By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Gov. Matt Blunt has named a St. Louis area businessmen to the four-person Missouri Conservation Commission.
Don Johnson, of Festus, will also be the first African-American to serve on the panel, which oversees the state's Department of Conservation.
Johnson is the vice president of human resources at Cequel III Suddenlink Communications, a cable company based in St. Louis. He also is president of the Conservation Federation of Missouri.
Johnson, 60, says he has been interested in the outdoors since he began going on fishing trips with his father at age three. He replaces Cynthia Metcalfe of St. Louis, whose term on the commission expired June 30th.
Johnson also is a Vietnam War veteran; he flew more than 130 combat missions in Vietnam.