My son wants to be a game warden. Granted, he’s 8. When I was 8, I wanted to be a veterinarian.

There’s plenty of time for him to change his mind, but even if he does, hopefully there are a number of kids his age who hold onto that goal and pursue it, as Wyoming needs good game wardens.

In my mind, future good wardens would only improve what is already a great crop of men and women, at least in my experience. Whether hunting geese in Torrington, deer near Douglas, rabbits in Badger Basin or trout on the North Fork, I’ve never had a bad experience with a game warden in Wyoming.

However, I’ve heard from people who have, and it really can sour their view on Wyoming Game and Fish in general.

Wardens then, are often the first and only contact outdoorsmen and women will have with the department, and it’s good to see our new Powell warden, Jordan Winter, focusing on kindness as he does his job.

Game and Fish needs support from residents to do the work that needs done, but it’s not going to get that support if people have a sour opinion of the department, which unfortunately can sometimes come down to one interaction.

What we need is more game wardens like Winter and more interactions like the ones I’ve had. For instance, a couple of years ago while hunting for deer near Douglas with my wife and father, we came across an elk hunter whose truck was stuck in the mud and snow on a dirt road in the national forest. So my dad called the regional warden supervisor, a neighbor of ours, and he sent one of his wardens to help. The elk hunter was freed and raring to go after his bull once again.

Then more recently, just before Winter took over I had an interaction with the man he replaced, former warden Chris Queen, who came out to visit a deer that had died on my neighbor’s property outside Ralston while we were watching their house for them. We walked down to the deer, which he determined had likely died of CWD, and chatted about the status of the local herds.

At their best, wardens are not just maintaining the integrity of our state’s wildlife and the safety of those in the outdoors, but also educating residents and nonresidents about what they do.

So hopefully, if my son does indeed follow this course to its conclusion, he’ll uphold the same high standards I’ve experienced from our wardens.