HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is pleased to announce that 12 Deputy Waterways Conservation Officers (DWCO) graduated on Sunday, June 12, during a ceremony held at the PFBC’s H.R. Stackhouse School of Fishery Conservation and Watercraft Safety in Bellefonte, Centre County.
DWCOs are volunteers who assist WCOs in protecting Pennsylvania’s aquatic resources and their users.
The new DWCOs are listed below, with their assigned regions.
• Jordan Adams, assigned to Tioga County
• Kyle Fiedler, assigned to Mercer County
• Carl Freeman, assigned to Franklin/E. Fulton counties
• Michael Galler, assigned to S. Carbon/SW Monroe counties
• Tracy Haraschak, assigned to Tioga County
• Richard Krebs, Jr., assigned to W. Schuylkill County
• Brian Orris, assigned to McKean County
• Joshua Muir, assigned to Clearfield County
• Thomas Ramsey, assigned to N. Luzerne County/Columbia counties
• Richard Robatin, assigned to Snyder/Union/W. Northumberland/Montour counties
• John Schaffer, assigned to S. Luzerne/Columbia counties
• Robert Yotko, assigned to S. Bucks County
To become a DWCO, an application and lethal weapons training (Act 235) or equivalent must be completed. Successful applicants must complete 16 days of formal training, which includes courses in constitutional law, fish identification, armed and unarmed self-defense training, tactical firearms, boat accident response investigation protocol, and patrol boat trailer use and maintenance. DWCO trainees must also complete field training alongside seasoned WCOs. Meetings for DWCOs are held throughout the year and include a variety of training topics including traffic control and defensive driving. Officers may also participate in optional training including ice rescue and water rescue.
The 2022 DWCO graduating class is currently on probationary status and must successfully complete 150 hours of field training with a WCO within one year of graduation to become a full-fledged DWCO.
These graduates join approximately 60 other DWCOs across the Commonwealth.
For more information on becoming a DWCO, visit the Volunteers section of the Careers page on the PFBC website (Fishandboat.com).
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
