Maine began enforcement of hunting seasons in 1830 with game wardens appointed by the
Governor of Maine responsible for enforcing seasonal restrictions. The Maine Warden Service was established fifty years later, in 1880, with an initial mandate to enforce newly enacted regulations related to the state's
moose population. The
United States' oldest conservation law enforcement agency, over time its authority was expanded to include wildlife generally, including inland fisheries. In 1886 the Maine Warden Service saw its first line of duty death, when Wardens Lyman Hill and Charles Niles were shot and killed at the end of a ten-day pursuit, on horseback, of a poacher. Since then, the Maine Warden Service has seen an additional 13 line of duty deaths.
20th century As an example of 20th century service, warden Dave Jackson (1902-1981) was assigned to patrol what is now the
Allagash Wilderness Waterway in 1929 from a small cabin on
Umsaskis Lake. He would make patrols lasting as long a ten days by
canoe or walking during summer months, or on
snowshoes during winter. Jackson narrowly avoided being hanged by an illegal
snare set for
deer. When he arrested
poachers, they sometimes had to snowshoe more than to court. Jackson was often called upon to assist lost hunters or upset canoes. During
World War II his knowledge of the remote terrain allowed him to lead a search for the crew of a crashed Canadian
bomber. Four airmen were rescued as December temperatures dipped toward , but the body of the fifth was not discovered until the following spring.
21st century From 2012 to 2016, the Maine Warden Service was the subject of a television documentary series,
North Woods Law, aired by
Animal Planet. The service ended its participation in the program after a
Portland Press Herald story which implied an undercover operation had been influenced by the production company. Officials denied the accusation, with the Maine Warden Service saying they had initially agreed to the documentary series to help recruiting efforts and that goal had been realized, while then-
Governor of Maine Paul LePage said he had called for an end to the production because he felt the content of shows reflected poorly on Maine. ==Organization and training==