Joel Wilkinson of Greenville, a game warden with 11 years’ experience, has been selected to become the first captain in the Maine Warden Service.

Wilkinson’s move to captain marks his second promotion in three months – he was promoted to sergeant in December.

“Captain Wilkinson is an outstanding selection,” said Roland D. Martin, commissioner of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. “His administrative and organizational skills, dedication and drive will serve the warden service, the state, and its citizens well.”

As the first-ever captain in the Maine Warden Service, Wilkinson will oversee the Wildlife Crimes Investigation Division. He will also oversee the personnel complaint investigation process, the training program for the bureau, whitewater boating enforcement and safety, and landowner relations.

Wilkinson will be based out of the DIF&W office and headquarters in Augusta but will have statewide responsibilities.

Since joining the Maine Warden Service, Wilkinson has worked as a district warden, an investigator, and a sergeant. He received an exemplary service award for his work as an investigator in 2004 and a state police colonel’s award in 2001 for his work in locating the body of a homicide victim.

Toddy Pond ramp work set

Toddy Pond in Orland receives plenty of pressure from anglers and boaters during the spring and summer months, but state officials say access to the pond will be more difficult in the coming weeks.

According to Tom Linscott of the Maine Department of Conservation’s Boating Facilities Division, there is work under way at the pond to upgrade the existing boat launch site.

“Last fall we awarded a contract for upgrades to the site, consisting of a new concrete panel boat ramp that is less susceptible to ice damage, a handicap-accessible concrete abutment and floats, a new paved parking area with handicap-accessible vault toilet, and rip rap to stabilize the shoreline,” Linscott wrote in an e-mail.

Due to heavy November rains, the contractor was unable to complete the work and is scheduled to resume working on the facility as soon as frost is gone, road postings are lifted, and asphalt pavement is available.

Linscott estimated about two weeks of work remains to be done.

The site will remain open until the work starts, but the parking and access areas are badly rutted, Linscott said. Boaters are urged to use caution if they choose to use the site.

When the work resumes, the site will be closed to allow crews to complete the job. Linscott hopes to place a notice at the site, informing the public about the closure dates, within the next 30 days.

Pelletier awarded Carnegie Medal

Peter Pelletier, a Maine forest ranger stationed in Lee, has been named a winner of the Carnegie Medal for his heroic effort in rescuing a woman from a burning building in December 2004. Pelletier was one of 20 winners of the Carnegie Medal announced recently by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Pelletier received a call in the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2004, regarding a burning building in Lee. A woman was lying on the floor in a bedroom of the house after setting a fire in the living room in an apparent suicide attempt.

Pelletier and another man attempted to enter the house, but were driven back by smoke and flames at the front door. The other man then boosted Pelletier through the bedroom window, about seven feet off the ground.

Although the bedroom door was closed, smoke was filling the room. Pelletier roused the woman, and assisting her to the window and through it, where the other man helped the woman to the ground.

Pelletier then exited through the window. The woman required hospitalization. Pelletier was not injured.

Pelletier will receive the Carnegie Medal and a grant of $4,000. In the 102 years since the Carnegie Hero Fund was established by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, nearly 9,000 individuals have been awarded the Carnegie Medal and $28.5 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

Pelletier is a member of the Maine Forest Service’s Division of Forest Protection. The mission of the Division of Forest Protection is to protect Maine’s forest resources from fire and to enhance the safe, sound, and responsible management of the forest for this and future generations.