Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, TX —-(AmmoLand.com)- Burnet-based Game Warden Brent Whitus has been named Texas “Officer of the Year” by the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Director Carter Smith presented the award to Whitus at the Jan. 28 meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Thursday.

Whitus began his TPWD career at Colorado City State Park in 1999. A year later he transferred to Garner State Park as a park peace officer. He later was accepted by the 49th Texas Game Warden Academy, where he graduated in June 2003.

Spending the next five years working in Webb County, Whitus handled several cases involving deer breeders and made numerous arrests for narcotics trafficking. He also participated in the manhunt for those involved in the June 14, 2005 shooting of fellow Game Warden Martin Oviedo in Zapata County and assisted in the arrest of the suspects.

In April 2008 Whitus transferred to Burnet County, where he soon became involved in a high profile deer breeding investigation that led to the filing of eight complaints against a single suspect. The charges included illegal transportation of a buck deer during open season without removing the antlers, record-keeping violations and improper deer identification (tattoos and ear tags.)

Whitus logged more than 140 hours on this investigation, along with other wardens. The defendant pled guilty to all the charges and will be unable to acquire a deer breeder permit for five years.

After attending training on boating while intoxicated enforcement issues, Whitus became interested in writing search warrants to obtain blood samples from suspected drunk boaters refusing to comply with an officer’s request. Consequently, he became the first warden in his district to serve such a warrant.

In addition to his other law enforcement duties, Whitus has been a key player in the Law Enforcement Division’s Force Options Scenario training program. The training is done which special safety equipment and weapons that fire paint projectiles so students can experience as close to an actual life or death shooting situation as possible. This year, Whitus has been involved in training 51 game warden cadets

Active in local church and civic activities, Whitus also is a member of the Texas Game Warden Honor Guard, which supports the families of active, retired or fallen wardens by being a part of their funeral services.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga.- -(AmmoLand.com)- Law enforcement rangers with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife Resources Division consistently face a wide variety of natural resource related criminal activity.

Often times, lengthy criminal investigations ensue which require diligence and dedication on behalf of the officers. One such dedicated ranger, Cpl. Brent Railey of Troup County, was recently recognized as the 2010 State Investigative Ranger of the Year for his work.

“Cpl. Railey did an exceptional job with all aspects of this investigation,” says WRD chief of law enforcement Col. Homer Bryson. “The command staff sincerely appreciates his unrelenting efforts in bringing these poachers to justice.”

The investigation worked by Cpl. Brent Railey was first reported as a night hunting violation by the Troup County Sheriff’s office. Upon his initial investigation, Railey found an abandoned pickup truck and a poached deer. Over the course of nearly three months, the officer was able to collect enough evidence to show that the suspect’s whereabouts were not what he had reported. Eventually, Railey was able to get enough evidence to result in a first offender guilty plea by the suspect, which led to a fine of over $2,000 and a loss of hunting privileges for two years. This violator was later caught night hunting again (Oct. 2009) rendering his first offender status null and void.

Additional WRD rangers were nominated for the award by their supervisors for their outstanding investigative work in 2009. They are as follows: Cpl. Nathaniel Jones, Cpl. Jason Roberson, RFC Richard Tanner, Sgt. William Vickers and Cpl. Cindy Miller.

For more information on the 2010 State Investigative Ranger of the Year Award, call the WRD law enforcement headquarters office at (770) 918-6408.

South Dakota Fish, Game & Parks

PIERRE, S.D. – -(AmmoLand.com)-The Turn In Poacher’s program, a cooperative effort between Wildlife Protection Inc. and South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks Department, is offering a $1,000 reward for the identification and arrest of the person or people responsible for the death of a moose near Deerfield Reservoir, SD on or about Oct. 1.

Additionally, the TIPs Board of Directors has agreed to accept and administer any additional donations from member of the general public who would like to add to the reward. According to TIPs Board President Bob Schuurmans, individuals and organizations have already contacted TIPs and offered several hundred dollars in donations to supplement anything the TIPs board would authorize.

Those wishing to contribute to the reward may do so by earmarking the donation as “Moose TIPs Reward” and sending it to the Turn In Poachers office at 412 W. Missouri, Pierre, SD, 57501. If you would like more information about making a donation, please call Charlie Wharton at 605-773-5906.

