Dec. 12, 2008

Game warden Field Notes

The following are excerpts from recent Texas Parks and Wildlife Department law enforcement reports.

Nov. 26, 2008

Deer Smugglers from Texas, Minnesota, Sentenced to Prison

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas man and a Minnesota man were both sentenced to federal prison terms yesterday for illegally transporting white-tailed deer across state lines.

Nov. 3, 2008

Wharton Co. Jury Returns Guilty Verdict in Trial of Man Accused of Killing Game Warden

AUSTIN, Texas — A Wharton County jury took just two-and-a-half hours this afternoon to return a verdict of "guilty, capital murder" in the trial of 27-year-old James Garrett Freeman, of Lissie, who shot and killed Texas Game Warden Justin Hurst March 17, 2007.

Oct. 18, 2008

Game Wardens Arrest Men for Illegally Transporting Deer

GOLDTHWAITE, Texas — At around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16 in Mills County, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens apprehended two central Texas men and a resident of Louisiana for allegedly hauling eight whitetail deer believed to have been smuggled across state lines.

Oct. 17, 2008

Memorial Fund Created for Fallen Game Warden George H. Whatley

AUSTIN, Texas — A memorial fund has been set-up for the family of Texas Game Warden George H. Whatley. Whatley, a 45-year-old native of Atlanta, Texas, died in Fort Stockton Friday, Oct. 10, after participating in a training exercise.

Hurst Murder Trial Begins Oct. 20 in Wharton

AUSTIN, Texas — The capital murder trial of the man accused of killing Game Warden Justin Hurst in 2007 begins 9 a.m., Monday, Oct. 20 in Wharton, southwest of Houston.

Oct. 11, 2008

Texas Game Warden Dies after Training Exercise

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Game Warden George Whatley, 45, died yesterday in Fort Stockton after collapsing following a training exercise. Whatley was participating in a physical agility test along with 10 other West Texas wardens when he was stricken.

Oct. 10, 2008

DNA Evidence Leads To Deer Poaching Conviction

AUSTIN, Texas — On Oct. 1, an Angelina County jury sentenced David Peters, 35, of Zavalla to two years in state jail and a $3,000 fine for hunting without landowner consent. The defendant has filed an appeal in this case where DNA evidence analysis applied new technology to help address an age-old concern in the woods of East Texas.

Oct. 2, 2008

After Ike, East Texas National Forest WMAs Reopened

AUSTIN, Texas — Because of Hurricane Ike, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department previously announced closure of public hunting activities by Annual Public Hunting Permit on several national forests that contain state wildlife management areas, which have since reopened.

Oct. 1, 2008

Biologists Assess Ike Impacts To Coastal Ecosystems

AUSTIN, Texas — Hurricane Ike’s big storm surge caused hundreds of localized oil and hazardous materials spills that pose threats to fish and wildlife, and it pushed saltwater into upper coast freshwater wetlands that support migrating waterfowl and estuarine life. But ecological damage to coastal habitats may not be as widespread or severe as some had initially feared.