Game Commission appoints southwest region director
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has appointed a new director at the Southwest Region Office in Bolivar.
Jason D. Farabaugh, who has spent his 13 years with the Game Commission working in the Southwest Region, started in the position Feb. 20.
Farabaugh fills the vacancy created when former region director Thomas Fazi retired.
Farabaugh graduated from the Game Commission’s Ross Leffler School Conservation in 2008 as a member of the 27th class. He was immediately assigned to northern Fayette County. In 2011, he transferred to a neighboring warden district and remained there until 2015, when he became the Southwest Region Office’s Conservation Administration Supervisor.
Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said Farabaugh, given his strong conservation background and education, and his ability to advance through the ranks within the agency, has demonstrated he is more than qualified to fulfill his new leadership position.
“It’s not hard to see that Jason has the talent and experience to serve as a region director in one of the commonwealth’s busiest, most populated regions,” Burhans said. “Having spent so much of his life in this region, Jason is intimately familiar with the region’s sprawling urban areas as well as its rugged areas west of the Allegheny Front. Such diverse landscapes are rare in the Game Commission’s six administrative regions, but I believe Jason’s abilities, schooling and regional experience have tempered him for this leadership position. I’m proud to announce him as region director.”
Farabaugh grew up in Carrolltown in Cambria County. After graduating from West Virginia University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management, he worked for the Cambria County Conservation District as a resource specialist until 2000. From 2000 to 2007, he served as an environmental scientist for an engineering firm in Altoona.
Additionally, he served as a deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission from 1998 through 2007.
In Farabaugh’s previous position as a region office conservation administration supervisor, he supervised state game wardens in 10 counties, as well as the region’s five dispatchers. He also managed the region’s vehicle fleet and buildings and coordinated pheasant releases and the Hunter Access landowner program within the region.
“I am honored and humbled to be selected as the southwest region’s new director and to continue serving Pennsylvanians and protecting our wildlife,” Farabaugh said. “I look forward to continuing my Game Commission career working alongside the dedicated and hardworking personnel of the southwest region. Together, we will continue to manage and protect Pennsylvania’s wildlife and state game lands, assuring all hunters and outdoor enthusiasts they have an advocate for the wild places and wild creatures they enjoy.”