GAME COMMISSION APPOINTS REGION DIRECTORS

HARRISBURG, PA - The Pennsylvania Game Commission has appointed new directors at its Northcentral and Southeast Region Offices.

David Mitchell, who had headed the agency’s Northcentral Region, has been appointed director of the Southeast Region Office, while David A. Carlini, who had served as Southcentral Region Director, will move into the spot vacated by Mitchell.

In taking on their new roles, Mitchell and Carlini each have returned to the regions where they’ve spent the majority of their careers. They officially started in their new positions April 17.

Mitchell, of Saylorsburg, began serving as Northcentral Region Director in July 2017. He’s worked his entire career with the Game Commission.

After graduating from Lycoming College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice, Mitchell in June 1991 enrolled in the 21st Class at the Ross Leffler School of Conservation.

Upon graduation from the school in 1992, he was assigned as a wildlife conservation officer in Lehigh County.

In 1995, he accepted the land management officer position in the Southeast Region responsible for Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Delaware counties.

Mitchell was promoted to Land Management Supervisor in the Southeast Region Office in 2014, serving in that capacity until being appointed Northcentral Region Director.

“I’m excited to return to the region where I spent the majority of my career,” Mitchell said. “I look forward to working with the Southeast Region employees to continue in managing the agency’s resources to maximize wildlife, as well as hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities.”

Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said he’s very pleased with the selection of Mitchell to fill the vacancy created when former Southeast Region Director Bruce Metz retired.

“With Dave’s wide range of experience, plus his familiarity with the area, he is the perfect fit for the Southeast Region Office, and I’m confident he’ll continue to move the agency’s mission forward,” Burhans said.

Burhans expressed similar sentiment regarding Carlini, who grew up in Brockway, Jefferson County, just a few miles from the original Ross Leffler School of Conservation. He moved to Lock Haven, where he now resides, when he was promoted to the Northcentral Region Office.

He began his Game Commission career when he was selected to attend the 22nd Class of the Ross Leffler School of Conservation in June 1993. Upon graduation in 1994, he was assigned as a game warden in Clearfield County.

As a game warden he also served as a field training officer for five cadet classes, a firearms instructor, and a handgun and shotgun armorer to name a few accomplishments.

In 2011, he was promoted to the Information and Education Supervisor in the Northcentral Region where he served in that capacity until 2014, and then accepted the Conservation Administration Supervisor in the Northcentral Region Office until promoted to Southcentral Region Director in February 2019.

“I will always cherish my time spent as director in the Southcentral Region with the dedicated employees there, and together we accomplished some amazing things,” Carlini said. “When the Northcentral Region Director position opened, however, and I had the opportunity to return to the region I spent 26 years working in, I felt compelled to return,” he added.

Carlini says he’s excited to reunite with the Northcentral Region staff and getting to work to continue protecting wildlife and enhancing their habitats.

Burhans said Carlini, given his training and advancing through the ranks within the agency, and his experience as director of the Southcentral Region, will fulfill his new role nicely.

“Whether it be the performance of his duties as a district game warden in Clearfield County, an Information and Education Supervisor or a Conservation Administration Supervisor in the Northcentral Region Office, and most recently his role as director of the Southcentral Region Office, Dave has excelled in his service to the Game Commission and citizens of the Commonwealth,” Burhans said. “He has a broad range of experience with the agency, holding several diverse positions providing a unique set of qualifications, and I’m confident he will do an outstanding job as region director where he spent the majority of his career.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Travis Lau - 717-705-6541

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