Tenbarge chosen as local conservation officer of the year.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources law enforcement division is announcing that Conservation Officer Joe Tenbarge has been selected as the District 6 Officer of the Year.

Tenbarge is assigned to Brown County and has been a conservation officer since 2011. He has served as a public safety diver, background investigator, sonar operator, standard field sobriety test instructor, certified boating instructor, and field training officer.

District 6 includes Bartholomew, Brown, Johnson and Shelby counties in our area, in addition to others.

The district award puts Tenbarge in the running for the Pitzer Award, which is given to the top overall conservation officer in the state. The Pitzer award is named after Conservation Officer James D. Pitzer, who was fatally shot while investigating illegal hunting activity on Jan. 2, 1961, in Jay County.