ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996                TAG: 9607010068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C2   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: MONTPELIER, VT. 
                                             TYPE: NEWS OBIT 

U.S. WILDLIFE CHIEF DIES FROM CANCER

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 from Republicans in Congress, has died at 49.

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

``Her passion for wildlife and her compassion for people touched all who knew her,'' Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said. ``She guided us with a steady hand through a difficult time when our fundamental mission to conserve wildlife for future generations was challenged.''

Congressional leaders honored her this week by introducing legislation that would name 8 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska after her.

Beattie is survived by her husband, Rick Schwolsky, her mother and a sister. - Associated Press

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