martha williams montana husband

On July 20, the day The Intercepts wolf investigation went live, Cam Sholly, the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, sent a letter to Montanas game commissioners arguing that using telemetry to hunt wolves violated the fair chase principle, which holds that human hunters do not take unfair advantage of nonhuman prey, and requested that this prohibition be re-inserted into your regulations.. Your support helps quality Montana journalism thrive! Wolves at Blacktail Pond at Yellowstone National Park, in 2019. I think a lot of folks of whatever view on wolves are probably a bit concerned about opening the can of worms. Its not all one or the other. Martha Williams, the current principal deputy director at USFWS, also told the U.S. Senate committee she believes conservation is a shared responsibility. In 2018, Greg Sheehan stepped down as principal deputy director of FWS under President Donald Trump after then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sought to have him take full leadership of the agency. In addition to writing Gianforte stacked the most important posts in Montanas wildlife decision-making apparatus from Williamss old job atop FWP to the commissioners who create policy for the department with campaign contributors, a former running mate, and representatives of aggressively pro-wolf hunting interests. In 2020, during Williamss final year as FWPs director, Montana began using a new system to estimate its wolf population: the integrated patch occupancy model iPOM, for short. Catherine Wightman is moving on to a new opportunity that will continue to benefit sage grouse and . It started with a real effort on urban wildlife refuges, but what were learning is applicable across the board, including in rural communities. FWP game wardens looked into the report and found no functional telemetry equipment or evidence of violation, Morgan E. Jacobsen, a spokesperson for FWPs southwest region, said in an email in July. Williams was the first woman to lead Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks under former Democratic Gov. Photo: Jim Peaco/NPS. Just award-winning local journalism for the people, by the people. Thank you for supporting homegrown news. We want to reduce wolf numbers.. Now a top federal official, Williamss supporters are pulling her in divergent directions, while critics are questioning her credentials and calling on her to step down entirely. MW: Im excited to have resources that we havent had in a long time, and not just dollars. For nearly a year, Parsons, along with Bob Aland, a retired attorney and environmental activist, have been waging a two-man campaign to remove Williams from the position. Thats a total collective effort. In fiscal year 2021 ending in June, state trust lands produced $107.3 million, up from $92.1 million in the last fiscal year. You have permission to edit this article. It recognizes the need to build on existing tools, like Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Sentinel Landscapes, programs that are all about voluntary efforts, locally led efforts where we add value and provide technical assistance to work happening within local communities. As a Montanan and nonpartisan wildlife expert, Martha has time and again demonstrated her ability to bring sportsmen and conservationists together to find collaborative, science-based solutions to tough problems., Steve Daines, Testers Republican counterpart in the U.S. Senate, also supported Williams nomination. Steve Bullock and served as director from 2017-2020. Im trying to save my old agency, for crying out loud, he said. As part of the U.S. Geological Surveys Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program, which partners graduate students and state fish and wildlife agencies for research and technical assistance purposes, Ausband is both a federal employee and a faculty member at the University of Idaho. Prior to heading FWP, she taught at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana, working for a time as a solicitor at the Department of Interior, and was a lawyer at FWP from 1998 to 2011. Republican lawmakers supported the bill, saying it will help unwind a recent court decision over a gas plant under construction. Williams frequently pointed to her experience at the state and federal levels, describing herself as a collaborator that recognized the need for support from states, tribes, nonprofits and private landowners to help conserve wildlife and maintain or improve habitat. Whoops! Former Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Martha Williams was appointed on Wednesday as second-in-command at the U.S. Grizzlies have twice been delisted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem only to be overturned in federal court due to issues with genetic connectivity and regulations at the state level. The Federal Indian Child Welfare Act is at risk. In many states, predators, like coyotes, can be killed anytime, anywhere without a license or a defined season. I have to broaden my context and yet remember to stay really grounded with what Ive learned throughout my career, understanding what it means to live in these communities with species like grizzly bears. Montana news with context and care. Across a decade and half of service, Williams earned respect on both sides of the wolf wars and helped craft a legal framework for protecting the states most political animal. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. . Martha Williams confirmation to lead the U.S. Williams was confirmed by voice vote Thursday night before the Senate adjourned. During the Obama Administration, Williams served as Deputy Solicitor Parks and Wildlife at the Department of the Interior for two years, providing counsel to the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service on issues arising in parks and recreation, fish and wildlife, environmental protection, natural resources assessment and restoration, and land and water conservation law. For Hawkaluk, the trajectory of wolves within Montanas bureaucracy reflects the contentious politics that surrounds the animals. ), In December, Parsons wrote an op-ed describing how every FWS director going back to the Nixon administration had met the scientific education requirement. 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. Stone-Manning, a former staffer of Bullock and Tester, and most recently a senior advisor to the National Wildlife Federation, saw Republicans calling for her nomination to be withdrawn over her ties to environmental activists prosecuted nearly 30 years ago for spiking trees in an Idaho timber sale. Steve Bullock, a post she held from 2017 to 2020. Does the Interior Department worry about what recovery looks likefor grizzlies and wolvesunder state management? Before the transfer of management authority could happen, however, the states needed to prove that they had a regulatory framework in place to support continued wolf recovery. In the portion of the state that abuts Yellowstone Park where longstanding quotas on wolf kills were eliminated entirely the death toll of 19 wolves marked a 342 percent increase from the previous decades annual average of four. She also served a term as the Vice President of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. She was confirmed in a bipartisan 16-to-4 vote in February. Williams is President Joe Biden's. Please subscribe to keep reading. OL: The public and private conservation communities have been working to implement President Bidens America The Beautiful initiative, which would permanently conserve at least 30 percent of Americas land and waters. