OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2000

Stephanie Hanna 202/208-6416

LORI WILLIAMS TO DIRECT ACTIVITIES OF INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt announced today that he had joined the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture in selecting Lori C. Williams as Executive Director of the new Invasive Species Council.

The Invasive Species Council was established by President Clinton's Executive Order in February, 1999, and is currently embarking on a series of public meetings on a national management plan for combating the alarming spread of invasive plant and animal species in the United States.

"Lori Williams will be a great asset to the Invasive Species Council," Secretary Babbitt said. "She's smart and capable and has a remarkable ability to work with groups representing a wide variety of interests and move them toward a common solution."

Williams most recently served as special assistant to Jamie Clark, Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, focusing on complex natural resource issues and the coordination of activities with other federal agencies. During 1998 and 1999, Williams was Vice President for Ocean Programs for the Center for Marine Conservation. She served as Chief of the Fish & Wildlife Service's Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs from 1995 to 1998, working on critical issues such as the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act. Between 1986 and 1995, Williams served as Minority Counsel for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and Majority Counsel on the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.

Williams is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center where she holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Science in Foreign Service. She received her B.A. from the University of Indiana.

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