Anyone with information on the bull moose case is urged to call a local state Game, Fish, and Parks conservation officer, a local law enforcement agency, or the TIPs line at 1-888-OVERBAG (1-888-683-7224). Tips may also be submitted online through the South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks Web site: https://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/TIPS/AnonRepo.htm

Those providing information through TIPs may remain anonymous.

According to Conservation Officer Blair Waite, elk hunters found the moose dead from gunshot wounds on Friday, Oct. 2 in southwestern Lawrence County. While moose are not native to South Dakota, the animal had recently become a welcome visitor to the Black Hills.

The Turn In Poachers Hotline was started in an effort to reduce the number of wildlife crimes in the state. The TIPs program, which began in 1984 after two elk were poached in the Black Hills, serves as a single contact point for anyone with information about hunting and fishing violations in the state.

The program not only offers rewards for information on those cases, it also provides an opportunity for tipsters to remain anonymous. Hundreds of arrests are made and thousands of dollars are rewarded each year through use of the network. According to Schuurmans, this could be the most important call you ever make.

West Virginia DNR

West Virginia –(AmmoLand.com)-A Kanawha County man was issued a number of citations for hunting law violations on the last day of the recent early bear hunting season, according to Lt. David Trader of the Division of Natural Resources’ District 5 office in Nitro.

An early firearm season for black bear was in effect Sept. 21-26 in Boone, Fayette, Kanawha and Raleigh counties.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, Conservation Officers Chad Rains and Ed Goodson were on patrol near Sanderson Ridge in Kanawha County.

A routine check of a hunter by the officers resulted in several citations being issued to Ricky D. Jarvis, age 40, of Clendenin.

He was charged with carrying a loaded gun in a motor vehicle, hunting from a motor vehicle, feeding bears, hunting bear over bait, and failure to present a hunting license. Charges were filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court and are awaiting action.

“Hard work and information sharing between the DNR Law Enforcement Office in Elkins and the Nitro district office about potential problem areas and complaints about bear hunting violations paid off,” said Lt. Trader. “Conservation officers in the state have been working diligently checking for hunters who illegally kill or bait bear. Anyone with information about any such illegal activity is encouraged to call the DNR at your local district office listing.”

The next firearm season for black bear for most of the state runs from Dec. 7 through 31.

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Arnold, Md. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), the law enforcement arm of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) this morning recognized the 52nd graduating class of the Maryland Natural Resources Police Academy. This graduation ceremony marks the second class of new NRP officers hired this year. Congressman Frank M. Kratovil gave the keynote address.

“I believe that Maryland, more than any other state, has an economy so closely related to the health of the environment that to do harm to one immediately creates an imbalance in the other,” said Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD). “We are defined by the Chesapeake Bay, the inlets and rivers sprung from the Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. In our state we value the environment for many reasons — beauty, sport, and recreation to name a few, but we also recognize that our environment is the backbone of our state’s economy and for many citizens the reason we are able to put food on our table, pay our mortgages and send our children to college.”

DNR Secretary John Griffin and DNR Deputy Secretary Eric Schwaab also attended the ceremony along with NRP Superintendent Colonel George F. Johnson, IV, and NRP Deputy Superintendent Lt. Colonel Alphonso Hawkins. Pastor Byron Brought gave the invocation and benediction. The ceremony was held at the Pascal Center for Performing Arts at Anne Arundel Community College.

“The Maryland Natural Resources Police are crucial to ensuring the safety of our citizens as well as our treasured land and aquatic resources are safe,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Their contributions to our State – whether patrolling the Chesapeake Bay or protecting endangered wildlife – are truly a blessing for all of those who enjoy Maryland’s natural areas.”

“Members of this graduating class will serve at the intersection of the environment and the economy that all Marylanders rely on and I wish them the best of luck and safety in their new role,” added Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD).

