TPWD Officer of the Year chosen
Tarrant County hunters and anglers can feel good knowing one of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's best is patrolling their area.
State game warden Michelle Mount has been named Officer of the Year by the Association of Midwest Fish and Game Law Enforcement Officers.
The award was presented to Mount by TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith at the Thursday meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at TPWD Headquarters.
Each year, the TPWD Law Enforcement Division selects one officer from across the state who has shown a strong degree of professionalism, has excelled above average standards, and has shown continuous dedication to the agency’s mission.
Mount, a nine-year game warden stationed in Tarrant County, was recognized for her commitment and service to TPWD’s public outreach mission which includes presentations and events such as hunter education classes, school programs, inner city youth presentations, and women in the outdoors events. She is also the regional point of contact for the public for questions regarding nongame and invasive species in the Fort Worth and Dallas areas.
Along with being involved in public outreach, Mount also leads the region in contacts and cases filed on wholesalers and retailers in the Tarrant County area. Mount currently serves as the regional liaison for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport and has collaborated with several airlines to develop a system for confiscation and disposition of illegal aquatic products. She has also worked with the court system and prosecutors in her area on understanding the importance of conservation law violations.
Begun 67 years ago, the Association of Midwest Fish and Game Law Enforcement Officers is the oldest conservation law enforcement organization in the country. Twenty-nine member agencies from the United States and Canada make up the Midwest area and TPWD has been a member since 1995.
