PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Lewis Rather – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The Texas Operation Game Thief program is proud to host the International Association of Natural
Resources Crimestoppers Annual Conference. The 19th annual conference will be held in
Fredericksburg, Texas, July 17-20, 2016.
Willkommen! Fredericksburg, founded by German settlers in 1846, is located in the heart of the Texas Hill
Country. Activities include museums, a historic district, a wildflower farm, vineyards and wineries, an herb
farm, peach orchards, brew pub, living history farmstead, art galleries, live music, lavender farms, scenic
drives, golf and more. Specific attractions include: the National Museum of the Pacific War, LBJ State and
National Historic Parks, the Pioneer Museum Complex, Wildseed Farms, Fredericksburg Herb Farm,
hikes on top the dome at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Luckenbach, Quintessential
Chocolates/Chocolat, Rockbox Theater and other unique sites. Fredericksburg has over 70 restaurants
and bakeries and over 150 shops. The Fredericksburg area is home to over 350 bed and breakfasts,
guesthouses, guest ranches and inns as well as more than 20 hotels and motels. Don’t forget the newly
completed Texas Ranger Heritage Center. So, there is something for everyone. Visit
www.visitfredericksburgtx.com:
I realize that budget constraints have kept a lot of our member states away from past conferences. I
believe this year may prove different. The knowledge and information gained by those that were able to
attend is a huge benefit to each state’s own natural resource crimestoppers programs. The information
and knowledge lost by those that were not able to attend, is my focus as President this year. That is why
I have secured the following for the event, in hopes that all member states will be able to attend.

I have contracted with the INN on Barons Creek Spa & Conference Center, for a State
Government room rate of $85.00 per night (includes full Texas sized breakfast buffet). Link:
BARONS INN www.iobc-tx.com

One of the Texas OGT Board members will be providing the evening meal on Monday July 18th
(Ribeye’s, bacon-wrapped Shrimp and Quail)

TPWD, Major (IA) and owner of House Wine on Main Street has set up a free wine tasting,
cheese and other goodies for all IANRC conference attendees and their wives.

The dinner on Monday night July 18th, will be in the Admiral Nimitz Museum on Main street, 2 ½
blocks from the hotel.
JUST A NOTE* we have two airports that serve the Fredericksburg area, Austin and San Antonio, both
are about 1 ½ hours away from Fredericksburg. Airline tickets run about $100 -$200 cheaper if you fly
into the Austin airport, especially on Southwest Airlines.
I will be continuing to work on aspects for the 2016 conference as it gets closer. These are just some
things I have secured along with what I am still trying to complete. The agenda for the conference will be
full, dealing with all aspects of each state’s OGT programs and how they fit within the mission of the
IANRC.
Lots of things have taken place since the 2015 conference; we will spend a lot of time discussing where
we are and where we want to go with the new changes and support we have received. I am extremely
excited about where these changes will take us in the near future. I look forward to seeing ALL our
members at the 2016 Texas conference, as all of you are extremely important to the continued success
and growth of the IANRC and your own programs
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly.
Thanks,
Lt. Lewis Rather
OGT Coordinator
Special Operations
PO BOX 18583
Austin, TX 78760
512-565-3963
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
The International Association of Natural Resources Crimestoppers (aka Wildlife Crimestoppers) Executive
Board is proud to announce that Larry Weishuhn has humbly accepted and is honored to be the
association’s spokesperson.
Professional wildlife biologist, outdoor writer, book author, speaker, television show host and hunter, Larry
Weishuhn is one of our country most recognized outdoor personalities. Even though known to many as
“Mr. Whitetail” because of his many years of researching, managing, hunting and promoting whitetail
deer, Larry had hunted big game throughout the world.
A professional wildlife biologist Larry has established quality wildlife management programs on well over
12,000,000 acres.
As a writer he has served on staff with such publications as Shooting Times, Deer & Deer Hunting, North
American Hunter, Petersen’s Hunting, Sporting Classics, and Universal Hunter and many others. As a
staff and free-lance writer he has authored over 3,000 feature articles and columns. As a book author he
has authored seven award-winning books including his most recent, “Trailing the Hunter’s Moon, The
Adventure Continues”.
Larry frequently serves as an after-dinner speaker and Master of Ceremonies for groups which support
hunting and conservation. He has long been involved as a host or co-host in many award winning
outdoor television shows including his current, “DSC’s Trailing the Hunter’s Moon” which appears on
Sunday nights on Sportsman Channel. Larry’s shows have been awarded numerous, juried Telly Awards
and have been nominated for Emmys. Weishuhn has hunted big game throughout the world on six
continents with rifle and pistols primarily those manufactured by Ruger. His favorite hunt is “the one I’m
going on next”.
Larry serves as an ambassador for Dallas Safari Club and spokesperson for Ruger firearms. He is a
Professional Member of the Boone & Crockett Club, a co-founder of the Texas Wildlife Association, and
in 2007 was inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame. January 2016 Larry was presented
the Zeiss Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the few times it has been awarded.
NORTHEAST REGION REPORT
MAINE
This year has been an extremely busy year for Maine OGT and for Wildlife Crimestoppers. Calls to
Maine OGT have been increasing every year and several high profile fish and game cases were
successfully solved as a result of calls to Operation Game Thief.
In 2015, Maine OGT worked in cooperation with Wildlife Crimestoppers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to begin a project to incorporate wildlife displays into the Portland International Jetport décor.
This is going to be an educational display featuring all of Maine’s big game wildlife species as well as fish
displays and an international display highlighting common issues that USFWS deals with as well. The
ultimate goal of these displays is to educate the public about the wildlife that Maine has to offer as well as
the issues of illegal taking of these animals.
In September, Maine hosted a Northeast Regional Wildlife Crimestoppers Conference in Kennebunkport,
Maine. Representatives from almost all of the northeastern states, as well as northeastern provinces in
Canada and several federal law enforcement agencies, were present. The conference focused on
promoting the mission of Wildlife Crimestoppers and providing information and assistance to some states
that are trying to get an OGT program started. Maine OGT and New Hampshire OGT displayed their
respective “Wall of Shame” trailers at the conference for attendees to view.
Maine OGT has also worked with Unity College to strengthen their positive relationship with students from
the environmental college. These students are often volunteers at many of the fundraising events for
OGT and now they have student representation come to OGT board meetings in order to stay current
with OGT events and planning. One of the more recent projects that the OGT board is working on with
students from Unity College is a newsletter that will go out to supporters of Maine OGT as a token of
appreciation for their generous support throughout the year.
PENNSYLVANIA
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, Bureau of Wildlife Protection, is pleased to offer this report
regarding our agency’s Operation Game Thief Program to Sgt. Christopher Simmons, Northeast
Representative of Wildlife Crimestoppers. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is a proud, dues paying
member of this organization.
Pennsylvania Act 184 of 1996 established a Turn in a Poacher (TIP) Hotline and made informants of
certain wildlife crimes involving big game (deer, bear, turkey and elk) and threatened or endangered
species eligible for a $250 reward as long as the court ordered an additional penalty of $500 be paid by
the defendant. The additional $250 was to be deposited into the Game Fund to maintain the TIP Hotline.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission divides the Commonwealth into six regions, each consisting of
approximately eleven counties. Each regional office maintains a state of the art dispatcher center that
provides information to the public and dispatches calls to approximately thirty full time Wildlife
Conservation Officers and approximately sixty Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officers per region. These
calls are dispatched via two way radio, computer aided dispatch and cell phones. None of these six
dispatch centers are manned 24 hours a day. Hours vary during the year.
