By KRWG News
New Mexico – The secretary of the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department is leaving Gov. Bill Richardson's administration for a job with a conservation organization.
Joanna Prukop is retiring at the end of the month and will become director of business for wildlife with a group called Freedom to Roam. It's a coalition of businesses and conservation groups that wants to protect wildlife corridors that allow animals to move from place to place.
Richardson announced Wednesday that Jon Goldstein will replace Prukop.
Goldstein has served as deputy secretary in the Environment Department since 2007.
Prukop worked for the state Game and Fish Department for 26 years before joining the Richardson administration in 2003 as a cabinet-level agency secretary.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.