Deputy Director, Wildlife Chief Appointed

Fish and Game has filled two top leadership positions. Terry Mansfield will begin working as deputy director after August 1. Mansfield replaces Al Van Vooren who is returning to the southwest region office in Nampa, a post he held before the recently retired Don Wright was regional supervisor there. Van Vooren's shift came at his own request, Fish and Game Director Steve Huffaker noted. Huffaker praised Van Vooren for the "great job he has done" in the Boise headquarters office and thanked him for staying on through the replacement process. The southwest region is the largest and most populous of Idaho's seven Fish and Game regions. Mansfield was deputy director in California where he began his career as a wildlife biologist. He has also held the posts of wildlife chief and commission staff there. Huffaker said he has known Mansfield for several years through professional organizations and has been "very impressed with his thoughtful and professional approach." Mansfield "brings some new perspectives to the agency and will have the advantage of hindsight on some of the issues California has faced that haven't yet been addressed here," Huffaker added. Mansfield is a big game hunter, a waterfowler and horseman from a ranching background. To fill the wildlife chief position Huffaker left when he became director, Jim Unsworth was chosen. Unsworth had been the state big game manager. Unsworth has been with Fish and Game since 1984. He is a wildlife research biologist who has served in the Clearwater and southwest regions before coming to Boise. He is well known in professional circles for his research on mule deer. His appointment as chief of wildlife is effective immediately.