Wardens Responded to Nearly 3500 calls

Last year Maine game wardens responded to 3,449 calls for service regarding landowner relations. Those calls resulted in 1,378 summonses and 681 warnings. Interestingly ATV violations resulted in by far the most summonses and warnings. In fact ATV violations got nearly half of the summonses and more than half of the warnings issued for the entire year. Hunting violations resulted in the highest number calls for service.

Here’s a breakout of the calls:

trespass 133

littering/illegal dumping 128

landowner property damage 27

hunting violations 993

trapping 86

ATV violations 686

snowmobile violations 649

public lectures/talks 449

general information on landowner relations 298.

Total 3,449

Here are the number of summonses and warnings issued:

abuse of property 13 summons 8 warnings

ATV 601 summons 392 warnings

causing a projectile to enter illegally 28 summons 11 warnings

littering or illegal dumping 53 summons 10 warnings

shooting a weapon over a paved way 26 summons 11 warnings

shooting from the motor vehicle 55 summons 1 warning

shooting too close to a dwelling 26 summons 9 warnings

snowmobile noise level 220 summons 152 warnings

snowmobile other 311 summons 152 warnings

trespass (criminal) 45 summons 38 warnings

Total 1,378 summons 681 warnings

Wardens Budget

The Warden Service budget in FY2018 was $20,069,296, and they actually spent $18,649,053. The budget was 33.3% of the department’s entire budget and their spending ended up being 39.9% of the departments expenditures that year.

Here’s where the money came from: $16,280,208 from the general fund, $1,120,503 from federal funds, $1,248,342 from other special revenue funds.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.