Outdoorsman takes job as new game warden

GONZALES — When Dustin Balfanz took the game warden position recently, he knew he was getting to continue making a living working with nature while being closer to family. Balfanz transferred to Gonzales County on June 1, replacing former Game Warden Dan Waddell, and says he’s happy to be here.

Born and raised in Victoria, Balfanz graduated from Victoria High School and later went to Victoria College. He got his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Houston at Victoria.

“A little later in life I went back and got my master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies,” he said. “It was a dual concentration degree in criminal justice and communication.”

After education, Balfanz went to work for the Victoria County Probation Department for six years as a probation officer. Later he took a job with Texas Parks and Wildlife and went to the game warden training center in Hamilton, Texas.

“After that I was assigned to Henderson County, the Athens area,” Balfanz said. “I spent the last eight years there.”

While there, Balfanz patrolled the Cedar Creek Lake area, a large resort for water recreation. With that job came a lot of responsibility, he said.

“It’s a very large body of water,” he said. “I had to spend a lot of time there, especially in the summer.”

Balfanz said he came to Gonzales largely because he, his wife and four children wanted to get closer to family in Victoria and New Braunfels.

“Instead of a five-hour drive to see them, it’s only around an hour,” he said. “It’s more centrally located.”

Balfanz says game wardens are assigned many duties, but that first and foremost they are law enforcement that can enforce any state laws. However, he also points out that a game warden is mainly a conservation law enforcement officer, and is primarily tasked with protecting the state’s resources.

“That includes things like game fish, deer, turkey, ducks and dove,” he said. “We want to protect those resources for generations to come. With that said, we also go to the border regularly to provide law enforcement assistance on the Rio Grande and on the border. We also respond to natural disasters like hurricanes and floods.”

Game wardens also do a lot of outreach programs, including speaking to youth groups about resource conservation. Balfanz says what he likes most about the job, however, is that he gets to work outside.

“As a probation officer I was in an office under florescent lights,” he said. “I got tired of that, but now I get to be outside a lot. I get to work with a lot of good people. But sometimes good people make mistakes.”

“I grew up hunting and fishing, and it’s stuff I like to deal with,” he continued. “I like to see somebody who has killed a big deer, or see someone catch a big fish. Especially children! We’re instilling things like that into the children’s way of life, and maybe making them sportsmen for generations to come.”