Presenter: Dale Hall

Commission Agenda Item No. 3
Briefing
TPWD/USFWS Relations
August 2002

I. Discussion: Dale Hall will introduce himself as the recently appointed director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwest region, which has its headquarters in Albuquerque. He echoes some ideas of his boss, U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, a President Bush appointee known as an advocate of private property rights and voluntary compliance with environmental rules. Hall wants to focus the agency's efforts on working more cooperatively with ranchers, farmers, developers and others rather than imposing new restrictions on land use to protect threatened and endangered species. "Regulation is not needed nearly as often as we use it," Hall said in a recent interview. "It is always easier to regulate. The hard route, but the one really sustainable route over the long-term, is where you find solutions, partnerships."