Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission Director Chris Colclasure will start work as an assistant deputy director for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, starting Aug. 1, the commission announced Wednesday.
Colclasure will assume the position previously held by Ricky Chastain.
Chastain retired last month after he interviewed for the Game and Fish Commission director's job. The commission decided in February to hire its chief of staff, Jeff Crow, as director, effective July 1.
Colclasure has been the director of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission since 2013, where his salary is $60,349 a year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website. His salary in his new job will be $85,536 a year, a Game and Fish Commission spokesman said Wednesday.
The Natural Heritage Commission is part of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and has been working to conserve the state's natural landscape since 1973, according to its website.
At the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Colclasure will assume leadership of the Wildlife Management Division, Fisheries Division and Federal Regulatory Program, the Game and Fish Commission said in a written statement.
Crow, director of the Game and Fish Commission, said Colclasure has worked for the Heritage Commission for a total of 14 years and served as the assistant director and the chief of land acquisition and stewardship.
The Natural Heritage Commission has about 50,000 acres of its natural areas in the Game and Fish Commission's wildlife management area system, and the two agencies work together on the state's wildlife action plan, recovery of rare species and habitat restoration, according to the news release.
Metro on 07/14/2016