ALBANY, NY — Upcoming academies will provide six months of training for 58 of the newest recruits to serve as forest rangers and environmental conservation police officers (ECO).

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is offering the training this spring. The forest ranger training will start on Sunday, May 19 at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry campus in the hamlet of Wanakena. The ECO training will begin on Sunday, June 2 at the Pulaski Academy, which has served as the home for these trainings for the last several academies.

ECOs and forest rangers are full-fledged New York State Police Officers, often called upon to support critical police deployments. Upon graduation, recruits will be assigned patrol areas.

The ECO’s job duties are centered on the 71 chapters of state conservation law and range from deer poaching to solid waste dumping, illegal mining, the black market pet trade and emissions violations. Ranger duties focus on the public’s use of DEC-administered state lands and easements and can span from patrolling state properties to conducting search-and-rescue operations to fighting wildland fires. 

The recruits in this newest class will be selected from an eligible list of qualifications and passing scores generated from the most recent civil service exam, which became active in December 2022.