New tag supports game wardens
1,000 pre-orders are needed before the license plates will be made.
The state has decided to try a new method of generating funds to finance an increase in the number of game wardens across the state — license plates.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is encouraging all Georgians to be a part of the conservation effort and protection of Georgians who love the outdoors by pre-ordering a new Georgia DNR Law Enforcement license plate. State law requires that 1,000 preorders be taken before the plate can go into mass production.
Sergeant Mike Barr, who’s region covers Northwest Georgia, Floyd, Gordon, Chattooga, Catoosa, Dade and Walker said Georgia has about 190 officers covering 159 counties but the last figure he saw showed 45 counties do not have an officer assigned to them on a day-to-day basis.
“Lake Lanier has got multiple officers to just that lake. So yeah, our numbers are close to what they were in the ’80s. That’s how far behind the scale we are,” Barr said. “Honest to goodness it’s a struggle.”
The down side of an increased interest in the outdoors is officers get worked so hard, so long and so often in covering such large territories.
“Just think about what’s gone on with the Etowah River in Rome,” Barr said. He said activity on the Etowah has probably increased ten-fold over the
last several years. “Interest in outdoor recreational activity, especially boats, has gone up tremendously.”
For a number of years, Barr had himself and three officers to cover the six counties in Northwest Georgia, including the state parks across the region. Ben Cunningham, Roger McConkey and Shawn Elmore recently joined Barr’s unit.
The new tag was designed by a current warden and features an outdoor landscape with a replica decal from a warden’s truck with “Support Georgia Game Wardens” underneath and the Division’s motto, “Law Enforcement Off the Pavement” across the bottom.
Tags can be ordered at www.gadnrle.org.