Thirteen new Maine Game Wardens have been assigned districts throughout the state after graduating from Advanced Warden School at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy on May 9.
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Judy Camuso was one of the featured speakers at the graduation, where she urged the graduates to “Endeavor to uphold the standards of excellence set before you, persevere where others may falter, treat people with fairness, honesty, compassion and respect.
“I have no doubt that not only will you uphold the excellence of this agency; you will be on your way to creating new standards for others to aspire to,” she said.
Other speakers included Maine Warden Service Col. Dan Scott; Advanced Warden Service Academy Cadre Josh Polland; Game Warden Mark Hutcheson; Passamaquoddy Game Warden Chief Bill Nicholas; and Game Warden Matthew Tenan, who represented the class.
The wardens completed a 12-week academy that focused on subject matter specific to the Warden Service, including search and rescue, fish and wildlife laws and regulations, boating, fishing, hunting, ATVing, snowmobiling and others. This course is in addition to the 18-week Basic Law Enforcement Training Program required of Maine law enforcement officers. Game Warden Joshua Polland was the lead cadre for the Advanced Warden School. The cadre staff included Game Wardens Kale O’Leary, Megan Orchard, and Chad Robertson.
The 13 new game wardens and their assigned districts are:
- Joshua Theriault, Strong
- Matthew Tenan, Lubec
- Melinda Rugg, Rumford
- Matthew Norcia, Appleton
- Isaiah Dyer, Belgrade
- Avery Boucher, Farmington
- Kevin Richards, Patten
- William Gormely, Millinockett
- Nick Bartholomey, St. Zacharie, out of the Greenville office
- Joshua Lugdon, Springfield
The new Passamaquoddy Tribal Wardens are Cole Nicholas, Joe Socobasin and Bobby Brennan.