Below is a list of graduates and their hometowns:

• · Officer Mathew A. Bentley, Joppatowne, Md
• · Officer Jeffrey L. Biermann, Cambridge, Md
• · Officer Troy E. Brimer, Salisbury, Md
• · Officer Bradley W. Bunting. Ocean City, Md
• · Officer Devin R. Corcoran, Preston, Md
• · Officer Angela R. Englehart, Big Pool, Md
• · Officer Annette M. Holmgren, Grasonville, Md
• · Officer Gregory A. Jilek, Hagerstown, Md
• · Officer John M. Jones, Elkton, Md
• · Officer Joshua R. Keeney, Frederick, Md
• · Officer Benjamin R. Lillard, Thurmont, Md
• · Officer Bradley S. Lowe, Smithsburg, Md
• · Officer Lindsey R. Markert, Baltimore, Md
• · Officer Jessica L. Mattson, Salisbury, Md
• · Officer Andrew J. Ostazeski, Port Republic, Md
• · Officer Aaron P. Saunders, Columbia, Md
• · Officer Elizabeth M. Tyler, Salisbury, Md
• · Officer Andrew T. Wilson, Rhodesdale, Md

Individual awards given to class members included

• Top Academic Award – Officer Gregory Jilek
• Marksman Award – Officer Elizabeth Tyler
• Navigation and Seamanship Award – Officer Devin Corcoran
• Leadership Award – Officer Annette Holmgren
• Physical Fitness Award – Officer Bradley Lowe.

“I cannot offer praise enough for this graduating class and all of their hard work, said DNR Secretary John Griffin. “On behalf of DNR and the NRP, congratulations on this great achievement and we look forward to working with you in protecting Maryland’s citizens and our natural resources.”

The Maryland Natural Resources Police is the oldest state law enforcement agency with its beginnings as the State Oyster Police in 1868. The NRP serves as a public safety agency with statewide authority to enforce conservation, boating, and criminal laws, as well as to provide primary law enforcement services for Maryland’s state parks, state forests and public lands owned and managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The agency is also responsible for maritime and rural search and rescue, and is designated as the state’s lead agency for homeland security on Maryland waters.

Wisconsin DNR

MADISON WI --(AmmoLand.com)- One Waukesha County man is guilty and another awaiting court action in what the Wisconsin DNR Law Enforcement Division is calling its first arrest based upon a Facebook video of illegal deer shining spotted by an anonymous tipster.

“This was new territory for us. We learned a lot,” Conservation Warden Supervisor Rick Reed said of the case involving a video posted on the popular social networking Web site.

There have been DNR arrest cases built from information found on other Web sites – such as Craig’s List and EBay, Reed said. However, DNR’s first-ever Facebook-based case against Adam Frame, 25, of Mukwonago, and Dustin Porter, 24, of Sullivan, had one strong similarity to the more traditional cases.

“We rely heavily on the public to help us catch violators,” Reed said. “There is simply too much going on throughout the state – and on the Internet – for us to keep up with it on our own.”

This was the case of the alert citizen who spotted the video titled: “Hunting… Muktown style.” Reed said “Muktown” is a joking reference to Frame’s place of residence — Mukwonago. Published reports indicate Frame posted the video of the two allegedly using a personal vehicle’s headlights to shine deer and ultimately take shots. No deer were shot, according to the complaint.

“The tip came in late November or early December in 2008,” Reed said. “It was not until later in the investigation that we learned it actually occurred in 2007.”

Reed credits Conservation Warden Doug Zeihen, who acted as the primary investigator with Reed as secondary, for his skilled work at “piecing the computer evidence together with other known facts.” Gathering evidence from computers in a manner that is acceptable to the courts requires certain parameters, he added.

“Learning the legal aspects through this investigation was new and each site has its own legal setup for subpoenaing information,” Reed said. “There also is a whole set of terminology associated with computers that we are not used to dealing with. Gathering basic information from an Internet site takes more time and additional follow-up to confirm accuracy.

“Computers do provide some evidence that we do not normally have,” Reed said. “The legal system is definitely still adjusting.”

The complaint notes the two men were on their way home from a tavern when the alleged incident occurred in the town of Mukwonago. Reed said due to the timing of the tip and other factors, it was impossible to speculate on the condition of the two men.

On August 14, Frame was found guilty under a plea deal to shining wild animals and possessing a firearm in Waukesha County Circuit Court. Frame was fined $354 to be paid $25 each month beginning in September – or spend 6 days in jail.

The case again Porter is pending in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Reed – (262) 574-2160 or Joanne Haas – (608) 267-0798

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas — -(AmmoLand.com)- The Texas Game Warden Academy’s largest class ever will graduate at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning in the House of Representatives chamber at the capitol, after which the 51 cadets will disperse to their first duty stations across the state.
Game wardens perform water rescue operations, respond to natural disasters, and conduct public outreach programs, in addition to enforcing traditional hunting, fishing, and water safety regulations.

