New game wardens ready to hit the field

 Hunters and anglers may see some new faces patrolling the areas they frequent.

Forty new state game wardens soon will be taking to the field following their completion of seven months of training at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton County.

Members of the 57th Game Warden class graduated in ceremonies this morning in the House of Representatives chamber at the Capitol in Austin.

The new game wardens will be reporting for duty at stations spanning the state from East Texas to El Paso. While the primary duty of state game wardens is to enforce hunting and fishing laws and water safety regulations, they are fully commissioned peace officers who also respond to natural disasters, assist other local and state law enforcement agencies as well as conducting public outreach on a variety of conservation-related topics.

“State game wardens are the primary law enforcement off the pavement in Texas,” said Major Danny Shaw, director of training at the academy. “We do a lot more for the people of Texas than enforcing game and fish laws.”

The new game wardens received 618 hours of instruction to meet the state- mandated training requirements for their basic peace officer certification including criminal and constitutional law; firearms; self defense; use of force; defensive driving; arrest, search and seizure; ethics, and first aid. They received another 700 to 750 hours of training related to wildlife and fisheries enforcement, the Texas Water Safety Act, wildlife and fisheries identification, public relations and communications, boat operation, ATV operation, and specialized patrol tactics. The new wardens also have become certified hunter education and boater education instructors.

The 40 new wardens will bring TPWD’s Law Enforcement Division to its authorized strength of 532 game wardens.

These are the new game wardens, their hometown, and the counties in which they will be stationed:

• Kyle D. Allison – Plano, Texas – Zapata County
• Abraham Amaya III – San Benito, Texas – Zapata County
• Jonathan Balderas – San Antonio, Texas – Webb County
• Carter A. Ball III – Buchanan Dam, Texas – Midland County
• Mark A. Bane – Temple, Texas – Harris County
• John  T. Compton – Buda, Texas – Menard County
• Eric B. Cooper – New Braunfels, Texas – San Saba County
• Roque Corona Jr. – Edinburg, Texas – Hudspeth County
• Jacob C. Crumpton – Midlothian, Texas – Concho County
• Daylan R. Damron – College Station, Texas – Orange County
• Dustin L. Dockery – Baytown, Texas – Smith County
• Bryan C. Dulock II – Bruceville, Texas – Zapata County
• James M. Ferguson – Axtell, Texas – San Augustine County
• Noe Gonzales Jr. – Brazoria, Texas – McMullen County
• Jonathan D. Griffin – Georgetown, Texas – Terrell County
• James L. Hall – Katy, Texas – San Augustine County
• Allison R. Hatten – Temple, Texas – Val Verde County
• Colby A. Hensz – Harlingen, Texas – Zapata County
• David L. Hopkins – San Angelo, Texas – Mitchell County
• Trent W. Marker – Round Rock, Texas – Limestone County
• Ryan P. McGinley – New Braunfels, Texas – Starr County
• Natali Mejia – San Benito, Texas – Travis County
• Raynor A. Milloway – Copperas Cove, Texas – Throckmorton County
• Carmen L. Perez – Corpus Christi, Texas – Cameron County
• Arnold Pinales Jr. – Brackettville, Texas – Terrell County
• Christopher D. Pope – Dickinson, Texas – Chambers County
• Bryan C. Reed – Corpus Christi, Texas – Austin HQ/Pilot
• Michael S. Robertson – Nacogdoches, Texas – Harrison County
• Cane C. Schumaker – Irving, Texas – Dickens/Kent County
• Ross Sidman – Seabrook, Texas – Harris County
• Jason A. Sims – Hobbs, New Mexico – Hockley/Yoakum/Terry County
• James N. Skeen – White Oak, Texas – Shelby County
• Michael L. Stephens – Copperas Cove, Texas – Dallas County
• Tyler S. Stoikes – Bastrop, Texas – Val Verde County
• Aaron P. Summers – Sugar Land, Texas – Zapata County
• Patrick R. True – San Antonio, Texas – Duval County
• Charles E. Tweedle Jr. – Meridian, Texas – Deaf Smith/Castro/Parmer County
• Hendrik R. Volschenk – Springfield, Missouri – Harris County
• Eric W. Wilmarth – Warrensburg, Missouri – Presidio County
• Tyler W. Zaruba – Austin, Texas – Kimble County