Mary Eleanor Wickersham

This research puts pay and contextual data gleaned from state conservation and state patrol agencies in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and West Virginia into the context of an anonymous survey of conservation rangers from across the country. Facts about pay, including the number of rangers, starting pay, and pay for experienced rangers is viewed through the lens of responses from 372 rangers in 17 states across the United States. The findings demonstrate that, at least in the states surveyed, state patrol officers generally make higher wages than conservation...

In Georgia, where this study was conducted, the size of the fine a violator pays for a wildlife citation is dependent on the county and the specific court in which he or she is sentenced. A highly politicized court system and complex intergovernmental relationships have led to uneven enforcement of game and fish laws in the state. This lack of uniform enforcement reduces the deterrent effect of the work of conservation rangers. Data from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and interviews with stakeholders in the system confirm greatly enhanced power in local courts, where...