhood in Atlanta, Ga., where his father began his long career with the service. Much of Ashe’s childhood was spent on national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries in the Southeast, where he learned to band birds, fish, hunt and enjoy the outdoors.
He earned a graduate degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington, where he studied under a fellowship from the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation. He is very active in local civic affairs in Montgomery County, Md., where he and his family reside, and is an avid waterfowl hunter, angler, and tennis player.
