socal duckie
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Local Wardens Need Your Help!
Recent information shows California Fish and Game Wardens are the lowest paid law enforcement officers in the State of California and their numbers are dropping by 10 to 20 Wardens per year. The wardens would like to see those statistics change.
There’s no doubt Game Wardens are a different breed of cat. They work weekends, on holidays, and all hours of the night and day. They’re on call even when they’re not working. They spend each shift patrolling hundreds of square miles. They travel lonely dirt roads and sandy washes far from civilization and many times they are out of radio range. In many areas of the desert they carry three or four spare tires and 20 gallons of drinking water because of the treacherous conditions. If they get stuck or have a flat, they’re on their own. Matter of fact they have to take care of their own vehicle and be responsible for getting it serviced or repaired. With illegal drugs crossing through our valley’s desert, they can easily become the hunted with backup many miles away. Statistics show Game Wardens and DEA agents have the highest risk of death on the job. They must wait for hours in uncomfortable places, watching for a reported game violator to make the wrong move. Their job is to protect our natural resources while making the sportsman’s day afield a pleasant experience. On top of all of this they monitor hunter safety courses, host the annual “Take a Kid Fishing” day, sponsor and run the annual Junior Pheasant Hunt, and sign up senior citizens so they can get free fishing licenses. Most of us don’t have the dedication it takes to do what they do. That’s what makes Game Wardens so special.
So with dedication of that intensity you would think they would be paid fairly by the State. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. When you compare them to their closest counterparts, the California Highway Patrol, it isn’t even a contest. Game wardens only receive 60 percent of the pay benefits offered to the California Highway Patrol and nobody seems to know why that is.
If you want to become a CHP officer all it takes is a high school education. To become a Game Warden it takes at least two years of college. A Game Warden works alone most of the time. A CHP works with a partner after 10 P.M. A Game Warden isn’t compensated for night time pay. A CHP officer is paid extra for working nights and also receives 1.5 times his salary for working on holidays. A Warden gets no bonus for working holidays. As I mentioned before, Wardens can’t usually depend on backup when they need it. CHP officers can get backup within minutes. Where a CHP officer only patrols and protects the highways of the state, state buildings, and state property, a Game Warden must patrol all the wildlands of the state including the highways. A Game Warden’s job also includes checking on incoming shipping, chemical plants, refineries, dams, bridges, powerplants, and transmission lines. Wardens also operate long range ocean patrol craft and routinely board vessels in water up to 200 miles off the state’s coast in very hazardous conditions. Many Game Wardens are certified divers. In addition Game Wardens are Federally Deputized and are trained and carry four different weapons while on patrol including a 7.62 mm military assault rifle that is capable of stopping either a charging bear or berserk terrorist. CHP officers aren’t Federally Deputized nor are they trained or carry the heavy assault rifle.
In a recent booklet published by the California Fish and Game Wardens Association compared the two salaries of a CHP officer who patrols the Bay Area a Game Warden who also patrols in the Bay Area. Both are 26 years old and have been employed at their respective jobs for four years. The Game Warden’s gross pay was $48,000 for 2005 with no raise promised for 2006. The CHP officer’s gross pay was $92,000 for year 2006 with a 7.5 percent increase offered for 2006. Can you believe that?
As you can see something is really out of whack. Our local wardens need your help. They are only asking for two things. First they want to be paid at the same level as CHP officers and secondly they are asking for full staffing. Currently there are only 288 wardens in the entire state. Full staffing would bring that number up to 352 wardens. Both these items would only cost the State an additional $17.4 million. That’s not even chump change compared to the state’s massive budget that is now under review.
I urge you to take the time to write the Governor. Ask him to fill the vacant Warden spots and bring their pay up to par with the CHP officers. Governor Schwarzenegger’s address is State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Our local wardens are really great guys and all of them enjoy hunting and fishing just like you and I do. They really deserve our help so don’t put off writing the Governor and help them out.
