CPW’s Mark Lamb named WAFWA’s Pogue-Elms Law Enforcement Officer of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Jason Clay
Northeast Region Public Information Officer
303-291-7234 / [email protected] 
@CPW_NE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Mark Lamb, a 36-year veteran wildlife officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, was presented with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) Pogue-Elms Law Enforcement Officer of the Year on July 13 at WAFWA’s Summer Meetings held at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel.

In his short acceptance speech, which can be viewed here (award presentation starts at the 36:50 mark), Lamb was thankful to WAFWA, CPW, his family and all the game wardens out there “who every day go to work to protect our resources.”

Lamb has been a wildlife officer in Colorado since 1986. He was stationed in Aurora, Fairplay and is now the supervising manager of CPW’s Area 1 - the mountain communities encompassing Clear Creek, Gilpin and Park counties and the western half of Jefferson County.

CPW Acting Director Heather Dugan said that Lamb’s legacy with the agency and nomination for the Pogue-Elms Award is about mentorship and generational impact with his community, peers and employees.

“Mark's reputation as a wildlife officer in the area is one of fairness and even-handedness,” Dugan said. “The communities in Area 1 know that he has their interests, and the interests of future generations at heart.”

WAFWA honors conservation professionals from the western states, territories and provinces for their exemplary commitment to conservation stewardship. 

The Pogue-Elms Law Enforcement Officer of the Year is presented to a natural resource officer of a member agency for one or more of the following: contributions to fish and wildlife law enforcement; exceptional leadership, skill, or ingenuity in the performance of their duty; contributions to areas of applied technology in fish and wildlife enforcement; and/or contributions that brought credit to their agency or the field of fish and wildlife enforcement that were unique or original.

This award memorializes Idaho Fish and Game officers Bill Pogue and Conley Elms, who were killed in January 1981 while trying to arrest a poacher in a remote region of southwestern Idaho. Honorees for this award exemplify the lifelong commitment that game wardens and conservation officers across the country dedicate to their work. 

“When hunters make a mistake, they are not afraid to call Mark, knowing that he will deal with them fairly and with compassion,” said Nevada Department of Wildlife Director Tony Wasley, who was the emcee of the WAFWA awards banquet in Oklahoma City on July 13. “He's taught hunter education, fishing clinics, shooting sports and even coached the kids of South Park for decades, establishing a rapport with the new generation of outdoor enthusiasts, and perhaps more importantly, their parents.”

Lamb has been a bright mentor for the agency. He has the power of positivity, rubbing off and influencing anyone around that will listen. 

He has built his life, career and family around the principle that you can have a say in your outlook on life, simply by remaining positive.  

He has trained every single wildlife officer for the State of Colorado over the last 25 plus years as the agency's primary defensive tactics instructor and has played a role in several other significant steps throughout their year of training, personally impacting every officer.

However, it's the small moments he takes to invest in his co-workers and employee's lives that are endless and forever impactful.  

In one instance, Lamb shared a canoe with a fellow officer on the Yampa River who was working through the recent loss of his son - the time he spent listening, providing gentle words of encouragement and the effort to steer the young father back to a positive view on life and relationships helped redirect a painful wound.  

Lamb’s emphasis on his officers' families and their marriages has provided a buoy for his team as they have worked through weddings and divorces, new babies and life's tragedies. As a testament to the importance of his own family in his life he was joined at the ceremony by his wife of 36 years, Sheila; his son, Jared, who is also a CPW wildlife officer, and his fiance; and his daughter Samantha and her boyfriend, Seth Schwolert, another CPW wildlife officer.

Past CPW recipients of the Pogue-Elms Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award include Nate Martinez in 2016 and Jay Sarason in 2011.

Photos Below:
Row 1, Left Photo: Mark Lamb at the podium for his accetance speach at the awards ceremony in Oklahoma City (photo courtesy of Don P Brown/ODWC).
Row 1, Right Photo: The Lamb family, from left to right: CPW wildlife officer Seth Schwolert, Samantha Lamb, Sheila Lamb, Mark Lamb, Cassie Speer and CPW wildlife officer Jared Lamb (photo courtesy of CPW).
Row 2, Left Photo: Mark Lamb carrying a bag of cutthroat to be stocked in South Park, Colorado (courtesy of CPW).
Row 2, Right Photo: In 2010, Mark Lamb was awarded the John D. Hart Wildlife Officer of the Year honor at the then Colorado Division of Wildlife’s InService training. He was pictured here with former DOW Director Thomas Remington.