WASHINGTON DC, — Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary for Policy Management and Budget Tom Weimer today announced the appointment of Paul Hoffman as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Performance, Accountability and Human Resources.

Hoffman, who has served for four years as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, replaces Scott Cameron, who recently left Interior for the private sector.

"We are glad to tap Paul's management expertise to assist with the challenges of Interior's complex responsibilities," Weimer said. "We know that he can hit the ground running from his four years of stellar accomplishments in the Fish and Wildlife and Parks office at the department."

While at Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Hoffman was a champion for many of the President's Management Agenda goals. He has been serving as chairman for the department's E-Government team and co-chair of the Investment Review Board, which oversees the department's billion-dollar-a-year information technology budget. In that capacity, he also has helped Interior develop an E-Government strategy and governance framework to guide the improvement of E-Government services to citizens, streamline IT infrastructure and improve IT security.

In his new position, effective immediately, Hoffman assumes responsibility for implementing the President's Management Agenda goals at the department including the strategic management of human capital, expanding e-government, implementation of competitive sourcing, improved financial performance, integration of budget and performance goals and real property management.

Hoffman also oversees a number of other policy management and budget offices. He will continue some responsibilities that began in his previous position such as representing the United States on the World Heritage Committee.

Before coming to the Interior Department in 2002, Hoffman served as executive director of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce and Cody Economic Development Council in Wyoming, where he was an active civic leader in the Yellowstone region and respected in the field of organizational management.

Hoffman joined the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce in 1990 after working as state director for then-U.S. Representative Dick Cheney from 1985 to 1989. During that time, he helped initiate the bipartisan effort to designate Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River as Wyoming's first wild and scenic river.

In 1984, Hoffman co-founded the Park County Resource Council, later known as the Northwest Wyoming Resource Council, a grassroots group dedicated to protecting the environment of northwest Wyoming, including Yellowstone National Park.