The Interior Department’s wildlife chief resigned Thursday as the agency is in the middle of a making a number of changes to how it enforces endangered species protections.
The Interior Department confirmed th
e departure of
Greg Sheehan, the head of the Fish and Wildlife Service
.
“Greg Sheehan has been an incredible asset to the Interior team and was tremendous in helping Secretary Zinke expand access for hunting and fishing on over a quarter million acres of public lands across the country,” said Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift. “We will miss working with him and wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
Sheehan was appointed in June 2017 to be principal deputy secretary for the agency, a position carved out for him until a permanent secretary to head the agency was nominated.
Over the last year
, Sheehan has led Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s effort to expand public access for hunting and fishing across the National Wildlife Refuge System and other lands overseen by the agency.
The Fish and Wildlife Service opened
more than
100,000 acres of refuge lands to hunting and fishing in Trump’s first year as president, according to the agency. “At both the state and federal level, Sheehan has focused on keeping hunters and anglers active,” according to the agency. It explains that states rely heavily on license revenue to fund wildlife conservation efforts, which are dependent on billions of dollars annually generated by sportsmen.
Sheehan is leaving at a time when the Interior Department issued three major regulations changing how it enforces the Endangered Species Act, which critics say favor developers and energy companies.
Sheehan had served on the Utah wildlife management service before coming to Washington. There
, he oversaw the development of state-based management plans for the greater the chicken-sized sage grouse, the Utah prairie dog, and other animals native to the state. The agency said he was “a key liaison” between the states and the Interior Department on Endangered Species Act issues.
The changes that the Interior Department has proposed for managing endangered species would give greater discretion to states focused on the recovery of animal species and avoiding lawsuits by environmental groups.