“Basically, game wardens are the primary law enforcement off the pavement in Texas,” said Major Danny Shaw, director of training at the academy.

This 54th Game Warden graduating class was the first to be trained at the academy’s new site in Hamilton County, in a facility donated by the nonprofit Police Activities League. Previously, cadets trained at a converted warehouse in Austin and various borrowed facilities around the state, adding extra costs and travel time to the training schedule.

Construction began in April on a $20 million training complex at the new Hamilton site. Fundraising is needed to complete the ambitious projects, and Texans are encouraged to support future Texas game wardens. More information is on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Web site.

Current graduates received 1,400 hours of training over seven months in areas such as peace officer training, firearm use, public speaking, police driving, all terrain vehicles, and various Texas Parks and Wildlife statutes and other state codes.

The new game wardens will report for duty in different counties across Texas within the next week.

June 2009 Texas Game Warden Cadet Assignments by County

Name
County
John W Apgar, Jr.
Culberson
Bradley M Durst
Val Verde
Michael L Dushay
Pecos
Chris L Sanchez
Ward-Winkler-Loving
Andrew S Alexander
Coryell
David R Benoit
Denton
Jason B Jones
Montague
Joni L Kuykendall
Somervell
Glenn A Raborn
Denton
Matthew D Waggoner
Palo Pinto
Dustin M Balfanz
Henderson
Christopher R Fried
Jasper
Logan B Griffin
Leon
Morgan R Inman
Jasper
David E Johnson
Polk
James N Schmidt
Navarro
Samuel H Shanafelt
Trinity
Brian D Srba
Newton
Randall L Stovall
Nacogdoches
Jaime L Pendlebury
Galveston
Christopher L Swift
Jefferson
Royce G Ilse
Brooks
Benjamin E Baker
Starr
Cody R Buckaloo
Maverick
William E Hellums
Zapata
Carlos H Maldonado III
Jim Hogg
Samuel J Padgett
Zapata
Drew D Spencer
Starr
Cullen C Stakes
Duval
Daniel S Kessel
Dickens/Kent
Joshua R McCrary
Baylor
Ryan D Peacock
Haskell
Vance L Flowers
Mills
Lee E Morrison
Kimble
Lerrin A Williams
Burnet
Robert E Apple, Jr
Delta
David W Bosecker
Dallas
Clint M Brown
Dallas
Todd G Long
Collin
Darrin C Peeples
Harrison
David F Pellizzari
Upshur
Daniel G Roraback
Red River
Michael P Serbanic
Morris
Jonathan H Taylor
Camp
Nathan K Wilson
Rains
Joel A Campos
Williamson
Braxton J Harris
Travis
Theron S Oatman
Travis
Elizabeth A Balusek
Cameron
Derek L Reeder
Aransas
Luis A Sosa
Willacy

West Virginia DNR

West Virgina - -(AmmoLand.com)- Division of Natural Resources conservation officer Sgt. G.M. Willenborg recently was presented with the prestigious Silver Trout Award by Trout Unlimited’s Upper Ohio Valley Chapter #434 during an event in Flatwoods, West Virginia. He was recognized for the outstanding work he has done in the Mountain State protecting trout in and around the environs of Pendleton County. He has been a conservation officer for 30 years, including the past 12 years in Pendleton County. This award was presented by Jerry Andrews, head of the Forestry Committee for Trout Unlimited in West Virginia and Chapter Vice President.

Sgt. Willenborg has made numerous arrests in his career as a conservation officer, many of those centered on wild trout and native trout streams. One of his arrests involved the poaching of native trout with explosives. This arrest resulted in what is possibly the only conviction of its type on record. He also was instrumental in developing the catch-and-release area on the South Branch of the Potomac in the Smoke Hole region, the catch and release area of Thorn Creek, and he wrote numerous letters for the changes made in this year’s fishing regulations concerning the use of scented baits in catch-and-release areas.

“Our state’s natural resources are in constant need of protection to keep the balance needed, “said Andrews. “Quality people like Sgt. Willenborg are often overlooked and not recognized for their hard and dangerous work. This is our way of thanking him for the well-above-average work he considers his everyday duty.”

