WCO DAVID L. GROVE SCHOLARSHIP

WCO DAVID L. GROVE SCHOLARSHIP CREATED TO BENEFIT FUTURE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT LEADERS



HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced that a scholarship fund has been created in the name of Wildlife Conservation Officer David L. Grove to benefit future wildlife management leaders. The scholarship is being administered by the Conservation Officers of Pennsylvania Association (COPA) and the Fraternal Order of Police, Conservation Police Officers Lodge #114.


To be eligible for the scholarship, an individual must be a full-time undergraduate student who is of, at least, junior academic standing, and majoring in Wildlife and Fisheries Science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, or to a student with a senior academic standing majoring in Wildlife Technology at Penn State University DuBois campus.


"As the one-year anniversary approaches of when WCO Grove was killed in the line of duty, I encourage Pennsylvanians to contribute to this worthy fund," Roe said. "This scholarship fund seeks to honor his memory and help others pursue his dreams to serve his fellow Pennsylvanians, conserve our Commonwealth's wildlife resources and preserve our rich hunting and trapping heritage."


To make a tax-deductible contribution, make you check payable to the COPA-WCO David L. Grove Scholarship Fund, and mail it to WCO David L. Grove Scholarship Fund, Conservation Officers of Pennsylvania Association, 100 Nature Way, Milroy, PA 17063.


A graduate of the 27th Class of the Game Commission's Ross Leffler School of Conservation, Grove was commissioned a full-time Wildlife Conservation Officer on March 8, 2008, and assigned to the southern district of Adams County. He was shot and killed in the line of duty on Nov. 11, 2010, while on patrol along Shrivers Road in Freedom Township, Adams County, as he was investigating reports of ongoing night-time shooting and possible poaching activity in the area. Grove, age 31, was a native of Fairfield, Adams County, and earned a bachelor's degree in wildlife and fisheries science from Penn State University in 2004.


Before being appointed a WCO Cadet, Grove had served as a Deputy WCO in Franklin County, from 2001 until 2007. Grove also worked at the Penn State University Deer Research Facility in University Park, Centre County, from 2003 until 2004.


Grove graduated, in 1997, from Grace Academy in Hagerstown, Maryland, and he attended Appalachian Bible College, in Bradley, West Virginia, from 1997 until 1999.