CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Law Enforcement Division recently recognized the 2015 New Hampshire Conservation Officers of the Year:

Conservation Officer Robert Mancini of Sugar Hill, NH, earned the 2015 Northeast Conservation Law Enforcement Chiefs Association of the Year Award. Mancini patrols a rural mountain area (Littleton and Franconia Notch) in the heart of the White Mountains. He has been employed by Fish and Game for six years. Since becoming a member of Fish and Game's Advanced Search and Rescue Team, he has participated in more than 150 search and rescue operations. He also handles a range of other duties, from stocking fish and pheasants to investigating complex cases and taking part in community policing initiatives.

"Officer Mancini has met all of these challenges while maintaining a high level of professionalism," said Fish and Game Law Enforcement Chief Kevin Jordan. "His investigative skills, interview techniques and evidence collection skills are outstanding."

In 2012, Officer Mancini raised funds to purchase, equip and train a working dog for Fish and Game Law Enforcement, and the following year, Mancini and his K-9 partner "Ruger" became the third New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation K-9 team. Certified in tracking, evidence detection, fish and wildlife detection and obedience training, Mancini and Ruger (who was also present for the award ceremony) have since made multiple recoveries of persons and bodies and tracked down criminal evidence for many fish and wildlife cases, as well as a homicide.

The Conservation Law Enforcement Chief's Association (CLECA), is an organization made up of Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs from the states of Virginia to Maine, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement and Canadian Provinces. The primary purpose of the Association is to encourage and promote conservation law enforcement cooperation among the eastern states represented. Annually, CLECA recognizes an officer from each state for their outstanding contributions to fish and wildlife protection of our country's natural resources.

Lieutenant Heidi Murphy of Andover, NH, was honored as the 2015 Shikar-Safari International Wildlife Officer of the Year. She is an 11-year veteran of Fish and Game. Murphy patrolled in the Franklin area for 8 years, addressing Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle issues and wildlife complaints, stocking pheasants and fish, and investigating hunting and fishing cases. She is an active member of the Advanced Search and Rescue Team and instructs several courses for Fish and Game's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program.

"Lt. Murphy was New Hampshire Fish and Game's first female Conservation Officer, and she has set the bar very high for those who strive to follow," said Chief Kevin Jordan. "She came into an agency and a culture here in the Law Enforcement Division that was all male, and she demonstrated she could hold her own with the best of them."

Murphy currently serves as Fish and Game Law Enforcement's Administrative Lieutenant, where she is charged with reviewing, approving and issuing all wildlife permits and is the "go-to" person for questions of law or administrative rules. She also supervises the Department's Dispatch office.

"Lieutenant Murphy has demonstrated the attributes of a professional wildlife officer whose exemplary work performance is a true asset to the NH Fish and Game Department," said Jordan. "This is an officer who exhibits good common sense, dedication to duty and loyalty to a fault."

The Shikar-Safari Club International was founded in 1952, as a group of international hunters who joined together to exchange experiences and ideas about hunting. It started as a social hunting organization, but soon recognized its potential to accomplish meaningful goals in the field of conservation. About 1973, the Shikar-Safari International Foundation was formed. Moneys raised by the members of the Shikar-Safari International are used to carry out various conservation projects throughout the world.


Posted 5/20/16