DFG News Release

Game Warden Named California Officer of the Year by National Wild Turkey Federation

California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Warden Erick Elliott was named the National Wild Turkey Federation’s (NWTF) California Officer of the Year.

“Without the tremendous level of support for wild turkey conservation from wildlife officers such as Erick Elliott, restoration efforts and wildlife management strategies never would have succeeded,” said NWTF CEO Rob Keck. “We wanted to ensure that they receive the thanks and recognition they so rightly deserve.”

Elliot was recognized at the NWTF’s annual convention and sports show Feb. 21-24 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga. The NWTF initiated the State Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award in 2000 to highlight the contributions from wildlife officers across the county.

Elliot’s supervisor, Lt. Mike Ference, described Elliot as a self-motivated, positive, dependable and professional warden who issued 15 citations for turkey hunting law violations during the 51-day 2007 hunting season alone and has assisted with public safety evacuations during wild fires, multiple DUI arrests, felon with firearm cases and a marijuana sales case.

Elliott, an 11-year veteran of DFG enforcement, is a second generation warden. “I’ve wanted to be a game warden since I was a boy and my dad was a warden,” said Elliott, a Julian resident, husband, and father of four. “It’s incomprehensible for me to receive an award for doing something that I love so much. It’s like giving my 3-year-old son a treat for playing outside.”

Elliott is also passing down his vast knowledge of the outdoors and wildlife conservation as a training officer, firearms instructor and hunter education instructor. One of Elliott’s highlights for 2007 was introducing his 11-year-old daughter to turkey hunting and witnessing her first gobbler harvest.

The National Wild Turkey Federation is a grassroots, nonprofit organization with more than 550,000 members in 50 states, Canada, Mexico and 14 other foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.