HAMILTON, Texas — -(AmmoLand.com)-  Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials and partners from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, the Police Activities League and the Texas Game Warden Association will break ground April 9 on the first phase of a planned $20 million training complex in Hamilton County.

Major donors will be recognized at the April 9 groundbreaking, and cadets from the 54th Texas Game Warden Academy class will be participating in scheduled field training exercises at the site.

For more than 30 years, game warden cadets trained in a converted warehouse on 6.2 acres in downtown Austin, along with a patchwork of borrowed facilities around the state.

That changed when the 54th Texas Game Warden Academy cadet class began training in fall 2008 at existing facilities on a 220-acre property in Hamilton County. Envisioned from the beginning as a public-private partnership, the property was donated by the nonprofit Police Activities League.

The Texas Legislature authorized an initial infusion of $3.6 million from the sale of the Austin property to begin construction on 39,000 square feet of instructional, administrative and residential facilities. Along with the state’s initial investment, private donors have so far given about $6.4 million, altogether providing about half the estimated $20 million that will be required to complete construction of facilities that will be home to 48 cadets and 16 instructors at a time. With the first phase of the project underway, project partners are launching a broader public fundraising campaign and encourage Texans to support Texas Game Wardens with a donation.

The Game Warden Training Center eventually will include a water rescue training facility, a firing range, an emergency vehicle operations course and more (see complete plans online) — specialized training facilities that add dozens of hours in travel time and thousands of dollars to the training schedule now. The goal is a world-class training environment for a world-class law enforcement agency.

“Every day, every night, for more than a century, Texas game wardens have epitomized community-based conservation law enforcement across our state,” said Peter Holt, chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. “They put their lives on the line, take educational messages to schools, save lives during hurricanes and floods, and do it all with a positive, can-do outlook. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price. Now, with this training center, game wardens could use some help. We hope the people of Texas will respond with donations to help us meet our fundraising goal.”

Since 1895, Texas game wardens have built a reputation as “off-the-pavement” peace officers with a heritage second only to the legendary Texas Rangers. Sixteen have died in the line of duty.

That proud tradition of service is carried on today by more than 500 men and women who reflect the diversity of the people of Texas. They come from small towns and some of the nation’s largest urban areas. Many have degrees in criminal justice or wildlife management or biology. Others studied the humanities, and worked as bankers and graphic designers, city cops and schoolteachers, before gaining entrance to the Game Warden Academy.

Something they all have in common is their dedication and desire to serve the people of Texas, and to help conserve the state’s natural and cultural resources.

Only about 10 percent of applicants to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s law enforcement training program make the cut each year. Those who are accepted undergo the most rigorous training of any peace officer in Texas, and are widely acclaimed as the best-trained and best-educated conservation law enforcement officers in the nation. It’s a program with an international reputation.

In the most recent cadet class, two trainees hailed from the nascent conservation agency of the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. Conservation organizations hope to send officers from as far away as Africa to attend future courses.

Applications are being accepted through April 30 for the 55th Texas Game Warden Academy class.

Major donors to the Texas Game Warden Training Center include William P. Clements, Lee M. Bass, TXU, T.D. Friedkin, T.L.L. Temple Foundation, Edwin L. Cox, Walter Umphrey and the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation.

For more information about how to make a tax-deductible donation to support construction of the training center, please visit the Texas Parks and Wildlife Web site.

Trailer for “Endangered Species: California Fish & Game Wardens” from Andrew Swan on Vimeo.

AUSTIN, Texas – A $486,000 donation by natural gas producer EnCana Corporation to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation will fund a new grant program to get high school students out into natural settings for service-oriented learning projects, control of giant salvinia and other invasive plants choking Toledo Bend reservoir in East Texas, and much-needed facilities for the new Texas Game Warden Training Center.

“We’re proud and pleased to be able to support these important education, conservation and training efforts, as they’re right in line with our company philosophy,” said Paul Sander, EnCana vice president, at a recent TPW Commission meeting.

The donation is one of the largest for Texas conservation work in recent years. It will fund three separate efforts:
• Create the Healthy Habitats Program, a new partnership between TPWD and the Texas Center for Service-Learning, providing grants to enable schools and communities to identify conservation needs and develop projects to address them;
• Support a native aquatic habitat restoration program at North Toledo Bend Wildlife Management Area; and
• Support foundation efforts to raise funding for new facilities at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton County.