For a copy of a sample letter that you can use to write the governor contact Al Kalin at akalin@hughes.net
Recent information shows California Fish and Game Wardens are the lowest paid law enforcement officers in the State of California and their numbers are dropping by 10 to 20 Wardens per year. The wardens would like to see those statistics change.
There’s no doubt Game Wardens are a different breed of cat. They work weekends, on holidays, and all hours of the night and day. They’re on call even when they’re not working. They spend each shift patrolling hundreds of square miles. They travel lonely dirt roads and sandy washes far from civilization and many times they are out of radio range. In many areas of the desert they carry three or four spare tires and 20 gallons of drinking water because of the treacherous conditions. If they get stuck or have a flat, they’re on their own. Matter of fact they have to take care of their own vehicle and be responsible for getting it serviced or repaired. With illegal drugs crossing through our valley’s desert, they can easily become the hunted with backup many miles away. Statistics show Game Wardens and DEA agents have the highest risk of death on the job. They must wait for hours in uncomfortable places, watching for a reported game violator to make the wrong move. Their job is to protect our natural resources while making the sportsman’s day afield a pleasant experience. On top of all of this they monitor hunter safety courses, host the annual “Take a Kid Fishing” day, sponsor and run the annual Junior Pheasant Hunt, and sign up senior citizens so they can get free fishing licenses. Most of us don’t have the dedication it takes to do what they do. That’s what makes Game Wardens so special.
So with dedication of that intensity you would think they would be paid fairly by the State. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. When you compare them to their closest counterparts, the California Highway Patrol, it isn’t even a contest. Game wardens only receive 60 percent of the pay benefits offered to the California Highway Patrol and nobody seems to know why that is.
If you want to become a CHP officer all it takes is a high school education. To become a Game Warden it takes at least two years of college. A Game Warden works alone most of the time. A CHP works with a partner after 10 P.M. A Game Warden isn’t compensated for night time pay. A CHP officer is paid extra for working nights and also receives 1.5 times his salary for working on holidays. A Warden gets no bonus for working holidays. As I mentioned before, Wardens can’t usually depend on backup when they need it. CHP officers can get backup within minutes. Where a CHP officer only patrols and protects the highways of the state, state buildings, and state property, a Game Warden must patrol all the wildlands of the state including the highways. A Game Warden’s job also includes checking on incoming shipping, chemical plants, refineries, dams, bridges, powerplants, and transmission lines. Wardens also operate long range ocean patrol craft and routinely board vessels in water up to 200 miles off the state’s coast in very hazardous conditions. Many Game Wardens are certified divers. In addition Game Wardens are Federally Deputized and are trained and carry four different weapons while on patrol including a 7.62 mm military assault rifle that is capable of stopping either a charging bear or berserk terrorist. CHP officers aren’t Federally Deputized nor are they trained or carry the heavy assault rifle.
In a recent booklet published by the California Fish and Game Wardens Association compared the two salaries of a CHP officer who patrols the Bay Area a Game Warden who also patrols in the Bay Area. Both are 26 years old and have been employed at their respective jobs for four years. The Game Warden’s gross pay was $48,000 for 2005 with no raise promised for 2006. The CHP officer’s gross pay was $92,000 for year 2006 with a 7.5 percent increase offered for 2006. Can you believe that?
As you can see something is really out of whack. Our local wardens need your help. They are only asking for two things. First they want to be paid at the same level as CHP officers and secondly they are asking for full staffing. Currently there are only 288 wardens in the entire state. Full staffing would bring that number up to 352 wardens. Both these items would only cost the State an additional $17.4 million. That’s not even chump change compared to the state’s massive budget that is now under review.
I urge you to take the time to write the Governor. Ask him to fill the vacant Warden spots and bring their pay up to par with the CHP officers. Governor Schwarzenegger’s address is State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Our local wardens are really great guys and all of them enjoy hunting and fishing just like you and I do. They really deserve our help so don’t put off writing the Governor and help them out.
For a copy of a sample letter that you can use to write the governor contact Al Kalin at akalin@hughes.net