The agency’s TIP Hotline, a secure recording device, was maintained
in the South-central Regional Office dispatch center from 1996 to
2007. Due to the amount of regular calls from the public that this
dispatch center handles, the extra work load to maintain the statewide
TIP Hotline was very labor intensive. TIP Hotline calls were handled
when the dispatchers had time, thus some time sensitive calls were
finally dispatched days after the original TIP came in.
In 2008, the TIP Hotline was moved to the agency’s Harrisburg
Headquarters to attempt to dispatch TIPs to officers in a timelier
manner and remove the work load from the South-central Regional
Office dispatch center. Essentially, the secure recorder was checked
once per weekday and, during the busy hunting seasons, once on
Saturday and Sunday. This involved agency staff physically checking the recording device and
dispatching the calls to the appropriate regional dispatch center, including on Saturdays and Sundays
when this staff was generally off duty.
The maintenance of the TIP Hotline was very labor intensive and due to its inefficiency, it delayed
dispatch of TIPs to the officers to investigate. Sometimes the delay would be days if the call came in on
the weekend when staff was not available. Additionally, informant information was rarely obtained for
officer use to obtain additional, critical information. Statistics of cases made from the TIP Hotline were
hard to track. TIPs varied between 451 in 2008 and 674 in 2014.
OPERATION GAME THIEF-THE TRANSITION OF THE PROGRAM
In the spring of 2015, the Bureau of Wildlife Protection began investigating the transition from the TIP
Hotline to an Operation Game Thief (OGT) program. The goals of the program were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To forward the information that comes through OGT line out to the appropriate Regional dispatch
centers as quickly as possible so that they may be assigned to a WCO ASAP with as little delay
as possible.
To transition to a live operator system at certain high volume times of the year.
To develop the OGT program so that it is similar to, and as recognizable, as the other NE states.
To ensure that district WCO’s are involved in the OGT program, to hear their concerns and input,
and to ensure that they support the program and advertise it to the public.
To achieve these goals, we gave our program a complete “facelift”, so to speak. With the assistance of
our Bureau of Information and Education, we began with hiring an artist to develop a logo that looked
progressive and included recognizable wildlife, the agency’s name, website and the OGT phone number.
We kept the phone number the same as the old TIP Hotline, so there would be consistency in the event
the public still had paraphernalia that included the TIP phone number. Below is an example of the new
logo.
We ordered and distributed 10,000 high quality 4”x4” all weather stickers and 2”x2” high quality
keychains. Officers were instructed to distribute these items to the public as the initial introduction to the
new OGT program in the October 2015 hunting seasons. Additionally, we ordered and distributed 5”x6”
oval OGT stickers to all officers for placement on all law enforcement vehicles in specific high visibility
areas.
Additionally, we printed 11”x18” OGT promotional posters for distribution to sportsmen’s associations,
Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, Regional Offices, etc. Below is an example of these posters:
The new OGT program was also featured on the back cover of the November 2015 Pennsylvania Game
News magazine. The Pennsylvania Game News has been in continuous production and available to the
public since the 1930’s. Below is an example of the back cover of the November 2015 issue.
To promote the program, we have developed a 8’ x 10’ Nimlock display that will be used at the agency’s
booth at the Pennsylvania Farm Show and the Great American Sports Show in Harrisburg (both shows
draw thousands of people each day), as well as other events throughout the year. Additionally, we
developed a handout with detachable card that has consistent logos, themes and colors as the display.
We have included Cabela’s on the handout and have been assured that Cabela’s will present these
handouts at their booth at the Great American Sports Show in 2015. Examples of both the display and
handout are pictured below.
We worked with other bureaus within our agency. We worked with Verizon and our Bureau of
Administration to enter into agreements to have all OGT information that is collected from the public
calling the OGT toll free number to be dispatched via a (wav.) file in an email to OGT administrators and
all Regional dispatch centers so that the actual voice message left from the informant could be listened to
by all the appropriate staff and dispatched to the appropriate officer for investigation.
We changed the voice message greeting on the OGT phone line to eliminate the option to “remain
anonymous” and changed it to “you may remain confidential” and “please leave your phone number so
that an officer may contact you if they have further questions”. We believe that by eliminating this option,
more informants have left their contact information, thus enabling officers to contact informants if needed.
Additionally, we added to the voice message greeting that the informant is required to leave the name of
the county where the violation took place. This addition enables Regional dispatch centers to quickly
ascertain if the violation took place in their specific region and if they must take action on the call.
Additionally, we changed the on line OGT information and report form on the agency’s website. On the
agency’s website homepage, the OGT program is available on two hyperlinks, one entitled “Operation
Game Thief” and includes the new OGT logo, and one that is entitled “Report and Poacher”. Both of
these hyperlinks direct the informant to the new OGT webpage. The revised webpage directs the
informant to provide specific information and provides the informant with easy to follow directions for
calling or reporting on line. We have included the Wildlife Crimestoppers video on this webpage. If the
informant chooses to report a violation on line, the information is forwarded to OGT administrators and all
Regional dispatch centers for dispatch to the appropriate officer for investigation. Again, the county in
which the violation occurred is a required field so that dispatchers in all Regional dispatch centers may
easily ascertain if they must take action on the information. An example of the revised webpage may be
viewed below. The new OGT webpage, which includes a link to the new on line report form, may be
viewed at the following link:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=575672&mode=2
VERMONT
Vermont’s OGT program had another good year in 2015. Our on-line reporting option has become very
popular and we received nearly 100 complaints from the on-line service. Several of which resulted in
excellent cases. We are currently in the preliminary stages of a “Wall of Shame” trailer. Warden Josh
Hungerford has also been brought into the fold to assist with the program. We are continuing to explore
potential funding options which would allow us to increase our public outreach as well. Vermont's OGT
program is adding another warden to the fold. Warden Jeff Whipple was part of the program early on, but
stepped away for a few years. He has a great deal of enthusiasm for the OGT program and we are
thankful to have him back.
One of the more entertaining cases that occurred due to an OGT complaint was in September. The
complaint was that a subject had tagged and reported a bear that he had not shot. Wardens went and
interviewed the subject who reported the bear the day after the complaint came in. They were quickly
able to get the subject to come clean and he admitted that he had not killed the bear, but did tag it. The
wardens requested that the subject take them to the area where the bear was killed and subsequently
tagged. When the wardens arrived in the area, they found another subject in a tree stand, with bait in the
area. It is illegal to hunt bear over bait in Vermont. Evidence of the bear being killed was found at the
site. The subject in the tree stand admitted to having killed the bear and the complaint resulted in a
number of criminal charges being filed.
CONNECTICUT
Since returning from Kennebunkport, I have met with Colonel Kyle Overturf and made a presentation to
our Bureau Chief. Both agreed that I should move forward with developing CT Operation Game Thief.
The following steps have been taken:
*Several calls and e-mails between myself and Greg Sirpis.
*Reached out to the University of Connecticut looking for interested college liaisons.
*On 11/10/15, Colonel Overturf and I made a presentation at Connecticut’s Citizens Advisory Council
monthly meeting. The council consists of representatives from state and local sportsmen groups
including CT Bass Masters, United Bow Hunters, CT Waterfowlers, etc.
*On 12/7/15, Colonel Overturf and I met with a Cabela’s representative to speak about corporate
sponsorship. Cabela’s has agreed to be a part of our program.