“At present, EnCana is one of the largest corporate conservation partners of the Foundation and Department,” said Dick Davis, TPW Foundation executive director. “We have been impressed with the company’s commitment to conservation in other parts of North America and extremely pleased the company has now chosen Texas as a beneficiary of its generosity. EnCana’s Texas-based staff has been very engaged during the development of this partnership and we look forward to exploring additional ways to accomplish conservation together in the future.”

Part of the donation will benefit North Toledo Bend Wildlife Management Area on the northern shore of Toledo Bend Reservoir in Shelby County near the Texas-Louisiana border. The WMA is managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on land owned by the Sabine River Authority, providing settings for research and public hunting, fishing and boating. The WMA includes a wetland maintained by an earthen levee which is important to provide wildlife habitat and is also popular for public hunters, boaters and anglers. The wetland is connected with a type of bottomland hardwood ecosystem that is critically important for wildlife but which has largely disappeared in Texas.

Like many East Texas lakes, the WMA wetland is plagued by exotic invasive water weeds like salivinia and water hyacinth, which block boater and angler access and crowd or shade out native plants more beneficial to fish and wildlife. Invasive plants now cover more than 95 percent of the 550-acre wetland. The donation will fund two electric pumps that can each move 4,500 gallons of water per minute. This will allow biologists to draw down water levels to expose and kill invasive plants and help encourage beneficial natives.

“This donation will dramatically increase our ability to grow native aquatic plants that would benefit wintering waterfowl, shore birds and wading birds,” said Bill Adams, TPWD’s Pineywoods ecosystem project leader, who oversees eight WMAs in the region. “It will also allow us to reduce the number of acres needing herbicide application due to an infestation of giant salvinia. This plant out-competes native plants for sunlight and nutrients and creates an ecological desert for migrating, wetland-dependent species.”

The donation will also fund a new Healthy Habitats service-learning program that will provide grants to schools across Texas. The program envisions high school students partnering with communities and TPWD staff and other experts to identify conservation needs and work together to come up with solutions. The students will address priorities in the Texas Wildlife Action Plan, a blueprint to “keep common species common” and avoid more species from becoming threatened and endangered.

The Healthy Habitats project builds on an existing partnership between TPWD and the Texas Center for Service-Learning, a statewide initiative of the Texas Education Agency and the Region 14 Education Service Center. The donation will support efforts to integrate community service with academic learning, and assist students, teachers, administrators, and communities with training, technical assistance, and resources. Later this year, the center will begin seeking grant proposals, with information and application forms to be posted online.

The donation will also be used to expand facilities at the new Texas Game Warden Training Center, which was moved to donated land in Hamilton County after it outgrew old, cramped facilities in Austin. The donation could help build a new building or be used to support the broader fundraising campaign, seeking to raise millions of dollars.
The donated site currently has seven dormitories, a former cafeteria now used as a combination classroom-dining facility, and an infirmary connected with small offices. Three FEMA trailer houses moved to the site are currently used as administrative offices. Phase I of an ambitious expansion plan is currently getting underway, putting in utility infrastructure and preparing the site for a new administration building, classroom building, armory, gymnasium and other facilities.

The training center typically runs one academy per year, training approximately 50 new game warden cadets each time. It will also provide ongoing inservice and field training for existing game wardens. The ultimate goal is a world-class facility that can handle enhanced training covering the expanding role of Texas game wardens for many decades to come.
Since 1991, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has been the official non-profit partner of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. By bringing together companies, corporations, communities and individuals, the foundation has raised more than $60 million benefiting a wide variety of projects.

EnCana is one of North America’s largest independent natural gas producers. The company has a long history of supporting conservation and education causes. For the past two years EnCana has been on both the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the North American Index. Inclusion in these groups demonstrates high environmental, social and business standards.

About EnCana Oil & Gas (USA)
EnCana Corporation, one of North America’s leading independent natural gas companies, operates in the United States (U.S.) under its subsidiary, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. (EnCana) and coordinates its operations from its U.S. headquarters in Denver, Colo. EnCana has operations in Colorado, Louisiana, Texas and Wyoming.