Mollie Beattie, Former Director Of U.S. Wildlife Agency, Dies

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Mollie Beattie, who as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the past three years defended the Endangered Species Act against attacks in Congress, has died at 49.

Ms. Beattie, who died of brain cancer in Townshend on Thursday, was the first woman to head the federal agency, which oversees wildlife refuges and endangered species. She resigned earlier this month because of ill health.

"Mollie was a person who believed in the value of life and wildlife so deeply that she dedicated her many talents to preserving God's gracious earth," President Clinton said in a statement.

"She was the No. 1 advocate for our national wildlife refuges, forever fighting to keep the system strong and growing," the statement said.

Ms. Beattie also fought to expand the federal refuge system at a time of budget cuts.

Some of the congressional leaders most opposed to her stands honored her last week by introducing legislation that would name 8 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska after her.

Ms. Beattie "opposed many of the things I believe in, as far as Alaska public lands are concerned," said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, during the debate Monday. "But the reason I like her is she was always honest with us. We knew where she stood. And she listened."

Ms. Beattie held a master's degree in forestry from the University of Vermont. She served as deputy secretary for Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources from 1989 to 1990 and was Vermont commissioner of forests, parks and recreation from 1985 to 1989. She

is survived by her husband, Rick Schwolsky, her mother and a sister.