A career Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who currently oversees agency operations was picked today as acting director.

Rowan Gould, the deputy director of operations, will temporarily replace Sam Hamilton, who died Saturday. The decision was made at a meeting of agency leaders this afternoon, spokesman Chris Tollefson said.

The sudden death of Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton last weekend leaves a leadership void that Interior Department officials and environmentalists say will be hard to fill.

Hamilton, 54, died Saturday in Colorado after experiencing chest pains while skiing, following his agency's regional leadership meeting. The Summit County coroner said Hamilton's cause of death was consistent with an underlying heart condition.

As pressure builds among Democrats to speed up the confirmation of President Obama's federal court appointments, the Senate Judiciary Committee braved bad weather yesterday to approve four U.S. district judge nominees.

Three nominees were approved by voice vote: Nancy Freudenthal, the wife of Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) and an attorney specializing in energy and environmental litigation; Denzil Marshall Jr., a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas; and Timothy Black, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

A veteran state resource manager from Maryland was selected yesterday to lead the fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, Eric Schwaab will oversee a $1 billion agency tasked with ending overfishing and hobbled by controversies over an overzealous enforcement division. The post is not subject to Senate confirmation, and Schwaab is expected to start his job Tuesday.

President Obama's nominee to serve as U.S. EPA's top watchdog vowed at a hearing to prevent waste, fraud and abuse while senators battled over the need to investigate the agency's climate policies.

Obama nominated Arthur Elkins Jr. in November to serve as EPA inspector general. Elkins, who has worked in a host of legal positions across federal and local agencies, testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, pledging to hold the IG office to the highest standard of ethics.