Conservation officers hold rare meeting for wildlife protection

Mar. 24—FLINTSTONE, Md. — For the first time in at least 25 years, conservation officers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia met to discuss collaboration efforts that will better prevent illegal activity involving wildlife.

Maryland Natural Resources Police Sgt. Mike Friend organized the meeting, which was held Sunday at Rocky Gap State Park.

"We've talked about it for years," said Friend, who has been an NRP officer since 1998.

The event, which included roughly 25 officers from the four states, strengthens the greater law enforcement network, which changes regularly as some employees retire and new hires join departments across the region.

"It's an opportunity ... to reestablish those connections," Friend said.

Those ties come in handy when a situation involves illegal activity such as deer poaching that crosses state lines, Friend said.

That happened last year when eight Keyser, West Virginia, residents were investigated for the state's largest known deer poaching case, which spanned three counties and was related to similar inquiries in Maryland.

That was "the perfect example of a case that would have implications ... across state lines," Friend said and added that deer poachers typically hunt for trophy bucks and don't care where they're located.

He said the meeting also covered "the interworking of our individual systems" including recruiting efforts and canine programs.

Friend said the event, which he hopes will happen annually, was sponsored by donations and held at no cost to the state.

He thanked Maryland Fraternal Order of Police Townhill Lodge 77, Friends of Rocky Gap State Park and staff at the facility for helping to make the meeting successful.

Friend said the public's cooperation is vital to help law enforcement protect wildlife.

He encouraged folks with information to call the NRP Records and Communications Center at 800-628-9944.

Sgt. Brian Witherite of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's southwest region said he has collaborated with Friend in the past.

Sharing of resources between the two states has been helpful, he said.

For example, Pennsylvania game officers don't have access to aviation at night.

"Maryland does," Witherite said of the states working together. "We've had some great success over the years."

A couple years ago, the officers worked at night to catch people that were spotlighting in Maryland and crossed into Pennsylvania with two loaded rifles, he said.

"We were there and we got them," Witherite said.

"It's nice to have the interagency cooperation with different states," he said and added that Sunday's meeting "was well received by all."

Mark DiLuigi, who also attended the meeting, is a master conservation police officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, and a canine handler for the organization.

He graduated from Frostburg State University in the early 1990s with a bachelor's degree in wildlife management.

DiLuigi, who has worked for 25 years in northern Virginia, said he still visits the mountains of Allegany and Garrett counties to go squirrel and turkey hunting.

He talked of numerous benefits that come from networking with officers across state lines.

Sometimes an officer must travel out of state to conduct interviews for a case.

In those instances, it's very helpful to be accompanied by local law enforcement, he said.

"They know the landscape," DiLuigi said. "They'll have more background knowledge of the people."

Additionally, game bag and fish catch limits vary per state, he said and added that a local officer can provide expertise on their territory to out-of-state law enforcement.

"You get better information as to what is actually going on in what you're investigating," DiLuigi said.

He said the meeting was well organized, and Rocky Gap State Park provided a great venue and convenient location for the various departments.

"Sgt. Friend did a wonderful job," DiLuigi said.

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.