*On 12/3/15 Colonel Overturf and I interviewed a college intern who has accepted a position to work on
the program beginning January 2016.
*On 12/10/15, Colonel Overturf and I made a presentation at Connecticut’s Fisheries Advisory Council
quarterly meeting. Members include representatives from various CT fishing groups including Salmon
Restoration, Trout Unlimited, etc.
*Will attend the January meeting of the Connecticut Conservation Officer Association and present to both
active and retired officers.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
What a year for New Hampshire Operation Game Thief! We pretty much
doubled OGT calls, social media and outreach. The credit for our success
goes directly to the officers who constantly post pictures on our Facebook
page, promote OGT, and answer questions on social media, which has
enhanced its popularity. This helped in investigations and overall public
relations.
Our OGT trailer was completed this year and was put to use around the state, going to events spreading
the news of successful cases and getting information on new ones. It also went to Maine where we were
able to share it with the Northeast states and Eastern Canadian Provinces at a Northeast OGT
Conference.
New Hampshire has also signed a contract with Engel Entertainment for a TV show. This is the same
company that produced North Woods Law with the Maine Warden Service. I’m hoping to use this show
like Maine did to promote the New Hampshire Operation Game Thief program.
OGT calls in 2015 totaled 412, an increase of 170, with calls broken down into the following categories:
289 hunting related, 80 fishing related, 12 OHRV, and 31 other.
SOUTHEAST REGION
 2015 Ranger Hotline Stats
 Program Statistics – Ranger Hotline Board paid for: 1 Bear, 5 Duck, 6 Turkey, 34 Deer, 2 Dove and
1 Alligator. We had a total of 49 payments issued by the board.
 Marketing Strategies – Our program is under the department’s DNR Foundation. We created the
program called “RANGER HOTLINE”. Our DNR Commissioner is the Chairman of the Ranger
Hotline Board and we have four Natural Resource Foundations members serving on our Board. We
have local constituents serve as advisors and provide input along with funding. The DNR Foundation
is currently a 501(c)(3) non-profit that will help with fundraising. Still working on planning stages for
Wall of Shame trailer.
NWTF helped us create new bumper stickers, magnets, stickers and key chains to promote RANGER
HOTLINE. We also have a relationship with Real Tree to use their camo pattern print bumper
stickers.
 Funding and Staffing Issues – Our Board sends out invoices at the end of each year to pay for
rewards. We receive funding from Georgia Wildlife Federation, QDMA, NWTF, and SCI. We created
a donate button on our website for visitors to make a tax free donation.
 Unique Cross Boundary or Cooperative, Enforcement Efforts – Georgia has been a member of
the Wildlife Violator Compact now for thirteen years. We suspend about 50 poachers a year and
enter violators on the WVC database. There have been 608 Georgia Poachers on the WVC list since
we joined. There has been 58,811 Poachers suspended by the 44 compact member states.
Georgia and South Carolina created an Interstate Boating Violator Compact to mirror the WVC for
boating. The boating compact operates the same as WVC, but only for boating violations. We have
interest from other states to join the BVC.
 New Innovations in Conservation Law Enforcement –
All Rangers have the CAD system to issue citations and
complete reports. Rangers have the ability to verify
recreational and commercial licenses and boat registrations
in the field. Access is also allowed to the Wildlife Violator
Compact database to search for suspensions.
 Promotional Items – Georgia Governor Nathan Deal
signs RANGER HOTLINE proclamation and declares our
opening day of deer firearms as RANGER HOTLINE day
in Georgia.
The Wildlife Alert Rewards Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation that works with the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) as a citizen support group.
 Program Statistics
o The Wildlife Alert Hotline received more than 1,300 reports of violations in 2015, a 25%
increase from 2014 reports. These reports resulted in more than 100 reward payments,
totaling more than $20,000 to concerned citizens who opted to receive a reward.
 Marketing Strategies
o Wildlife Alert heavily promoted the option of texting in violations to [email protected], and in
2015, almost half of the reports made used this method.
o A Wildlife Alert Membership option was created with three category levels. The memberships
are valid for one year and the members receive two promotional items, discounts to Wildlife
Alert events and an electronic Wildlife Alert newsletter for joining.
o Marketing items are supplied to the FWC regional offices and law enforcement officers use
these items during outreach programs. This year, Wildlife Alert created children’s coloring
books and gold badge stickers for younger generations to get involved with conservation.
 Unique Cross Boundary or Cooperative Enforcement Efforts – The FWC uses an automated
process to import violator suspension information from the Compact and upload them
automatically into the Recreational Licensing Information System. This increased the speed and
efficiency in supplying the most current information to the FWC licensing department.
 New Innovations in Conservation Law Enforcement – The Wildlife Alert Program receives tips
through multiple channels to include the hotline, website, mobile app and text. Complementing
this, officers are able to enter an individual for a reward when they personally receive a tip from a
citizen. The Wildlife Alert Program works closely with the FWC’s Intelligence Section which
provides an intricate network of local, state and federal partners. This has greatly increased the
officers’ and investigators’ capabilities during tip investigations.
ALABAMA
The Law Enforcement Section is currently staffed with 119 full time
officers and eight part time (retired) officers. The Law Enforcement
Section is divided into five districts ranging from 21 to 26 officers in each
district plus 4 officers working administration out of our Montgomery
Headquarters and a statewide investigative unit.
Our tip program GameWatch is funded by the Alabama Wildlife
Federation a non-profit conservation organization in Alabama. The
program provides a toll free number to call in reports of violations that is
manned by our communications unit. Alabama Wildlife Federation also provides rewards from nominees
provided by each district based on the seriousness of the reported violation and the value of the
information provided. For the past season 2014-2015 Alabama Wildlife Federation awarded six (6)
GameWatch Rewards, totaling over $4,500. In addition, the Alabama Wildlife Federation GameWatch
board recently presented our department with 20 Moultrie game cameras and 5 cellular based cameras
for officers to use in their enforcement efforts.
We are currently working on creating a new vinyl window decal with the GameWatch number to place on
our vehicles in addition to redesigning our decals on enforcement vehicles to differentiate enforcement
vehicle from those used by our biological staff.
We were able to get a law passed through our legislature this year to increase the fine for transporting
live feral swine to $2,500 per offense.
The Law Enforcement Section along with the rest of our department is still facing budget shortfalls due to
a decrease in numbers of hunting and fishing license sales. We are planning to hire about 10 new
officers this year to fill vacancies created by our recent surge in retirements. Even with planned new hires
we are at a 30 year low in staffing numbers for field officers.
We recently received assistance from Mississippi DWFP and Jackson County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Office
in locating and extraditing a suspect wanted in Alabama for night hunting and Unlawful Possession of
Controlled substance after the suspect fled on foot after a vehicle pursuit and was able to return to
Mississippi in an effort to avoid arrest. Thanks to quick actions on Mississippi’s part we were able to have
the suspect returned to Alabama and he is currently in jail awaiting arraignment on his felony drug
charges.
We have begun a pilot program for using electronic citations (e-cite) for our field officers and based on the
success we had we are planning to expand to all officers which will simplify their case management and
reduce time traveling to different courthouses to turn in cases. With e-cite officers can swear to all their
cases at any courthouse in the state and the system automatically inputs and tracks all the arrest data
that we currently have to do manually.
