www.ocoa.ca
MEDIA RELEASE

August 20, 2010

Bill Clark Named 2010 Ontario Conservation Officer of the Year

Barrie - The Ontario Conservation Officers Association (OCOA) is pleased to announce that officer Bill Clark of Sturgeon Falls has been selected as the 2010 Ontario Conservation Officer of the Year. The selection was made earlier this year by a committee comprised of representatives of both the OCOA and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) Enforcement Branch, and the announcement was recently made by the MNR and the OCOA.

On Friday, August 13, Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Linda Jeffrey presented Officer Clark with the MNR Officer of the Year award. Lois Deacon, the Director of MNR's Enforcement Branch presented him with a Training Certificate and the Officer of the Year jacket. Bill was then presented with the OCOA Officer of the Year award at the OCOA annual banquet on the evening of August 14.

"I have known Bill since we were both contract employees in the late 1970s. I am proud to announce that Bill has been recognized by his peers, his employer, and his Association as one of the finest officers in Ontario." said Dan VanExan, President of the Ontario Conservation Officers Association.

Officer Clark has been a field Conservation Officer for 30 years, with the last 26 of those years spent working in his hometown of Sturgeon Falls, where he has earned the respect of local citizens for both his dedication to enforcing natural resources legislation and his role as an active member of the community.

Some of the highlights of his career include:

• Earning the respect of his local communities including the Nipissing First Nation (NFN);
• Having the enthusiasm of a rookie after 30 years of law enforcement;
• Continuing to "protect" Lake Nipissing, with knowledge gained over 30 years on the job and a number of years of personal use;
• Having the ability to know where to be at the right time as demonstrated by a 2009 Night Hunting case that resulted in $8,000 in fines and hunting suspensions against the two persons involved. Bill's experience allowed officers to set up a deer decoy to effectively target the suspects, and officers had to wait only 15 minutes before arresting the violators - exactly where Bill said they would be hunting illegally!
  

Bill was nominated for the awards by his fellow officers in the North Bay District, and his nomination was supported by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sgt. George Couchie, a NFN member and OPP Native Awareness Instructor, other members of the OPP, and Marianna Couchie, Chief of the Nipissing First Nation. The endorsement of these people is a testament to Bill's professionalism and the respect that he has earned in his community.

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Additonal information and photographs at: www.ocoa.ca/Pages_Awards/index.htm

For more information contact:

Dan VanExan
President
Ontario Conservation Officers Association
(613) 478-6132

www.ocoa.ca