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| Enforcement uniform over time |
Ontario has a very long, very proud and distinguished history of natural resource law enforcement dating back to 1892.
In the early years game wardens travelled on foot, by canoe, dogsled and horseback patrolling their areas to enforce the Act for the Protection of Game and Fur-Bearing Animals.
It was not until 1948 that game wardens/overseers became known as Conservation Officers.
Milestones in the History of Natural Resources Enforcement in Ontario
| 1892 | Ontario Board of Game & Fish Commissioners Appointed. A Chief Warden and 4 part-time game wardens and 392 deputy wardens were hired. They had no uniform and the annual salary was $120.00, increased to $400.00 in 1894. The deputy wardens were not paid a salary, but received half the fines of any penalties imposed on their evidence. |
| 1898 | Ontario assumed jurisdiction over the fisheries and hired 94 fishery overseers to enforce the fisheries laws. |
| 1903 | The sale of game fish is prohibited, a radical move that saves bass and muskellunge for sport fishing. |
| 1920 | 60 Overseers under the Department of Game & Fisheries |
| 1930 | First Uniform introduced for Wardens |
| 1947 | 177 full-time officers under the New Division of Fish & Wildlife |
| 1948 | Wardens/Overseers first named Conservation Officers |
| 1960 | First Aboriginal Conservation Officer appointed |
| 1980 | First Female Conservation Officer appointed |
| 1986 | Special Investigations Unit formally established |
| 1990 | Canine Services Unit formally established (First canine service dog: Shadow in Sudbury) |
| 1991 | New Compliance Policy Branch was established and DNA fingerprinting was accepted by the courts for the first time in a poaching trial |
| 2006 | Enforcement Branch expanded to include all field operations |
Source: "Game Wardens - Men and Women in Conservation" by Joe Fisher
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