Chris Lewis, Assistant Chief
Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
Law Enforcement Section
KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF FISH & WILDLIFE RESOURCES
DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Staffing
The Division of Law Enforcement currently has an authorized strength of 138 sworn officers and three
civilian employees. These officers accounted for over 60,000 compliance checks resulting in 5,627 cases
during 2015. These officers are also tasked with recreational boating safety. They conducted over
10,000 vessel inspections and issued over 1,200 boating related charges throughout the year.
A reorganization of the Law Enforcement Division is in the implementation stage with the focus of
supervision being returned to the district level. Each of the nine Commission Districts would be
commanded by a Captain and have a Lieutenant as the Assistant District Commander. Each district
would have the appropriate number of first line supervisors dependent on the best interest of the Division.
Training
The Division is in the process of organizing an in-house training section for conservation officer in-service
training, statute and regulation updates, and proficiency training. The training section will have a Captain
as its Commander, a Lieutenant and a Sergeant assigned full time to headquarters with additional field
officers assigned as needed. It is believed the training section will save the department travel and per
diem expenses, better inform the officers concerning wildlife, fishery, and boating related training as well
as updates on agency policy, new regulations, and statute updates. The in-house training should
decrease the time officers are away from their patrol districts.
The Division is planning a rather large Recruit Conservation Officer Training Class to begin in February
2016. These 20 recruits will be required to complete 12 weeks of Division of Law Enforcement training,
complete or have completed 23 weeks at the Department of Criminal Justice Training Academy, and be
mentored in a 16 week Field Training Program.
Partnering for the Future
During 2015, State conservation officers partnered and assisted with numerous fishing and hunting
related events for youngsters across the Commonwealth. Some of those included the 38th annual Special
Fishing Olympics in Campbell County, Dad’s Day Out at Carr Creek Lake in the Seventh District in
conjunction with the Knott County Drug Abuse Council, and the Anderson County Youth Turkey Hunt held
in the Sixth District sponsored by the Anderson County Sportsman’s Club. Officers assisted with the
Annual Catch-a-Rainbow fishing derby at Wolf Creek National Hatchery that attracted 3,000 people,
conducted many school-related and sportsman’s clubs programs, the Becoming an Outdoors- Woman
Program and supported local tourism efforts in their communities.
Program Implementation
The Division of Law Enforcement transitioned to a fully digital UHF system operated by the Kentucky
State Police. The Kentucky State Police provides all dispatch support to our Conservation Officers. The
process has been a great success for both the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Division of Law Enforcement and the Kentucky State Police in terms of providing better communication
and back-up assistance for both agencies. The Kentucky State Police continues to install all radio and
emergency lighting equipment into our division’s vehicles and vessels at a substantial savings to the
department.
After initial testing at Lake Cumberland, the Division issued on-body cameras to each conservation
officer. These cameras provided a level of safety for the officers and captured public interaction footage
during routine patrol interactions. The use of on-body cameras have been a positive tool in improving the
image and public perception of our conservation officers.
Kentucky had approximately 175,000 motorized boats registered in Kentucky in 2015. Recent legislation
has modified enforcement activities on the water, and significant retraining took place to address those
issues. A “Boat Safe Kentucky” app has been developed for use by smart phone users. Among the
safety information on the app is a safety equipment check list, a float plan, and information showing the
nearest marina to a user’s location.
The Kentucky Conservation Officer Association took on the challenge of planning, funding, and building a
Conservation Officers’ Memorial on the Headquarters campus. This memorial was built through the hard
work of many Law Enforcement Division personnel and by generous donations of a great many friends
and employees of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
During our Fiscal year 2015 the radio room dispatch received 6,718 calls for service to our 24 hour
dispatch office and 116,547 officer generated dispatch contacts. We are currently in the process of
upgrading our dispatch center console program to meet the increasing needs that will help our officers in
tracking violations, information checks and citation disposition from the court systems. For 2015 the
Enforcement Division has issued 3,528 arrest citations, 2,341 of those have completed the judicial
process and 1,187 are still active in the court system. There were 5,145 warning citations issued and 210
suspensions of privileges were ordered for point violations.
The Scales of Justice Trailer (SJT) program visited
37 events and made an estimated contact of 139,000
people across the state. Each December we
remodeled our display to promote new topics like;
Lacy Act Violations, new stories from our officers with
new deer and alligator mounts, video footage from
the field, AGFC Honor Guard and state record fish
displays.
The Scales of Justice program is
growing in the state and is in high demand for
events all around the state. The SJT has one full-time staff member and several retired officers and a
small number of college students working part-time to help staff this project. The SJT is expected to
attend at least 40 events already this year from last year’s reservation list.
The Enforcement Division graduated 10 new
officers in October of 2015 and is in the hiring
process of bringing on up to 16 new officers in 2016
to fill vacancies from retirements. Colonel Todd
Callaway will also be retiring in June of 2016.
Future scheduled retirements over the next 2 years
will definitely provide additional hiring opportunities
for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Enforcement Division in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries – Enforcement Division
Louisiana Operation Game Thief (LOGT) was established in 1984 to protect
Louisiana’s diverse wildlife resources. LOGT provides an effective means for anyone
to report wildlife and fish violations to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement
Division on a 24 hour a day basis. Those who provide information are not required to
give their names. Each informant is assigned a unique case number which allows that individual to obtain
status and eventually collection of a reward if the violator is arrested or cited (not all tipsters want a
reward). A conviction in court is not required. LOGT pays up to $1,000 per case. Cases are brought to
the Citizen Advisory Board by the LDWF Enforcement Coordinator and payments are voted on by the
Citizen Advisory Board. There are 4 meetings a year in which cases/rewards are reviewed and paid out.
The reward money is generated through court fees (Act 50) and tax deductible donations/contributions.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has several ways a person can report a violation. They
can call our toll free hotline at 1-800-442-2511, they can text a tip using the tip 411 program, or relay the
information directly to an LDWF Enforcement Agent in the field. All informants can remain anonymous.
LOGT is a vital part in helping agents make quality cases that otherwise may have not been made.
The LOGT Enforcement Coordinator is Lieutenant Will Roberts. Lt. Roberts has been employed with
LDWF since 2003 and took over as coordinator after Lieutenant Colonel Keith LaCaze retired from the
LDWF Enforcement Division.
2015 LOGT REWARD PAYOUT
Louisiana held 3 OGT meetings in 2015. The first meeting paid a total of $9,500 in reward money, the
second meeting paid a total of $2,500 in reward money and the third meeting paid a total of $4,800 in
reward money. We paid out $16,800 in OGT rewards in 2015. The board reviewed a total of 43 cases
with a total of 72 subjects apprehended, and a total of 385 offenses/violations. OGT has paid out a total
of $375,700 since the program was started.
Anyone wishing to report wildlife or fisheries violations should anonymously call LDWF’s 24-hour toll free
Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-442-2511 or utilize LDWF's new tip411 program. To use the
tip411 program, tipsters can text LADWF and their tip to 847411 or download the "LADWF Tips" iPhone
and Android apps from the iTunes or Google Play store free of charge. Texting or downloading the app
enables the public to send anonymous tips to LDWF and lets LDWF respond back, creating a two-way
anonymous “chat”.
Users of the app or texters can also send in photos to help support their claim and be used as evidence.
CitizenObserver, the tip411 provider, uses technology that removes all identifying information before
LDWF receives the text so that LDWF cannot identify the sender.
