Press Releases

July 28, 2008

Two Game Wardens Promoted to Rank of Sergeant

Augusta – Two long-serving Game Wardens were promoted to the rank of sergeant today during a swearing-in ceremony at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Augusta.

Wardens William P. Chandler and Donald “Scott” Thrasher Jr. took the sergeant’s oath during a 3 p.m. ceremony that was presided over by Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin and Maine Warden Service Colonel Joel Wilkinson.

“I would like to congratulate Wardens Chandler and Thrasher for their promotion to the rank of sergeant,” said Commissioner Martin. “These highly qualified individuals with outstanding service records will continue to do a great job protecting and preserving Maine’s natural resources and the citizens who love the state’s great outdoors.”

Sgt. Chandler will be assigned the southern Piscataquis County section, and Sgt. Thrasher will be assigned the western Piscataquis County-northern Somerset County section, which spans from Greenville north to the Canada border. The sergeants each will supervise six game wardens.

“Wardens Chandler and Thrasher will make outstanding sergeants because they have worked side-by-side with the wardens they will supervise in the very districts that they have been assigned to manage,” Col. Wilkinson said. “They know the communities well, and their insights and experience will be great assets as they pursue these leadership roles in the Maine Warden Service.”

In 2000, Sgts. Chandler and Thrasher each received a Maine Warden Service Meritorious Service Award for assisting the Maine State Police stop an armed and dangerous fugitive in Bingham.

Sgt. Chandler started his law enforcement career in 1994, working as both a Piscataquis County Deputy Sheriff and a Patrolman for the Greenville Police Department.

He joined the Maine Warden Service in September 1995, and served as a game warden until July 2001, when he became a Maine State Trooper for a year. He rejoined the MWS in July 2002, and served in the Passadumkeag, Boundary Cottage, Bingham, Caribou, The Forks and Greenville districts. He received a second Meritorious Service Award in 2006 for an attempted rescue of a vehicle operator who was submerged in deep water.

Sgt. Chandler is a member of the airboat and firearms teams, and periodically instructs cadets at Maine Warden Service Academy and the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. He received an Associate’s Degree in Legal Technology and Criminal Justice from University of Maine’s University College in Bangor.

He lives in Greenville with his wife, Lenore, and three children, Joshua, Zacharie and Lindsey.

Sgt. Thrasher joined the Maine Warden Service in June 1996, and served as a game warden in the Gray, Oquossoc, The Forks, Skowhegan and Norridgewock districts. He is a member of the airboat and dive teams, and has served as a firearms team instructor and a “patrol techniques” instructor. In 1996, he was a part-time deputy with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

He currently is co-coordinator for Maine Operation Game Thief, a position he’s held since 2003, and was elected president of the International Association of Natural Resource Crimestoppers in 2006.

In 2006, Sgt. Thrasher received the Maine State Police Colonel’s Award, and in 2003 he received the Maine Warden Service’s Exemplary Service Award for his outstanding work in the apprehension of night hunters in central Maine.

Sgt. Thrasher received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in natural resources from the University of Maine in 1995. He currently lives in Madison with his wife, Wendy, and children, Ben and Abigail.

DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

Press Releases

Two Game Wardens Promoted to Rank of Sergeant