With the traditional summer vacation season getting underway, Georgia continues to suffer from a lack of [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] to serve its 2 million hunters and 600,000 to 700,000 [.fow1-2]anglers[.fow1-2].

Georgia's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had 250 [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] back in 2000. But a series of [.fow1-3]budget cuts[.fow1-3] had dropped that number of employees as low as 181 in 2017 before it went back up to 234 in the 2025 [.fow1-3]budget[.fow1-3] that takes effect July 1.

“We’re still not up to where we were 24 years ago,” said Col. Mike England, director of the DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. “How many people are in Georgia in 2000, and how many do we have now?”

The DNR isn’t alone when it comes to problems keeping workers. The $36.1 billion [.fow1-3]budget[.fow1-3] the General Assembly passed in March includes $3,000 pay raises for workers in state agencies suffering high [.fow1-4]turnover rates[.fow1-4] on top of the 4% cost-of-living increases most state and university system employees are getting.

While [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] are among the employee groups that can receive those additional raises, the increases also are going to a wide range of employees including state police officers and child welfare workers.

But England said [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] face more difficult [.fow2-1]work schedules[.fow2-1] than their colleagues, which adds to high [.fow1-4]turnover rates[.fow1-4].

“We don’t work [.fow2-2]shifts[.fow2-2],” he said. “[.fow1-1]Game wardens[.fow1-1] are on call 24 hours a day.”

Because hunters and [.fow1-2]anglers[.fow1-2] tend to enjoy their hobbies on weekends, [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] are only off duty one weekend per month, England said.

“Our officers can’t go home and drink a beer because they may be on call,” he said. “They get tired of the [.fow2-1]schedule[.fow2-1].”

Mike Worley, president and CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, said the lack of [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] has not affected the agency’s ability to handle applications for hunting and fishing licenses on time.

“Our technology has helped us a lot,” he said. “There is really not a [big pile of applications] for hunting and fishing licenses. It’s really about the [.fow3-1]enforcement[.fow3-1].”

Worley said the lack of [.fow1-1]wardens[.fow1-1] encourages law breakers to do criminal activities such as bringing deer into Georgia that might carry disease or [.fow3-2]smuggling[.fow3-2] turtles and other reptiles out of the state for sale on the black market.

“When I run into a [.fow1-1]game warden[.fow1-1] in the field, I find them very courteous, thoughtful, and respectful,” he said. “(But) how often are you checked by one of these officers? It’s not often. … There are folks who will [.fow3-3]roll the dice[.fow3-3] and take their chances because we don’t have enough of them.”

The DNR’s [.fow1-3]budget[.fow1-3] for the coming year includes $577,000 to hire six additional [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1]. England said that it won’t do enough to fix the lack of workers.

“All we’re doing is [fixing the problem] a little at a time,” he said.

With [.fow1-1]game wardens[.fow1-1] working such long hours because they’re [.fow3-4]spread so thin[.fow3-4], England said it has taken a special type of person to stick with the job.

“Our people are very dedicated,” he said. “They love their job. Those who don’t move on.”