Credit: PA Internet News Service
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is ending its deputy waterway conservation officer program on Sept. 1.
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The news came days after the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced a similar closure of its deputy game warden program.
Both state commissions will keep its full-time law enforcement and conservation officers, who work throughout the state.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s decision came after a review of the program, which has seen its ranks shrink to 36 deputies assisting full-time officers across the state, according to reporting by CBS 21 in Harrisburg and the Erie Times-News.
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The end of the program driven largely by a lack of recruitment among younger generations, Fish and Boat Commission Board Chairperson Don Anderson told the newspaper.
“We’re down to a low number,” Anderson told the Erie Times-News. “Like in our southwest region of the state, there’s only four of us, counting myself. We’ve all been getting older and we haven’t had the interest with any younger people coming on as deputy officers.”
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The southeastern part of the state has 12 deputies.
Deputy waterway officers undergo classroom instruction, field training, and weapons training, a state law enforcement report noted.
When called upon to assist full-time personnel, deputies receive $100 for an eight-hour shift alongside commission-issued gear and uniforms, according to PennLive.com.
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State records from 2020 show the agency employed 67 full-time waterway conservation officers, a roster unchanged from 2016.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is also terminating its deputy program on Sept. 1. That move leaves 155 full-time game wardens to handle statewide conservation and enforcement duties without the support of 145 deputy game wardens, according to the agency’s 2024-2025 annual report.
