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DEC Announces 2024 Training Academies for New Classes
of Environmental Conservation Police Officer and Forest Ranger Recruits
Published: April 28, 2024 at
01:15 p.m.
By: Press Release from NYS DEC
DEC Announces 2024 Training Academies for New Classes
of Environmental Conservation Police Officer and Forest Ranger Recruits
New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar announces upcoming academies
for the newest classes of Forest Rangers and Environmental
Conservation Police Officers (ECOs). The six-month training academies will
prepare 58 of DEC's newest recruits for careers protecting New York's
natural resources in the Divisions of Forest Protection and Law
Enforcement.
“With new
academies on the horizon, DEC is continuing to grow the ranks of New York’s
elite force of individuals committed to protecting our environment and
public safety,” Interim Commissioner Mahar said. “DEC’s
newest ECOs and Rangers will receive rigorous training to prepare them to
meet the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow as they continue to
uphold the rich and storied conservation legacies of both divisions.”
ECOs, originally
called Game Protectors, were first appointed for service in 1880. The first
Forest Rangers, originally known as Fire Wardens, were put into service in
1885 when the New York State Legislature established the Forest Preserve of
New York State.
The Forest Ranger
training starts May 19 at the State University of New York College of
Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) campus in the hamlet of Wanakena. The ECO training begins June 2 at the
Pulaski Academy, which has served as the home for these trainings
for the last several academies.
ECO job duties
are centered on the 71 chapters of New York State Environmental
Conservation Law and range from deer poaching to solid waste dumping,
illegal mining, the black-market pet trade, and emissions violations. In
2023, ECOs and Investigators across the state responded to nearly 31,000
calls and worked on cases that resulted in nearly 16,900 tickets or
arrests.
DEC Division of
Law Enforcement Director Karen Przyklek said, “In many ways
ECOs are the guardians of our environment, enforcing New York’s stringent
environmental conservation laws protecting our air, water, fish, and
wildlife. I am eager to welcome our next class of recruits and challenge
them to put in the hard work and dedication required to become a member of
our elite group of Officers who work diligently, around the clock, to
safeguard our natural resources and hold polluters accountable.”
Forest Ranger
duties focus on the public's use of DEC-administered State lands and
easements and can span from patrolling State properties to conducting
search-and-rescue operations to fighting wildland fires. In 2023, DEC
Forest Rangers conducted 370 search and rescue missions, extinguished 146
wildfires, participated in 52 prescribed fires that served to rejuvenate
more than 1,000 acres, and worked on cases that resulted in hundreds of
tickets or arrests.
DEC Division of
Forest Protection Director John Solan said, "Forest
Rangers are among the most prepared wilderness professionals in the
country, patrolling more than five million acres of land. They respond to
rescue calls at all hours of the day or night and stand
at the ready to extinguish wildland fires wherever they’re
burning. Forest Rangers do all of this, plus law enforcement, all
while protecting New York’s natural resources."
ECOs and Forest
Rangers are full-fledged New York State Police Officers, often called upon
to support critical police deployments. Forest Rangers and ECOs were among
the first responders on the scene to help in the aftermath of Sept. 11,
assisted in the response to Superstorm Sandy, helped in the 2015 search for
two escaped felons from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, supported New York's statewide response to
COVID-19 at testing and vaccination sites, and have traveled to battle
wildfires in western states and Canada. Upon graduation, recruits will be
assigned patrol areas and join the ranks of hundreds of ECOs and Forest
Rangers currently serving across the state.
The recruits in
this newest class will be selected from an eligible list of qualifications
and passing scores generated from the most recent Civil Service exam, which
became active in December 2022. To view job qualifications for ECOs,
visit the Environmental Conservation Police Officer job description webpage;
for Forest Rangers, visit the Forest Ranger job description webpage.
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