A Brief History Of The North American Game Warden Museum
A Museum dedicated to the history of the wildlife law enforcement profession and honoring the heroes of the profession was first discussed at the NAWEOA Convention held in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1988. The North Dakota Game Warden Association expressed an interest in pursuing a site at the International Peace Garden.
A Board of Directors was created in 1994. It was made up of twelve game wardens from the US and Canada, all volunteers who served without compensation. This is still true today. The first annual board meeting was held that year. North Dakota Game Warden Del Tibke was elected as the first president.
By 1995, the museum had found a home when a 99-year lease for the property in the International Peace Garden was finalized. Not-for-profit status in both countries was finalized the same year.
Creating a museum is no small task. Fundraising efforts continued for years at a fairly decent pace, but it soon became apparent that the building was not going to become a reality until at least the mid-2000’s. Thanks to the efforts of a few creative board members, a temporary building was borrowed from the Manitoba Department of Transportation in 1999 and the museum opened for business that summer.
The small temporary building was located where the parking lot is now. Two seasonal employees were hired, both students from local colleges. They provided education programming throughout the summer months. A nature trail was created, and many activities were designed to be presented outdoors with many focusing on children’s activities. The museum also hosted guest speakers and wildlife professionals from the USA and Canada.
The museum’s popularity grew quickly. Thousands of people visited the museum during those early years. This demonstrated how successful the permanent museum could become.
Construction on the permanent site commenced in the summer of 2004. The Game Warden Museum Celebration Day, held on July 21, 2004, was a benchmark in the museum’s history. More than 400 conservation officers, their families and other honored guests gathered at the museum construction site to celebrate and dedicate the project.
Construction was completed the following year, and the 4,200 sq. ft museum building was opened to the public in July of 2005. The Fallen Officer Memorial, which contains the plaques honoring our fallen officers, was also completed in 2005. Officer monuments (cairns) represent each game warden jurisdiction in the US and Canada
Today, the museum employs a full-time manager and three support staff. More than 10,000 people visit the museum and fallen officer memorial each year. The Museum continues to meet its objectives of honoring the game warden profession, remembering those who have lost their lives in the line of duty and educating the public about the important work they do. By introducing the heroes of our profession, especially those who have given their lives in the line of duty, we make the matter of natural resource protection real, immediate, and personal to our visiting public.
NAWEOA is one of the founding contributors to the North American Game Warden Museum and Educational Center at the International Peace Garden. Throughout the years naweoa has grown to become a recognized source of information about the game warden profession for all types of media, from tv news to radio, magazines and newspapers. It has become a repository for information regarding fish and wildlife law enforcement and the men and women of the profession
