HALLOWELL -- The Maine League of Conservation Voters Board of Directors has named Maureen Drouin of Hallowell executive director after a nationwide search.

Drouin has worked in Maine's environmental and political communities for over a decade and also is a former League board member.

Prior to joining the League, Drouin was the Northeast Regional Representative for the Sierra Club in Portland where she advanced conservation at the state, regional and federal levels.

She also has worked for the National Audubon Society, on their Wildlife Refuge Campaign, and as regional outreach director for the Northern Forest Alliance.

Caroline Pryor, board president, said Drouin's commitment to politics and environmental advocacy, along with her accomplishments at the Sierra Club and the Northern Forest Alliance, make her a "terrific fit."

"We enthusiastically welcome her, and know she will make great strides in advancing the League's mission of making Maine's environment a political priority," Pryor said.

As an independent, nonpartisan organization founded in 1986, the League works to make natural resources protection a political priority for Maine voters, candidates and elected officials, the group said.

Pryor said one of Drouin's chief responsibilities is to lead the partnership of 22 conservation organizations, representing 100,000 members, in developing and advancing a common legislative agenda of high-priority environmental bills at the Statehouse.

Drouin said this is the third consecutive year the league is coordinating this important effort within the conservation community.

"Speaking with one voice to legislators, the governor and the public about the most critical environmental issues ensures that we have the greatest impact possible," Drouin said.

Drouin said Maine's top environmental bills in 2007 include: promoting solutions to global warming; requiring safer alternatives to toxic substances, notably the flame retardant "Deca"; protecting Maine's wildlife heritage; funding the popular Land for Maine's Future Program; and conserving Maine's riverfront communities.

She said the League also remains vigilant about defeating proposed bills that would weaken Maine's current environmental protections.

Drouin graduated with honors from Bowdoin College in 1996 with a major in geology and environmental studies, and completed a one-year fellowship program with Green Corps, a field school for conservation organizing.