LOGT was instituted in 1984 and provides cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of violators
of fish and wildlife regulations. Funds are raised through private donations, court directed contributions
and through contributions from cooperative endeavor agreements with organizations such as the National
Wild Turkey Federation and Quality Deer Management Association.
To make a donation to the LOGT that can be used for cash rewards, please contact Lt. Will Roberts at
[email protected].
OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoma Operation Game Thief program is funded
by donations and by the agency. Rewards can be paid
up to $500 for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of a wildlife violator. The OGT program
receives tips from a 1-800 phone number or via an on-line
report on our website. The report is received via email and then forwarded to the game wardens in the
field for investigation.
All game warden phone numbers are listed statewide and most of the calls reporting violations are
received directly by the game wardens in the field on a local level resulting in the low OGT reporting.
Most of the local calls are not reported by the officers as OGT calls.
The Division started a Facebook page in 2015 that has helped solve several major cases. We now are
getting more media attention than ever before due to the Facebook and Twitter feeds.
We have increased efforts to create awareness of the program by adding graphics displaying OGT 1-800
number on all of our new vehicles. We currently are working on a new reporting system to make the
program better as well.
The OGT trailer was deployed several times in 2015.
North Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission
The
Wildlife
Resources
Commission
fully
implemented the “Wildlife Poacher Reward Fund
Rule” on January 4th, 2016 and will call the program
“WILD TIP”.
Web icon for web page.
Web page for TIP.
The program has four ways to give a tip. Android/iPhone app, dedicated phone number (855-WILD-TIP), text
a tip, and internet. The internet and text tips come to the agency through an outside provider “TipSoft” by
Public Engines.
The online TIP form is a customized form similar to many of the forms used by police department across the
country. All tips are managed in the TipSoft software. The software tracks tips, updates, and manages all
administrative functions. The program has been advertised by 1/3 page flier, press release, and web page.
Plans for posters and other media releases are in the works.
We have received several tips and hopefully will have some prosecutions by the next newsletter.
Lt. Ben Meyer was instrumental in getting the program implemented and coordinated the agency effort
with our IT and Special publications units.
Chris Heubner
Major // Law Enforcement Division
NC Wildlife Resources Commission
www.ncwildlife.org
VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
The Wildlife Crime Line Phone # is administered and
monitored by the Law Enforcement Division of Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Qualifying Calls are then sent to the Virginia Sportsman
Reward Committee.
This committee is a civilian entity that is funded
separately from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The committee is made up by approximately 13 citizens with a representative
from our Law Enforcement Division
The Crime Line received 3,666 calls to it in calendar year 2015.
The Sportsman Reward Committee paid out almost $3000 in calendar year 2015.
The Sportsman Reward Committee is meeting approximately 2 times year to review cases to
determine appropriate rewards.
Sgt. B.I. Bell
Conservation Police
Communications Center
VA Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries
4010 W. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23230
(Office) 804-367-0049 | (Mobile) 757-328-3122 | (Crime Line) 1.800.237.5712
South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources
2015 Operation Game Thief Report
 Rewards totaling $1,350 were issued for Illegal Taking of Antlerless Deer,
License & Permit Violations, Migratory Bird Violations, Illegal
Illegal Use of Non-Game Fishing Devices, Saltwater Fisheries,
Violations, and multiple cases involving trapping birds of prey.
 Our OGT Program has received $7,500 in donations this year.
Alvin A. Taylor
Director
Chisolm Frampton
Colonel
Deputy Director for
Law Enforcement
 Our program has seen staffing changes this year with Captain Mike Sabaka
being promoted to Director of Legislation under Director Alvin Taylor. Captain
Lee Ellis was promoted and has taken over as coordinator of our program.
 We continue to look for financial support from foundations and grants to invigorate our program.
Specifically we are working to enhance the public outreach by exploring new avenues of media
releases and adding new technology to encourage the public’s support of the program.
 We are implementing the deployment of the tip411 software program through to allow the public
greater access to pass on vital information regarding violations. This program will allow citizens
to send anonymous tips through website links, social media site links, SMS texting, iPhone and
Android downloadable apps, and the traditional 800 tip line.
 We are developing trailers wrapped with the OGT logo and information regarding ways to provide
tips. These 2 trailers will serve as mobile billboards for the program as they travel around the
state training our Enforcement Staff. We hope these will encourage the public to download the
OGT APP through iTunes and Google Play.
 Recent OGT Case: Georgetown County officers followed up on an OGT tip of illegal taking of
tundra swans. Investigation focused on 3 individuals that after several interviews admitted to
taking the tundra swans and hiding them in the truck. It is illegal to hunt tundra swans in SC all
subjects were charged with taking tundra swans during closed
season. Cases resulted in fines of $1,380 and restitution in
the amount of $1,500.
Captain Lee E. Ellis
SCDNR OGT Coordinator
Office: 803-734-0022 / Mobile: 843-870-5548
PO Box 167 Columbia, SC 29201
[email protected]
WEST VIRGINIA
Division of Natural Resources
Law Enforcement Section
Mission Statement
The Law Enforcement Section is responsible for the prompt, orderly, and effective enforcement of all laws
of Chapter 20, Code of West Virginia, and rules promulgated under that authority. Of primary importance
is the protection of West Virginia’s wildlife to the degree that they are not endangered by unlawful
activities. A highly visible, uniformed Natural Resources Police Officer patrol is the only viable way to
accomplish this mission. Prevention and apprehension are crucial to the enforcement goal, and the
Natural Resources Police Officer is meeting that goal. In West Virginia, no species of wildlife is
jeopardized because of illegal taking.
Staffing
The Law Enforcement Section has a staffing level of 124 Natural Resources Police Officers (NRPO) and
11 support personnel.
Wildlife Poaching Reporting Systems
The
DNR
on-line
reporting
system,
www.wvdnr.gov/LEENforce.Poachers.shtm, allows
citizens to report wildlife poaching crimes
anonymously. These complaints are automatically
sent to the district supervisors via email for
distribution to the county officers These complaints
can also be messaged to the Facebook page.
The creation of the new Natural Resources Police Officers Facebook
page has enhanced the public’s awareness of the Officers’
responsibilities and increased the number of complaints received and
successful arrests. Some of our Facebook complaints have helped
officers solve cases in less than an hour.
The highest number of people reached on a single post to date is
840,000; another post reached 797,000 people. During this same
week, the total number of people engaged on our Facebook page was
roughly 1.3 million. We posted four successful requests for the public’s
help in identifying specific suspects. Several news stations monitor this
page and use it for their stories.
County officers were issued laptops and cell phones to make
them more accessible to the public. These devices allow
officers to receive and send emails, check on outstanding
warrants,
and provides
them with up-to-date
information from
New
Innovations
in Conservation
Law Enforcement
the court.
The Law Enforcement Section recently purchased a new records management system with a new hunting and fishing
license revocation system.
The DNR Wildlife Electronic License System has provided Law Enforcement with a method of prohibiting individuals
from purchasing licenses if their license privileges have been revoked.
Report Violation or Accident
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) offers a reward up to $1,000
for information leading to the arrest and conviction of wildlife poachers.
Individuals with information about poachers or poaching activities can contact the
TWRA by calling one of the regional offices from 7:00 a.m. until 12:00 midnight,
seven days a week. In addition to the reward offered by the TWRA, the
Tennessee State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation offers up to a
$300.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals
poaching wild turkeys. Information such as the individual’s name or description, vehicle tag number or
description, nature of offense and location of the offense greatly assists the TWRA in apprehending wildlife
poachers. All information received by TWRA is kept in the strictest confidence.
