WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT -- The U.S. Senate Thursday evening confirmed Daniel Ashe as the 16^th director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ashe, a career employee of the agency, assumed his duties immediately.

Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited -- and the FWS director from 2005-2009 -- praised the Senate action.

“I have known and worked with Dan for more than 15 years," Hall said. "He’s a strong supporter of wildlife resources, an avid outdoorsman and a committed conservationist. The Fish and Wildlife Service is an important partner to Ducks Unlimited, and we look forward to working together to tackle the challenges facing wetlands and waterfowl today."

Ashe has served as the Service's deputy director since August 2009. From 2003 to 2009, he was the science advisor to the Service's director with broad responsibility to develop and implement the agency's scientific policy and programs for resource management.

Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever.