Trained and Ready: The 2023 Game Warden Class

Of the 1,094 applicants vying for the opportunity to become a part of the rich Texas game warden legacy, only 29 stepped through the gates of the Texas Game Warden Training Center. Transitioning from everyday civilian to official Texas game warden cadets, they endured one of the toughest and most prestigious conservation law enforcement programs in the country over the course of 33 weeks.

Here’s a sampling of this year’s class:

As a sophomore at West Texas A&M University, Mariah Hampton planned on pursuing a career in veterinary sciences — the best way she could think of to support her passion for wildlife. When she joined the university’s Wildlife Society, though, she found a whole new world of career opportunities based around supporting Texas’ land and wildlife.

“The club was a great way to meet people while also learning about conservation efforts and protecting our resources,” says cadet Hampton. “Game Warden Derek Knalls attended one of our meetings. He said that everything we learned in the club was what he protected on a day-to-day basis. I thought, ‘Wow,’ there is more than one route that I can go.”

She plans to continue her tradition of helping wildlife and building camaraderie as a Tarrant County game warden.

Cole Reneau’s mother likes to joke that he is a carbon copy of his father, Nacogdoches County Game Warden Sean Reneau. They share the same can-do attitude, love of family, college and, now, career. According to Cole Reneau, when your dad is your hero and a Texas game warden, stepping into his shoes is a natural progression.

“Growing up, I had the best example of a good game warden. I’ve never considered doing anything else,” Reneau says. “My dad was the head coach for all my Little League teams. He never missed a game. I saw that it’s the best family job you can have.”

Reneau will be blazing his own path in West Texas, assigned to Dawson and Terry counties.

Originally from San Diego, Cheyenne Villalpando fell in love with Texas through her family’s trips to Rockport for fishing and Goliad for hunting. As she grew older, she set her sights on becoming a Texas game warden. Villalpando immersed herself in wildlife programs at the Arizona Game and Fish Department and joined Arizona’s Coconino County as a deputy sheriff.

“In the Flagstaff district, I performed patrols while also responding to calls for service and backup,” she says. “I was often on my own in the second-largest county in the country. The independent nature of the job was similar to that of a game warden.”

Villalpando says her previous experience helped her through the stressful environment of cadet life. “Now that I am here, I have never felt so confident that this is where I belong.”

She will serve Duval County in South Texas.