Nation IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Fish and Wildlife Agency Chief Resigns

Mollie Beattie, the first woman to head the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, submitted her resignation because of illness. Beattie has battled brain cancer since last year. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt called Beattie “an inspiration and a bright light for all of us” but said she had “concluded that, given her medical condition, she can no longer discharge the duties” at the agency. Beattie, 49, a former natural resource and conservation official in Vermont, was named to head the agency at the beginning of the Clinton administration. Babbitt said John Rogers, the agency’s deputy director, would take over as acting director.