Jon Wangnild

Jon Wangnild was a driven, ambitious, and dedicated Wildlife Officer in Meeker, Colorado. 

Jon had a passion for law enforcement work and catching those that stole the wildlife resource. He was always fair in how he dealt with the offenders even after a long chase. Jon was teased by fellow officers saying he must have a grease board and pen under his seat to check off violations and violators that he caught. If Jon caught wind of an illegal activity and you asked him about it he would smile and say, “taken care of.”  

Jon loved doing law enforcement from backcountry aspen pockets on horseback to local search warrants in town. He was detailed and thorough in investigations and always had a solid case to put in front of a judge and jury if it ever went that far. Most defendants would take a plea deal as soon as they looked through Jon’s case file.

Jon was also very humble and a team player. He would regularly pass on information and help neighboring officers start large cases without taking any credit in the end. He would help rookie officers through the process of charging a defendant and would point out things that one may have overlooked. He was usually the first one that was called to bounce ideas off of about an active case that you were working.

Jon loved to hear about other wildlife cases from around the state and how officers approached and solved them. At past in-services Jon would always say the highlight of in-service was the review of good cases worked from the previous year.

Jon passed away on June 27, 2013 from injuries he sustained from a horse accident. In memory of Jon and the work he accomplished in northwest Colorado CWEPA has created a yearly award for a hard worked or unique wildlife case that has had a final disposition in the previous year.  

This award is open to any Wildlife Officer(s). Winners of the award will be selected annually by a vote of the CWEPA board and presented at in-service. Winners will receive an engraved knife after Jon’s fashion… Jon presented an engraved knife to a neighboring officer when they transferred from the area.