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Regular Session, 2013 ORIGINAL
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 126
BY SENATORS ALARIO, ADLEY, ALLAIN, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME, BROWN,
BUFFINGTON, CHABERT, CLAI TOR, CORTEZ, CROWE,
DONAHUE, DORSEY-COLOMB, ERDEY, GALLOT, GUILLORY,
HEITMEIER, JOHNS, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARTINY,
MILLS, MORRELL, MORRISH , MURRAY, NEVERS, PEACOCK,
PERRY, PETERSON, RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH,
TARVER, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE AND
REPRESENTATIVES DOVE, KLECKLEY, ABRAMSON, ADAMS,
ANDERS, ARMES, ARNOLD, BADON, BARRAS, BARROW,
BERTHELOT, BILLIOT, STUART BISHOP, WESLEY BISHOP,
BROADWATER, BROSSETT, BROWN, BURFORD, HENRY
BURNS, TIM BURNS, BURRELL, CARMODY, CARTER,
CHAMPAGNE, CHANEY, CONNICK, COX, CROMER, DANAHAY,
DIXON, EDWARDS, FANNIN, FOIL, FRANKLIN, GAINES,
GAROFALO, GEYMANN, GISCLAIR, GREENE, GUILLORY,
GUINN, HARRIS, HARRISON, HAVARD, HAZEL, HENRY,
HENSGENS, HILL, HODGES, HOFFMANN, HOLLIS, HONORE,
HOWARD, HUNTER, HUVAL, IVEY, GIROD JACKSON, KATRINA
JACKSON, JAMES, JEFFERSON, JOHNSON, JONES, LAMBERT,
NANCY LANDRY, TERRY LANDRY, LEBAS, LEGER, LEOPOLD,
LOPINTO, LORUSSO, MACK, MILLER, MONTOUCET, MORENO,
JAY MORRIS, JIM MORRIS, NORTON, ORTEGO, PEARSON,
PIERRE, PONTI, POPE, PRICE, PUGH, PYLANT, REYNOLDS,
RICHARD, RITCHIE, ROBIDEAUX, SCHEXNAYDER, SCHRODER,
SEABAUGH, SHADOIN, SIMON, SMITH, ST. GERMAIN, STOKES,
TALBOT, THIBAUT, THIERRY, THOMPSON, WHITNEY, ALFRED
WILLIAMS, PATRICK WILLIAMS AND WILLMOTT
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To commend Colonel Winton Vidrine on his retirement from the Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries after a distinguished forty-three year career, including twenty-four
years as chief of the enforcement division.
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine is a native of Washington, Louisiana, where his hard-
working parents reared him on a cotton and sweet potato farm and instilled in him their
traditional work ethic; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine entered law enforcement in 1970 as an enforcement
division agent for the department, working seven days a week to stop the longstanding
problem of illegal hunting, fishing and trapping in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine soon became famous for his day and night campaign to
apprehend night hunters, fish shockers, poachers and local outlaws operating in the swamps,
forests and waters of Louisiana; and SCR NO. 126 ORIGINAL
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WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine's methods were highly successful and he quickly became
the region's leading agent with the most arrests to his credit and the most criminal cases
being prepared for prosecution in court; and
WHEREAS, his tactics and results were applauded by law abiding citizens; however,
lawbreakers began trying to stop his efforts by attempting to use deadly force, burning his
personal camp and making him a major target for their vengeance; and
WHEREAS, when asked about his talent for arresting lawbreakers, he attributed
some of his adeptness at catching bad guys to genetics, saying he was good at sneaking up
on people due to being part Native American; and
WHEREAS, some of Col. Vidrine's methods of arrest would become the stuff of
legends and stories such as his being sent to Avoyelles Parish to stop night hunters who were
using horses and his catching one of those horses and using it to track the criminals back to
their hideout, resulting in the arrest of five men and confiscation of their horses, saddles,
tack and weapons; and
WHEREAS, the Avoyelles Parish case led to Col. Vidrine being recognized in 1975
as the department's Outstanding Officer of the Year, but it also led to his working dangerous
undercover cases in remote areas where communication with other agents did not exist and
help was many miles away; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the Avoyelles Parish case, Col. Vidrine's bravery and
fearless actions became part of the department's folklore with incidents such as the Long
Bayou case, where he was assigned to stop the illegal taking of game fish in a remote area
and he successfully closed the case with twenty-two arrests; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine's courage, dedication and tireless efforts helped him
achieve significant advances in rank and in 1976 he was promoted to captain of the
Opelousas district, the youngest in the state and tasked with managing twenty-six
enforcement agents; and
WHEREAS, he rose through the ranks of the enforcement division with his
promotion to major in 1978, lieutenant colonel in 1980, and the top position of colonel and
chief of the enforcement division in 1988; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine instituted major reforms in the division such as an SCR NO. 126 ORIGINAL
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interview panel for job promotions where only the best and brightest were considered for a
higher rank; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine also greatly improved the capabilities of agents with a
heavy emphasis on training in a variety of areas such as education, weapons, first aid, search
and rescue, physical fitness and first responder skills; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine established a Maritime Special Response Team to handle
disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine and his agents worked under extremely harsh conditions
for more than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, often taking gunfire from heavily armed,
violent street gangs, but training and preparation helped the agents through the ordeal and
ultimately none were harmed; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine and his agents were recognized for their heroism by the
U.S. Congress when those agents rescued more than twenty thousand people trapped by the
flood waters of Hurricane Katrina; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine's enforcement division has jurisdiction over both state and
federal law throughout the entire state with federal law enforcement commissions granting
them special authority from the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to act alone or in conjunction with
other local, state, and federal agencies; and
WHEREAS, one of Col. Vidrine's biggest fears in his job is the loss of an agent, and
seven agents have been killed in the line of duty since the department was formed,
prompting him to establish an Honor Guard to memorialize the fallen officers and to create
the Ken Aycock Award in honor of one of those slain agents; and
WHEREAS, Col. Vidrine has received much recognition and numerous awards for
his accomplishments, and his most coveted award is the 1990 Special Olympic Award, given
for the department's support in the event.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
extend its highest commendations to Colonel Winton Vidrine for his many accomplishments
during a distinguished forty-three year career with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,
twenty-four of which were as chief of the enforcement division. SCR NO. 126 ORIGINAL
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Colonel Winton Vidrine and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES