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Hamilton, Abbey nominated for DOI posts
Petroleum News
Nominees to fill two top jobs at the Department of the Interior were announced June 9: Sam D. Hamilton as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bob Abbey as director of the Bureau of Land Management.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Hamilton “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 Hamilton has “been an innovative leader in developing new conservation initiatives and resolving complex and controversial environmental issues.”
The secretary said Hamilton “will be a strong advocate for sound science and effective management of our nation’s fish and wildlife.”
Hamilton has been with Fish and Wildlife for 40 years and was appointed southeast regional director in Atlanta in 1997, where he was senior operating executive with strategic planning and management responsibility for a $484 million budget and a 1,500-person workforce in 10 states and the Caribbean.
He graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1977.
In addition to conservation and wildlife management, Fish and Wildlife manages the 96 million acre National Wildlife Refuge System — nearly 77 million of those acres (more than 80 percent of the total) are in Alaska.
Abbey at BLM Abbey worked in state and federal land management agencies for more than 32 years, retiring from federal service in 2005 and most recently has been a partner in a private consulting firm with offices in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada.
He was BLM Nevada state director for eight years and from 1999 through 2005 was 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.
“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,” Salazar said.
Abbey is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree.
BLM manages more than 256 million acres of public lands — more than any other agency — in the National System of Public Lands with a multiple-use mission, including 80 million acres in Alaska.
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