Major Justin Stedman will become the new Director of the Warden Service Division, the law enforcement arm of the Vermont Dept. of Fish & Wildlife.

Stedman, an 18-year veteran of the Warden Service, will be promoted to Colonel on September 24.  He will succeed Colonel Jason Batchelder, who has led the Warden Service since 2014.

Stedman becomes the chief game warden as the division is being asked to assume more law enforcement duties, in order to allow Vermont State Police and other agencies to provide front-line policing. Last week the Scott administration announced wardens will take the lead role on investigating all animal cruelty complaints.

Last year, Batchelder earned $105,000. As a game warden major, Stedman earned $87,000.

Stedman joined the Warden Service in 2004.  After training Stedman was assigned as the District Game Warden serving Chittenden County’s Burlington District, where he was promoted to Senior Game Warden.  He later served as Senior Game Warden in Rutland County’s Poultney District, where he was promoted to Central District Lieutenant.  Most recently Stedman was promoted to Major in 2020. 

Before joining the Warden Service, Stedman served with the Castleton and Montpelier Police Departments and the United States Coast Guard Reserve.  With the Coast Guard, he was deployed on Homeland Security assignments following the September 11 attacks.  Stedman is also a graduate of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Leadership and Management Program and the prestigious National Conservation Law Enforcement Leadership Academy.

“In his nearly two decades at the department, Major Stedman has been a driving force in the Warden Service’s most impactful partnerships with our biologists, educators, and leadership to safeguard Vermont’s natural resources for every citizen of this state,” said Commissioner Christopher Herrick.  “The Warden Service could not be in better hands looking ahead.”

Stedman is a resident of Rutland County, where he enjoys fishing, hunting, boating and horseback riding with his family.