Telephone numbers for reporting poachers or an accident are as follows:
West Tennessee
Region I
1-800-831-1173
Middle Tennessee
Region II
Cumberland Plateau
Region III
1-800-255-8972
1-800-241-0767
Cape Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Division of Boating and Law Enforcement
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, Tennessee 37204
615-781-6580 office
East Tennessee
Region IV
1-800-831-1174
MID-WEST REGION REPORT
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
We had another successful year with our OGT program in 2015. This past year we received 904 calls,
and as a result of investigations conducted from these calls, conservation agents filed 193 charges.
Callers who provide information that leads to a conservation agent issuing a citation or making an arrest
are eligible to request a reward. In 2015, rewards were paid on 45 different calls to the hotline. The
rewards program is jointly administered and funded by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)
and the Conservation Federation of Missouri (CFM). A citizen review board at CFM reviews eligible
reward requests and determines the amount of the reward that will be paid on each request. The
maximum amount that can be paid for a reward is $1,000; however, rewards on most calls typically range
between $100 and $300.
Promotion for the program typically comes from outreach efforts by conservation agents in their districts,
through information provided on the MDC public webpage, and through information printed in regulations
pamphlets. Each year we also purchase a variety of promotional items (cups, key chains, bumper
stickers, pens, pencils, magnets, etc.) that are distributed at fairs and other public events throughout the
year.
We also utilize a mobile exhibit trailer to promote the program. The trailer contains information on the
program and examples of cases that have been made by conservation agents as a result of information
received from the hotline. The feature exhibit inside the updated trailer focuses on the illegal
commercialization of paddlefish and their eggs. Other exhibits focus on the impacts of poaching at the
local level. The trailer was utilized in August of 2015 at the Missouri State Fair and was also used at 12
other events in 2015.
South Dakota
TIP’s Summary
TIPs Year 2014
July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015
213 INVESTIGATIONS
126 ARRESTS
$18,558 FINES
$30,100 LIQUIDATED CIVIL DAMAGES
583 DAYS OF JAIL (578 days suspended)
$5,425 REWARDS PAID
Program Totals 1984 to June 30, 2015
10,845 INVESTIGATIONS
3,761 ARRESTS
$719,925 FINES
$566,387 LIQUIDATED CIVIL DAMAGES
35,017 DAYS OF JAIL (31,848 days suspended)
$156,940 REWARDS PAID
Turn In Poachers Hotline 1-888-OVERBAG(683-7224)
Wildlife Protection Inc.
Turn In Poachers
523 E Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501-3182
OPERATION GAME THIEF
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
6060 Broadway
Denver, CO 80216
Bob Thompson, OGT Coordinator - (303) 291-7342
Regional Director Report – Western States
Bob Thompson, West Regional Director for IANRC – Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Greetings from the western states and hopefully everyone had a great holiday season and happy new
year! With that said, I hope to see everyone at the IANRC conference in Fredericksburg, Texas in July.
Below are the reports that came in for the western states:
ARIZONA
Program Overview
The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s (AGFD) Operation Game Thief (OGT) Program is an important
component of the Department’s law enforcement mission and outreach efforts. In the 37-year history of
the program, thousands of public reports have resulted in over $300,000 in reward pay-outs for
information leading to the arrests of those who committed wildlife crimes.
The primary goal of the OGT program is to encourage hunters, fishermen, and outdoor enthusiasts to be
the Department’s eyes and ears while they are in the field. The hundreds of actionable tips received
annually by the AGFD Communications Center on the OGT hotline have proven to be an effective
method to apprehend wildlife violators.
Secondarily, the OGT program provides the opportunity to educate and engage the public on the topic of
poaching and the impact it has one of Arizona’s most treasured natural resources, wildlife.
Program Statistics
The Department’s Communications Center answers OGT calls 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. In
FY2015, the Communications Center processed over 1,000 credible reports which were forwarded to field
officers statewide. The OGT phone line continues to receive the bulk of the OGT reports, however online web submissions are steadily increasing. In FY2015 there were 146 arrests and warnings issued as
a result of OGT reports of violation. There were 21 reward payments totaling $7,900 paid to confidential
reporting parties.
Marketing/OGT Outreach
The OGT anti-poaching display trailer continues to be a valuable tool for public outreach. In fiscal year
2015 the trailer was taken to numerous public outreach events including: Arizona Game and Fish
Departments Outdoor Expo, Safari Club Internationals National Hunting and Fishing Day, Bassmaster
Elite Series, and the Arizona ‘Get Outdoors’ Expo.
The OGT Program was also featured on local radio shows where a variety of topics were covered in an
effort to promote the OGT Program and encourage public involvement in the protection of the state’s
natural resources.
The use of social media and press releases through the Department’s media outlets continues to be a
valuable tool to increase the public awareness of poaching incidents and soliciting information from the
public in solving wildlife crimes.
The OGT program is actively removing word associations in its ‘poaching’ literature where hunters and
poachers are mentioned in the same sentence. For example ‘Poachers are NOT hunters” changed to
“Poachers are NOT sportsmen”.
A new OGT webpage is being developed that will have a different look and feel and will conform to the
Department’s newly designed web portal. The message needs to be more clear and concise.
An OGT Program will be on display at the annual ‘Arizona Game and Fish Commission Legislator Day’
whereby providing an opportunity to engage state legislators about poaching and conservation law
enforcement challenges.
Arizona OGT was represented at the Dallas Safari Club convention in Dallas, Texas along with the Maine
Warden Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife’s OGT program promoting IANRC and the anti-poaching
message. The effort was believed to be a resounding success.
Staffing Issues
OGT reports of violation at the Department’s Community Fishing Program (CFP) waters has increased
drastically due to the increase in CFP waters from 16 to 35 and in increase in use from approximately
43,000 users to 75,000 users in 2015. All the while the number of Officers has remained the same during
that time frame. With an increase in reports of violation and the lack of field officers to handle the volume
of OGT calls, the recreating public has become increasingly disappointed and vocal about the lack of
response to ongoing fishing violations (over-limit, unlawful methods, etc.) on our CFP waters. The
dilemma highlights the premise that there can be a saturation point with violation reporting where it can
become counter-productive and cause dissention amongst reporting parties if there is a complete lack of
or an inadequate response to reported violations.
In-the-works
The OGT Program and the Department’s audio visual folks are in the process of capturing new ‘decoy’
footage for use in the OGT trailer after retiring the legendary ‘Buster’ deer decoy video. The old ‘Buster’
video was incredibly popular at outreach events and folks enjoyed seeing footage of individuals who
committed willdife violations and were apprehended by game wardens. The decoy footage was very
outdated, as were the tactics used by Department law enforcement personnel. The decoy continues to
be a valubale tool in addressing and detecting certain types of wildlife violations and the video provides a
great ice breaker to engage the public about poaching.
The OGT Program is working with the Department’s Education Program to develop age appropriate
poaching literature and curriculum to educate youth on the impacts of poaching and how they can get
involved in changing the poaching culture. The ultimate goal is to integrate the curriculum into the
Arizona Department of Education’s elementary school curriculum.
Legislation
The OGT program will begin bench-marking with other states and put a staff report together for proposing
legislation to increase the level of certain wildlife offenses from criminal misdemeanors to felonies. In
addition, some offenses may be reduced from criminal misdemeanors to petty offenses or civil penalties.
