TPW Commission Recognizes Employee Achievement

Stephanie Salinas, 512-389-8756, stephanie.salinas@tpwd.texas.gov

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AUSTIN – Several Texas Parks and Wildlife Department employees and programs were recognized at Thursday’s TPW Commission meeting. Awards included the Shikar-Safari International Wildlife Officer of the Year Award, the Outstanding Leadership Award from the State Agency Council to the Governor’s Commission for Women, the Community Leadership Award and the John Covert Watson Award for Vision.

Game Warden Craig Hernandez won the Shikar-Safari International Wildlife Officer of the Year Award in September, marking the 35th year this award has been presented to a Texas game warden.

Hernandez has served with TPWD since 2002, when he began his career as a warden in Hunt County. He was promoted to lieutenant at the Game Warden Training Center last September. Hernandez’s achievements include being a master firearms instructor, a Glock armorer, a member of the TPWD dive team, a member of the statewide critical incident team and a trained Reid interview techniques interviewer. Hernandez is also active with the youth in his community and assists with local hunting and fishing events.

The Commission also recognized retired game warden Kris Bishop, who won the Outstanding Leadership award from the State Agency Council to the Governor’s Commission for Women on Sept. 24. During her tenure as a game warden, Bishop paved the way for future female wardens by serving 10 years as the only female warden in Galveston County and by becoming the first female Assistant Chief of Fisheries Enforcement and the highest ranking female warden in the state.

In 2004, Bishop led the effort to gain an amendment to the then 19-year-old Texas Administrative Code to increase civil restitution fines that violators are charged with when they illegally kill wildlife. The TPW Commission acknowledged her recommendations and passed the new restitution values, which were adopted into law and remain in place today.

Last year, Bishop was awarded the TPWD Director’s Life Saving Citation for saving a drowning and hypothermic victim who had been thrown from his boat in early January on Lake Bastrop. Bishop retired this past summer after 22 years of service.

The Texas Master Naturalist Program also received recognition for its Community Leadership award, which it received at the 31st Annual Governor’s Volunteer Awards in September. The program was recognized for its contributions to the environment and local communities throughout the state, particularly the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area in North Texas. The program, which aims to improve the public’s connection to our state’s natural resources, has certified more than 9,000 Master Naturalists, resulting in more than 2.4 million hours of volunteer service across the state.

Finally, the Commission also recognized TPWD Buffalo Soldiers program coordinator Luis Padilla, who received the John Covert Watson Award for Vision presented by the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin this September. The award, named after the architect who dedicated himself to the restoration and protection of Westcave Preserve, aims to honor visionaries who connect children to nature. The Buffalo Soldiers program works with youth in Austin and across the state to share the story of the first black professional soldiers, removing barriers to outdoor recreation by drawing personal connections between youth audiences and Buffalo Soldier history.