"Ashe Confirmed as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director"

"Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Daniel Ashe as the 16th director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ashe, a career employee of the agency who has served as deputy director for policy since 2009, will assume his duties immediately. ...

On December 3, President Barack Obama formally nominated Ashe to lead the agency.

But for months, Senate Republicans have held up a vote on the nomination to force the Obama administration to yield to Republican positions on deepwater well drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico, wild lands conservation and Wyoming wolves.

The holds have not been the result of concerns about Ashe himself, a Maryland resident who has had a distinguished career with the Service."

Environment News Service had the story June 30, 2011.