Don’t Call Them “Conservation Officer” Anymore

We won’t be calling them Conservation Officers for much longer.    A bill that passed in the most recent special session of the legislature will change the official title of the DNR’s law enforcement agents from "Conservation Officer" to "Natural Resources Police Officer." 

"It’s a safety issue," said Jerry Payne, President of the Conservation Officer’s association. "Our officers are encountering more people from other countries and they see our brown uniforms and think we’re security guards.  For safety reasons, we want them to be sure they know that our officers are police officers."

Payne and the organization lobbied Governor Manchin for the change as incidents of confusion continued to crop up.

"Just recently two of the guys in Kanawha County approached a guy who was from over in the Middle East at 2:00 in the morning and he thought our guys were security guards," Payne explained. "Over in the Middle East, security guards aren’t really well thought of."

Payne says he himself has encountered people from Russia and more and more officers are dealing with residents of Mexico and other nationalities in West Virginia.  The language barrier makes each of those encounters dangerous–particularly if they don’t recognize and respect the authority of the uniform.

"They understand when they’re hunting or fishing who you are," Payne said. "It’s the population out here that doesn’t hunt, fish, or boat that doesn’t have any idea who our officers are."

The legislation making the change of the title stops short of changing the retirement tax structure for Conservation Officers.  It’s something Payne hopes will be addressed in future legislation.   Currently police officers pay no taxes on their retirement, but it’s a benefit not presently enjoyed by Conservation Officers–since under their title they aren’t "police."

"This bill did not address that, it specifically indicated it would not address the retirement issue," Payne said. "We’d like to see our officers benefit just like the city police officers, whether it’s a one or two man department or the Charleston P-D with hundreds.   Our officers are police certified and we go to the police academy like everybody else."

The official title change won’t happen until Governor Manchin signs the bill.  A ceremonial signing is expected soon.   West Virginia is one of the last remaining states where the Conservation Officer title remains.   Most recently, Virginia renamed its officers Natural Resources Police after years of calling them Game Warden.