Down East Magazine, a publication I know a little something about, has announced the recipient of its thirty-second Down East Environmental Award. Here's the dedication in the October issue:
Founded in 1880, the Maine Warden Service is the oldest conservation law enforcement agency in the nation. The state’s first game wardens were volunteers recruited to stop the wholesale commercial hunting and poaching operations that were then laying waste to Maine’s fish and game populations. Over the past 130 years the service has evolved into an elite team of professionals whose responsibilities have grown to include not only the enforcement of snowmobile and boating laws, but also curtailing the spread of invasive milfoil and arresting individuals who seek to sabotage Maine’s ecosystem by smuggling foreign species into our woods and waters. For their record of accomplishment and sacrifice, the editors of Down East are proud to award the thirty-second Down East Environmental Award to the men and women of the Maine Warden Service.
Congratulations to Maine game wardens, past and present. Contributing Editor Rob Sneddon has written an excellent overview of the service and its duties for Down East. You should read it.
I offer my own thoughts on the history of the Down East Environmental Award and the worthiness of the Warden Service here.