The increase in offense levels should act as a major deterrent for some of our more egregious wildlife
poaching violations.
Legal Challenges
The Department has been challenged on its use of ‘decoys’ in a northern Arizona justice court where an
individual was issued a citation for taking wildlife (decoy) from a road. The well-known ‘impossibility’
defense was raised and the court ruled in favor of the defendant. It was the first case in Arizona where
the ‘impossibility’ defense has been successful. The Department has proposed legislation in the past to
have ‘simulated’ wildlife included in the definition of ‘wildlife’ to help beat the ‘impossibility’ defense.
Needs
Funding for a comprehensive research study on ‘poaching’ in North America. Conservation law
enforcement research, particularly poaching, is poorly represented and likely one of the most understudied of all deviant crimes. Many of the past research studies conducted are very insightful; however,
they are antiquated and may not accurately reflect a changing demographic. An updated research study
on ‘poaching’ may provide new insight on how conservation law enforcement and resource managers can
influence change in the poaching culture. We need to be adaptive in our approach to dealing with
poaching in a new era of emerging technologies and social media.
Joshua Hurst
Operation Game Thief Program Manager
Arizona Game and Fish Department
5000 W. Carefree Hwy.
Phoenix, Arizona 85086-5000
Office: (623) 236-7309
Fax: (623) 236-7945
[email protected]
CALIFORNIA
CalTIP (Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters) is a confidential secret witness program that
encourages the public to provide Fish and Wildlife with factual information leading to the arrest of
poachers and polluters. CalTIP was introduced in California in 1981 in order to give Californians an
opportunity to help protect the state's fish and wildlife resources. The creation of CalTIP has been an
invaluable tool to help combat illegal take and use of the state natural resources. California has a
population of over 38,000,000 people, and with just over 300 officers in the field that is one wildlife officer
for every 138,000 people. Wardens are responsible for patrolling over 163,000 square miles of some of
the most diverse habitat in North American. The landscape ranges from Mt. Whitney at 14,505 feet to
Bad Water Basin in Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level. Wildlife officers patrol and work in over
1,100 miles of coast line, 30,000 miles of river and 4,800 lakes and reservoirs protecting more than 1,000
native fish and wildlife species and with 360 of those listed as threatened or endangered this is no easy
task. Thankfully, the success of the CalTIP program has increased our presence in the field by
increasing the number of watchful eyes in California.
Calls for 2015 increased nearly 9 percent for a total of 4,613, compared with 4,242 for 2014. 459 of the
tips received this year were sent in via the Department’s new Tip411 text-a-tip system. CalTIPs were
received from all 58 counties in California and represented a wide variety of natural resource violations as
well as requests for service for more traditional law enforcement.
Subject of Complaint
Deer
Bear
Wild Pig
Other Large Game
Waterfowl
Non-Game
Small Game/Turkey/Dove
Furbearers
Other Hunting
Inland Fisheries
Marine Fisheries
Commercial Fisheries
Commercialization
of
Wildlife
Hunting/Fishing Guide
Reptile/Amphibian
Birds of Prey
Prohibited Species
Marijuana
Habitat/Streambed
Alteration
Pollution
Dredging
Other
Total calls for 2015
2015 Total
335
46
19
14
189
31
85
22
455
731
764
67
151
9
8
53
125
72
311
110
34
991
4613
Highlights of 2015
CalTIP was well represented in 2015. CalTIP was
promoted at multiple fairs, sportsmen’s expos, sportsmen’s
organizations, classrooms, and our Fish and Wildlife
Academy. CalTIP unveiled a new promotional video
highlighting the diversity of California’s wildlife and the
problems derived from poaching and polluting. Titled,
Witness for Wildlife, the video encourages and
demonstrates how to use the CalTIP program for the
benefit of all Californians. Tip411 was added to the CalTIP
arsenal this year. Tip411 allows the Department to receive
anonymous tips through text messaging, a smart phone
application and through the Department’s web page.
Although the program was not highly publicized in 2015 it
still brought in over 450 tips to CalTIP. As the Department
infrastructure grows around the system hopefully the
number of received tips will increase in 2016.
Lt. Michael Milotz
CalTIP Coordinator
Department of Fish and Wildlife
1416 9th Street, Room 1326 Sacramento, CA 95814
[email protected]
(916) 654-1485
COLORADO
OGT Program Statistics - In 2015 Operation Game Thief (OGT) generated a total of 599 reports. This is
down from last year’s reports of 668. Of those total reports 377 were for big game violations; 55 reports
for fishing violations; 14 report for licensing violations; 32 reports for small game violations; 30 reports for
waterfowl violations; 12 reports for nongame violations; and, 79 reports classified as other. These 559
reports ended, to date, with 27 citations being issued to individuals. In 2015 OGT paid a total of 18
rewards totaling $7,850.
TIPS Program Statistics - The TIPS reward program is set up through Wildlife Commission regulations to
award licenses and preference points to eligible persons that report illegal take/possession or willful
destruction of big game or turkey. In 2015 there was one TIPS reward which for a preference point for
moose.
The Turn in Poachers (TIP) program began September 1st, 2004. This program allows people who turn
in poachers to receive preference points or even licenses in some cases. This program was created in
addition to the existing Operation Game Thief (OGT) program. The TIP program applies only to reports of
illegal take/possession or willful destruction of Big Game or Turkey. In order to be eligible for the license
or point rewards the reporting party must be willing to testify which is in contrast to OGT which will pay
rewards upon citation or arrest and even to anonymous parties.
Bob Thompson
Lead Investigator
6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216
Ph: (303) 291-7342
[email protected]
IDAHO
Idaho’s Citizen’s Against Poaching
2015 marked 34 years of service for Citizen’s
Against Poaching (CAP). During 2015 there 754
calls reporting violations, which produced 132
citations and 2 written warnings from 80 different
cases. CAP also paid out a record $33,400 in rewards. Normally CAP pays around
$22,000 in rewards per year. This increase is due, in part, to the increased reward amounts approved by
the Citizen’s Against Poaching Board during their 2015 summer meeting. The new reward amounts are:
$200 for small game, bird, fish, license violations, and furbearer; $300 for deer, elk, antelope, bear,
Salmon/Steelhead, and Turkey; and $600 for Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Moose, Grizzly Bear,
Caribou, and Sturgeon. This is the first reward increase in the history of the program.
CAP continues to be followed on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook we have nearly 1,600 likes, which
is just a small increase from a few years ago when likes hit 1,300. It has been difficult keeping the
Facebook page fresh and relevant, which is clearly showing by the lack of growing followers.
During the 2014 annual summer meeting a new president was selected for the board. President Jeff
Frost brings an energetic and fresh approach that has excited the board and they are pushing their story
and getting the message to our citizens. Last fall the CAP Board partnered with a local billboard
company and posted over 20 billboards around the state for the duration of fall hunting seasons. It is
hard to say if this was the cause for increased calls this fall as we had record license sales and more
sportsmen in the field than recent years.
The CAP Board has done a great job supporting the Enforcement Bureau of Idaho Fish and Game. In
2015 they purchased $30,000 of much needed equipment for the officers. This has been a tremendous
support and has allowed officers to obtain much needed equipment.
Some other exciting news is that we have recently expanded our canine unit from one to three canine
units. The two new canines and canine handlers are headed to Indiana in late January to start nine
weeks of training occurring over the next four months.
I look forward to seeing you all in Texas and hope your New Year is going well.
