President Joe Biden has nominated a Montanan and former state wildlife manager to lead the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service.
Martha Williams has informally led the Fish and Wildlife Service since January. The federal agency manages wildlife and habitat across the country and is in charge of more than 150 million acres of land in the National Wildlife Refuge System. FWS also administers the Endangered Species Act.
Williams previously worked for the agency during the Obama administration.
Williams, a former assistant law professor at the Blewett School of Law at the University of Montana, helmed the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks from 2017 to 2020
Williams’ nomination to FWS will be considered by the U.S. Senate.
She’s won the endorsement of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who in a statement Thursday, said “Martha brings with her decades of experience, deep knowledge, and a passion for conservation, wildlife management, and natural resources stewardship.”
If her nomination is successful, Williams would be the second Montanan selected this year by the Biden Administration to determine federal public land policy. Tracy Stone-Manning was narrowly confirmed earlier this month as the next director of the Bureau of Land Management.