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. She was appointed to that position in 2017 by former governor Steve Bullock. More recently, bison management has been on her radar. In the early days, Ausband explained, monitoring wolves in the Northern Rockies was straightforward. Williams was appointed to the Service as Principal Deputy Director in January 2021. In January, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public works approved her nomination as director of the U.S. And how do we support all the partners it takes to have a species on the landscape that stays recovered. Martha Williams Director Address U.S Fish and Wildlife Service 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20240 United States (800) 344-9453 About Martha Williams Growing up on a farm in Maryland, Martha Williams gained an appreciation for open lands, waters, wildlife, and people. Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? William's replacement within Montana Gov. Montana pick to lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife vows 'collaborative The original idea of a species in need of management had been twisted beyond recognition. Hydrologists are looking to this winter and spring for a potential rebound from Montanas widespread drought this year. After leaving the Forest Service in 2014, Amanda worked for Outside magazine as an editorial fellow before joining Outlaw Partners staff to lead coverage for Explore Big Sky newspaper and contribute writing and editing to Explore Yellowstone and Mountain Outlaw magazines. During her time with FWP, which also included a legal career with the agency from 1998 to 2011, she worked on controversial issues that are resurfacing in her new post, including wolf, bison and grizzly management. Unfortunately, you and I both know that climate change is a wallop and will challenge that. Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. Despite the many opportunities already offered under the law, Republican lawmakers and a subset of hunters and trappers had long argued that Montanas regulations did not go far enough. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Williams is President Joe Bidens nominee for the directors post. So we remain really committed to always looking for increased opportunities for access, including providing access to the outdoors on national wildlife refuges to those who havent had access before. OL: While were on the topic of recovery and management of predators, lets talk about wolves, which were removed from federal protection but which have been aggressively managed under state authority, to the degree that some have petitioned that Western wolves be returned to federal protection. Montana news with context and care. And so here we stand.. Its awesome that [USFWS] got $95 million for deferred maintenance, but we have a $1.5 billion maintenance backlog. Fish and Wildlife Service. Former Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Director Martha Williams has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new director of the U.S. Paulette Martha Williams. Martha Williams Profiles | Facebook Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa via AP Images. The Biden-Harris administration today announced that the Department of the Interiors U.S. With a new Montana wolf hunting season underway and park researchers studying the unprecedented levels of human-caused mortality, the deadline for the federal governments review has now passed, and environmental groups have filed suitdemanding that Williams take action. She was appointed to the FWP post in 2017. In her earlier years, she was a wonderful cook and enjoyed socializing. How do we get more people to understand or want to care about birds or plants or water, much less big game? Love you guys!!. Williams swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place in the coming weeks. Absolutely. Martha Williams is at a crossroads. In the portion ofMontanathat abuts Yellowstone Park, the death toll of 19 wolves marked a342 percent increasefrom the previous decades annual average of four. She previously served as the 24th director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks from 2017 to 2020. Were thinking about access across the board and how to we allow people to feel that they belong in the outdoors on our public lands and on our wildlife refuges. News apps are nice, but how many stories might you be missing? As principal deputy director of FWS, Williams will oversee a federal agency tasked with managing wildlife and habitat across the country, and in charge of more than 150 million acres of land in the National Wildlife Refuge System. If you wish to give again during our spring fundraiser, know that your additional gift, be it one-time or recurring, makes a monumental impact in helping quality independent journalism thrive. (The practice remained illegal under a federal statute, though FWPs regulations omitted that fact.). On the one hand, the Service provides access, essential fish and wildlife management and funding, and facilitates things like the federal duck stamp. Prior to assuming the top job at FWP, Williams was an assistant professor of law and co-director of the Land Use and Natural Resources Clinic at the University of Montana. Williams sworn in as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director - KPAX Williams was appointed to head FWP by former Gov. Williams was the director of FWP in Montana from 2017 to 2020. Fielder failed to note that the figures cited in the states management plan reflect a minimum threshold for the states wolf population. How Williams navigated the requirement is unclear. No shouting. Williams pointed to the court decisions, saying that while populations are robust, the USFWS must also meet those other criteria. USFWS also administers the Endangered Species Act and manages and distributes more than $1 billion to states, tribes and territories for fish and wildlife conservation. At the same time, the results of Williamss review committee came to fruition in the form of the states 2021 wolf regulations. Last years changes in wolf hunting and trapping regulations were felt particularly hard in Yellowstone National Park, which weathered its deadliest season in living memory. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tom Puchlerz, MWF board president, said in a statement emailed to Montana Free Press. The circumstances would be delicate for any director. (FWS declined to make the director available for an interview or to comment on the appointment. It was like a slow decay, Ausband said. U.S. On March 8, 2022, Williams was sworn in as the 23rd Director of the U.S. The review followed dramatic regional changes in state hunting and trapping regulations. Preceding her appointment, she served as the Director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks from 2017 to 2020. As the truck pulled away, a third guide recognized the driver as one of the areas most well-known proponents of aggressive wolf hunting north of Yellowstone. The first wolf arrives at Yellowstone National Park in a pen carried by, from left, Mike Phillips, Yellowstone Wolf Project leader; Jim Evanoff, Yellowstone environmental protection specialist; Molly Beattie, U.S. Because the people who want to see a reduction in the wolf numbers are very serious about it, and theyre using these flawed outputs to support their positions.. I believe Montana and the country would be well-served with her at the helm of the U.S. A Maryland native and graduate of the University of Virginia, Williams received her law degree from the University of Montana and then went to work as an attorney for Montana FWP. HELENA Former Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park Director Martha Williams was sworn in as Director of the U.S. There were fewer packs and the ones that were on the landscape usually had collared members, which made them easier to find. Its an ambitious idea, but its been controversial in some rural communities, who view this as federal overreach.

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