Ducks Unlimited Applauds Interior Department Nominee

Officials with Ducks Unlimited are applauding the recent nomination of Rhea S. Suh as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. The position oversees both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service within the U.S. Department of the Interior. Suh has served as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget within the Interior Department since 2009. Her appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

“We are very pleased with the nomination of Assistant Secretary Suh to fill this critically important position,” said DU CEO Dale Hall. “She has been very forthcoming with the conservation community and we look forward to working with her in this new role. We encourage the Senate to act swiftly on her nomination.”

Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service share similar goals concerning wildlife, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation. Every year, DU works closely with these and other federal, state, and private partners to conserve and restore wildlife habitats across North America. Many federal programs under the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are directly related to DU’s mission and programs. These include the federal duck stamp program, the National Wildlife Refuge system, migratory bird programs, wildlife law enforcement, hunter recruitment, and others.

In addition to her experience at the Department of Interior, Suh has served as a program officer and manager at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and as a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She also taught high school-level Earth Sciences in the New York City public school system, served as a consultant to the National Park Service in New England, and, during the Clinton administration, served as a senior legislative assistant on the staff of Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, where she worked on public lands management and regulatory issues affecting energy, air, and water.

Ducks Unlimited

Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. DU got its start in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when North America’s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. Determined not to sit idly by as the continent’s waterfowl dwindled beyond recovery, a small group of sportsmen joined together to form an organization that became known as Ducks Unlimited. Its mission: habitat conservation. Thanks to decades of abiding by that single mission, Ducks Unlimited is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. DU is able to multilaterally deliver its work through a series of partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, scientific communities and other entities.