FWP Enforcement Chief Dave Loewen said that the shift away from enforcement coupled with an increasing emphasis on staffing aquatic invasive species check stations had logically led to the drop in citations.

“It was concerning but it was also predictable — we knew it was going to be like this so we were expecting it,” he said. “When we had more PR duties assigned to us it took up a huge part of our job. When more things get piled on a game warden’s plate, something else is going to slide off the plate.”

Statistics show game wardens contacting about 400 fewer anglers in 2018 than in 2017 and issuing nearly 100 fewer citations. But angling was the only category in which game wardens met fewer recreationists. More than 5,000 more hunters were contacted last year although about 300 fewer hunting citations were issued. Game wardens spent about 800 more hours patrolling state parks but issued only 66 citations in 2018 compared to 168 in 2017.

Loewen attributes the uptick in contacts but dip in citations largely to where game wardens are meeting hunters.

“We’re contacting more hunters not in law enforcement but in (Pittman-Robinson)-eligible activities like at game check stations,” he said.