DNR Law Enforcement Division names Game Warden of Year
Special Photo: Georgia DNR
From staff reports
SOCIAL CIRCLE — The Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division recently named Game Warden First Class Brock Hoyt, who is assigned to Fulton County, as the 2022 Game Warden of the Year.
Crpl. Dean Gibson from Talbot County received the James R. Darnell Award as the runner-up to the Game Warden of the Year.
“These officers have proven themselves as leaders among their peers this past year,” Col. Thomas Barnard, director of the DNR Law Enforcement Division, said. “Their hard work every day to enforce the conservation laws of the state and to ensure public safety is a great asset to Georgia citizens, and I am grateful for their contributions.”
Hoyt, who moved to Georgia from Durham, Conn., in 2018 to become a game warden, is known for his attention to detail, community involvement, and his excellent investigative skills. Fulton County, where he is assigned, is 527 square miles and includes Atlanta, which has a population of more than 1 million.
In this challenging environment, Hoyt has demonstrated great success as a game warden, state officials say. Last year, he documented 439 violator contacts and checked 847 fishing licenses and 216 hunting licenses. He also focused his efforts on trespass complaints, which yielded 42 hunting without permission and 23 fishing without permission cases. In his most significant case of the year, which is still ongoing, he has spent well over 100 hours taking on a large-scale poaching ring that consists of 20 hunters in multiple counties.
Gibson is recognized by Law Enforcement Division personnel as a hard-working Game Warden, pursuing the mission of the division and leading by example. He has been with the division only since 2018 but has already shown great leadership potential and a strong work ethic. He is focused on conservation law enforcement, and his numbers prove it.
This year, he checked 398 hunting licenses, 218 fishing licenses, conducted 26 boating patrols, 54 patrols on Wildlife Management Areas, and 11 state park patrols.
Gibson also logged 183 violator contacts, including five arrests for BUI, and the apprehension of 10 waterfowl violators and three subjects for hunting turkey over bait. His most notable case this past year was the apprehension of a notorious poacher in Harris County who had eluded game wardens for the last 15-20 years.
This is Gibson’s second time receiving the Darnell Award.
Author
Related Articles
Dawson City Council uninformed as state freezes sewer loans, audits remain incomplete
With three overdue audits, no Mauldin & Jenkins briefing on Thursday’s agenda and funding deadlines approaching, the larger question is increasingly urgent: How will Dawson pay to finish the work, and what will further delay mean for the future reliability of the city’s water and wastewater systems?
Across a county line, foster care rates reveal stark divide
An abandoned home in Dawson sits overgrown and deteriorating, one example of the city’s ongoing struggle with blighted and unusable housing. Dawson’s long-range planning documents identify both a high vacancy rate and a need for more safe, affordable housing. Staff Photo: Kathryn Crockett
Dougherty Commissioner Gloria Gaines to serve as honorary sponsor of 2027 international conference in Atlanta
“By Alan Mauldin
[email protected]
ALBANY – In 1898 academic and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois traveled to southwest Georgia during his summer break from teaching to investigate the lives of black residents in the “Black Belt” and later covered his sociological studies of the region in two chapters of his book “The Souls of Black Folk.”
The academic and peace activist’s visit and subsequent account was more than an intellectual exercise, however, according to Dougherty County Commissioner Gloria Gaines.
Du Bois’ account inspired South Carolina native Joseph Winthrop Holley to move Albany, where he founded the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute. The institute later became part of the University System of Georgia and became a four-year college in 1943 before its last renaming in 1996 as Albany State University.
Holley was inspired by Du Bois’ writing, said Gaines, who will be an honorary sponsor of The International Conference on W.E.B. Du Bois: Race, Democracy and Global Justice in 2027. The conference is scheduled for April 9-11 in Atlanta.
“I am in admiration (of) his impact on the founding of Albany State University,” she said. “I also appreciate his political philosophy as well. He was clearly identified with Atlanta University and education.”
During her time at Albany State Gaines worked in the office of civil rights attorney C.B, King.
She holds a master’s degree in community development and worked as an assistant general manager for MARTA.
Her travels also have taken her to Africa, where she worked and met Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
For the 2027 conference, Gaines has collaborated with individuals including professor Preston King, C.B. King’s youngest brother..
Last year she traveled to Accra, Ghana, where DuBois died after he was stranded out of the United States for his opposition to nuclear weapons and had his passport renewal denied, for his 157th birthday celebration.
The conference will feature discussions of democracy, equality and human dignity, Gaines said
“Those are issues that were important to him,” she said. “Now is a good time to talk about democracy. Some may see it as under threat. I think this conference will be timely. It’s a timely issue, not just for black folks as well as human dignity and equality within the country.”
