The Trading Game

It was the summer of 2010, my second year as a full-time officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, when I attended my first North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association conference. I began my career in 2003 patrolling Penn’s Woods among the deputy ranks, then in 2007 dreams transformed into reality as I was accepted into the Ross Leffler School of Conservation’s 27th Cadet Class. Established in 1936, RLSC is the first of its kind training school for Pennsylvania’s State Game Wardens. I was introduced to NAWEOA in my first year as a deputy by State Game Wardens Rich Cramer and Mark Allegro (now retired). Both would go on to serve as members of the NAWEOA Executive Board in the decades following. Unfortunately, every time I made plans to attend the annual summer conference prior to 2010, personal or professional obstacles prohibited the experience.

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