Hamilton County Wildlife Officer Matt Majors has been recognized with one of the most prestigious honors a professional wildlife law enforcer can hope for. Majors was recently named the Southeastern Wildlife Officer of the Year by the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.
Being selected as one of the best wildlife officers out of 17 states doesn't come without hard work and dedication.
Wildlife Officer Matt Majors testifies against a violator in Hamilton County General Sessions Court. Photo by Richard Simms
The process started long ago when Major's peers in Southeast Tennessee selected him as the top officer in Area 33, one a dozen areas recognized by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
TWRA Region III Manager John Mayer then selected Majors as the Regional Officer of the Year.
"We're very proud of all our officers," said Mayer. "To select one out of a region is difficult. I tend to look at everything... not only the number of citations they write, but their public outreach efforts and all the different things these guys do out there. A lot of it they do without asking, or being told... they just get things done."
Majors ultimately was selected Tennessee's Wildlife Officer of the Year, which put him in the running for the Southeastern honor.
The nomination form submitted for Majors reads like a textbook for what a wildlife officer should be. One statement however sums it up:
"Officer Majors has achieved a level of performance that has not been matched in the history of Tennessee wildlife officers."
In the past year Majors was involved in 616 enforcement actions. But the accolades go far beyond law enforcement with work in boating accident investigations, media appearances, training of other wildlife officers, trout stocking, wildlife management efforts, undercover work, search & rescue and motorist or boater assistance.
One person who called Regional Manager Mayer to compliment Majors said, "if all officers were like him, criminals would be ashamed to violate the law."
Majors is originally from Cleveland, Tenn. and graduated with a degree in Wildlife & Fisheries Management from Tennessee Technological University. He spent four years working as a Park Ranger in North Carolina before he got the chance to come back home in 2002.
The nomination also documents Major's innovations in the use of computers (in-car and in-boat), video systems and digital photography to inform and aid the public… or to aid he and his fellow officers' law enforcement actions. Photo by Richard Simms
"For one of our officers to get all the way to the Southeast, and be selected as the Southeastern Wildlife Officer of the Year, is a huge honor for us," said Mayer.
Many people still refer to Majors and other wildlife officers as "game wardens." The title was officially changed to "wildlife officer" in the early 1970's. The goal was to reinforce that TWRA officers do much more than protect for game & fish.
In an earlier interview Majors told me, "we set our on schedules. We're away from ringing telephones. Hunting patrols, small game bag checks, court duties, boating enforcement, search & rescue, fishing enforcement, commercial fishing, landowners complaints, trespassing calls, media relations … I do a little of that every week."
And apparently he does it quite well.