Jason Arndt, jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt James Horne retired, effective April 10, as a state Department of Natural Resources conservation warden after a 29-year career with the state agency.
After 29 years with the state Department of Natural Resources, James Horne on April 10 called it a career as a conservation warden.
Horne, 53, of Shawano, said a couple of incidents in recent months influenced his decision to move on.
“It was just one of those things where it was just time,” he said. “There were a couple of bad accidents that I dealt with over the winter. I knew it was time to move on.”
Regional conservation warden Ben Treml, who oversees 16 counties in Northeast Wisconsin, said the DNR and area residents will miss Horne’s personable demeanor.
“His customer service and public relations in Shawano County were spectacular,” Treml said. “He made community education public service a high priority.”
Horne made the decision to retire about two months ago, he said, and shared the decision first with Shawano County’s dispatchers.
“They were the first I told, and probably were the closest to, where I check in a lot,” Horne said. “They were the ones watching over me and making sure I am safe out there.”
Horne, originally from Hartland, in Waukesha County, has always been interested in wildlife but did not envision himself becoming a warden until 1983, when he worked at Pike Lake State Park.
“I saw different things during that time that made me feel like I could make more of an impact in the law enforcement end,” Horne said.
His job with the DNR began in 1986. He worked in Oconto Falls, Madison and Green Bay before moving to Shawano County in 1991.
“The beauty of being a game warden in Shawano are the changing of the seasons,” Horne said. “It is a constant change, and that is the beauty of the job — it is never the same.
“Shawano County has everything to offer that the state of Wisconsin has, and it has just been a good place to raise a family and stick around.”
Horne and his wife, Katie, have two children, Matt, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and Nicole, a senior at Shawano Community High School.
Mark Schraufnagel, a warden at the northern Waupaca station, worked with Horne since 2005.
“Jim is an extremely dedicated conservation warden and he is pretty much willing to drop everything and lend a helping hand,” said Schraufnagel, who supervises a portion of Shawano County that includes the towns of Belle Plaine and Pella.
Schraufnagel and warden Alyssa Gove, who joined the local DNR staff in January, will assume Horne’s duties until a statewide assessment is completed in December, Treml said.
In February, there were 22 vacant DNR law enforcement positions in the state, including 12 field officers, three supervisors, four environmental investigation wardens, two recreational safety officers and one investigator.
The state has hired 11 recruits, who will be given their assignments toward the end of the year.
Horne said he has no firm plans about retirement except to take some time to relax.
“Just going to go hunting and fishing, where I will relax and decompress, and then I will do something else in the future, but I am not sure yet,” he said.