[1] Ashe was the 16th Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) from February 2011 to January 2017.

The United States Senate held a hearing on his nomination on February 15, 2011[2] and confirmed him to the post by unanimous consent on June 30, 2011.

[3] Ashe used to be Deputy Director for Policy of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

His prior positions included being a member of the staff of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (1982–95), Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System (1998-2003), and Science Advisor to the Director of the USFWS (2003).

He wrote his master's thesis on wetland mitigation, and it was published in the Coastal Zone Management Journal in 1982.