Former Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik has been nominated to serve as the next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Nesvik recently retired from Game and Fish after leading the state agency for five years.
Nesvik will appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for his confirmation hearing and will still need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis praised the selection saying, “Brian has spent his entire career serving the people of Wyoming and working alongside outfitters, hunters, landowners, fishermen, and anyone else who loves the great outdoors. That attitude and passion for balancing wildlife conservation and recreational access will serve him well in this important role. I look forward to working to get Brian confirmed as soon as possible.”
Governor Mark Gordon appointed Nesvik to lead the Game and Fish Department in 2019 and commented that he “could not be more qualified and suited to service in this significant role.”
“He has had a long career in wildlife conservation,” Gordon said, “and boasts extensive experience and leadership dealing with the complexities of endangered species issues. His intimate knowledge of the challenges facing Western states will ensure Wyoming has a seat at the table when engaging with the federal government on these issues. The nation’s gain is also a win for the states and USFWS will be well-served with Brian at the helm.”
Nesvik succeeds Martha Williams as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Interestingly, Williams held a similar position in Montana where she led the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks under Democrat Governor Steve Bullock.
One of the key debates that Nesvik will lead the FWS through is whether to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species list in the lower 48 states. In the closing days of the Biden Administration, FWS denied petition from Wyoming and Montana to delist the bear and proposed to change the management approach to grizzly bears in the Northwest. Grizzly bears are just one of a slew of endangered species decisions that Nesvik will face in the new role.
If confirmed, Nesvik would lead an agency that has roughly 8,000 employees and oversees a wildlife refuge system that covers nearly 860 million acres.
The Trump Administration also nominated Kathleen Sgamma to head up the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, which manages nearly 250 million acres of federal lands.
Sgamma heads the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies that operate on federal lands, and had been critical of Biden and Obama administration efforts to set aside public land for conservation instead of opening more acres for energy development.
###
Northern Ag Network