Sincerely,
Chris Wright
Assistant Chief of Enforcement – Special Operations
Idaho Fish and Game
P.O. Box 25
Boise, Idaho 83707
1-208-334-3736
[email protected]
MONTANA
Montana’s Fish Wildlife & Parks Crimestopper Hotline (1-800 TIP-MONT) received over 4,000 calls in
2015 which generated 2,552 reports requiring some level of enforcement action.
Rewards
Reward requests are submitted by FWP wardens throughout the year and the TIP-MONT board
consisting of 5 members meeting twice a year, once in the spring, once in the fall. The board reviews
warden’s recommendations and decides amounts to be awarded to the reporting parties. In 2015 twentynine individuals were submitted by wardens to receive rewards totaling the amount of $14,000 for their
contribution in resolving pending cases.
Below are a few factors which determine reward amounts provided to the Reporting Party:
 Severity of the violation
 Risk involved to the Reporting Party



Damage to the resource
If Reporting Party testified in court
Whether the violation would have been detected without the assistance of the Reporting Party
Are a few considerations used to determine reward amounts, each reward is evaluated on a case by case
review by the TIP-MONT board.
One example of a case submitted to TIP-MONT this year was regarding a Darby man involved in
poaching 9 black bears. The subject was convicted in the largest bear poaching case Montana has ever
documented, resulting in the loss of his H/F/T privileges for life in Montana and the rest of the Interstate
Wildlife Violator Compact States. This case was brought to the attention of FWP wardens by a
concerned citizen who witnessed suspicious activities that would have gone undetected otherwise. TIPMONT will be showcasing all 9 mounted bears along with other cases in the anti-poaching trailer during
2016 season across Montana emphasizing how resources can be impacted if wildlife violations go
unreported.
New to report
In 2015 wardens began to use electronic tickets on a MCT in their vehicles using SmartCop, by the end of
March 2016 all wardens will be able to submit tickets to courts electronically. Although SmartCop has
many functions, I wish to elaborate on one particular query SmartCop has that directly relates to our
programs effectiveness. A query which generates total percentages of tickets written from calls sent to
wardens by TIP-MONT, location of violation, type of violation, and officer writing violation. In the past
those numbers were not available, now by quantifying tickets written as a direct result of TIP-MONT, we
can better determine the value of Montana’s Crimestopper program and expand it accordingly. FWP
began the test pilot in October – November 2015 which revealed ¼ of tickets written were a result of
individuals reporting violations. Realizing this is very limited indication of what the true percentages may
produce in the future, it still gives me great optimism that TIP-MONT is a vital component in law
enforcement and concerned citizens play a key role in protecting Montana’s natural resources.
Brian Shinn
TIP-MONT/License Fraud Coordinator
Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks
PO Box 1150
Helena, MT 59624
406-227-7490
[email protected]
UTAH
UTiP Hotline
In 2015, the Utah Turn in a Poacher (UTiP) Hotline
received 1,458 calls. The number of calls made to
the hotline continues to increase each year, up from
1,344 in 2014 and 1,189 in 2013. A fraction of those
calls are questions or nuisance wildlife problems, but
the large majority of them are reports of known or
suspected illegal wildlife activity. Calls to the UTiP
2000
Number of UTiP Calls
1500
1000
500
0
2013
2014
2015
Hotline are answered by a dispatcher at a private call center, who first gathers basic information and then
patches the caller through to the nearest conservation officer.
Restitution and Rewards
In Utah, the value of all wildlife is set in code. When wildlife is taken illegally, sometimes the statutory
value of that wildlife is used to determine the severity of the crime. In 2015, the total aggregate value of
the wildlife taken illegally, or believed to have been taken illegally, was $753,235. That total included 14
trophy deer and 44 trophy elk, valued at $8,000 each. Some once-in-a-lifetime species, such as bighorn
sheep, are valued at as much as $30,000 each.
Restitution for wildlife illegally taken is also set by statute. In 2015, restitution was ordered to be paid to
the Division of Wildlife Resources Help Stop Poaching account to the tune of $149,102. That money is
used to pay rewards, buy equipment and pay for conservation officer training, all for the purpose of
preventing and detecting the poaching of wildlife. In 2015 $9,850 was paid in monetary rewards. Utah
also offers rewards in the way of permits, for cases involving once-in-a-lifetime species and certain limited
entry species. In 2015 Utah gave 3 limited entry deer permits and 6 limited entry elk permits as rewards.
Utah continues to do well in receiving restitution from those who poach wildlife and are convicted for
doing so. That money is then used to reward witnesses and informants, who often report violations to the
UTiP Hotline. That money is also used to provide conservation officers with the equipment and training
needed to better protect Utah’s wildlife resources.
Mitch Lane
[email protected]
801-538-4884
WYOMING
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
A total of 566 reports involving a wide range of wildlife
violations were made to the Wyoming Stop Poaching
Program in 2015. This is an almost 20 percent increase in
violation reports from 2014. Many of these reports are still
under investigation or awaiting prosecution. To date, 391 of
these reports have been resolved by the prosecution of a
suspect or closed due to lack of sufficient evidence to
substantiate a violation. So far, 53 individuals have been successfully prosecuted based on tips received
in 2015. These cases have resulted in over $67,080 in fines and restitution. Rewards totaling $11,700
were paid to reporting parties by the Wyoming Wildlife Protector’s Association (WWPA). The WWPA was
established in 1980 to provide cash rewards to informants who provide information leading to the arrest
and conviction of poachers. Since its creation, the WWPA has paid over $275,000 to informants.
Wyoming continues to use the Stop Poaching Program logo and slogan (Help Us Stand Watch)
developed in 2013. This logo is added to Department regulation booklets and other publications and has
been added to a box-style utility trailer used to transport wildlife displays and other items to events
throughout the state. The Department advertises the program to the public by distributing travel mugs,
stick-on calendars, license holders and various other promotional items. In 2015, the Department
coordinated with a movie theater advertising group to develop a full screen ad featuring the Stop
Poaching Hotline and text tip line. This ad was part of an advertising slide presentation shown before
movies at theaters in four of the largest population centers in the state. Unfortunately, costs for
continuing the movie theater ad in 2016 increased substantially, so funding for the ad may be used for
additional promotional items for public distribution.
In 2014, the Department implemented a text line and Android app for submitting tips. Individuals can text
a tip using subject line WGFD to TIP411. Each tipster is assigned a unique identifying code that is seen
by Department dispatch. The tipster can opt to share their contact information with a warden for further
investigation, but otherwise remains completely anonymous. Several tips were received and investigated
via the text tip line during the 2015 hunting season. The majority of violation reports are by phone to the
Stop Poaching Hotline, but online and text options are becoming more popular with the public each year.
These additional reporting options contributed heavily to the increase in violations reported in 2015.
Based on past violation trends and reports, the Department focused additional enforcement efforts to
address specific violations and problem areas. A targeted deer decoy operation was used on the
boundary between two deer hunt areas with different license types and season dates in southern
Wyoming. In two weekends, more than 30 violations were documented, including hunting deer in the
wrong area, shooting from a public roadway, shooting from vehicles, taking deer without the proper
license and taking an over limit of deer. Annual task forces were conducted to increase patrols on critical
mule deer winter ranges during November and December when buck deer are most vulnerable. These
efforts garner tremendous public support and have been instrumental in indentifying and prosecuting
several poachers over the past few years.
Aaron Kerr
Law Enforcement Coordinator
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
3030 Energy Lane
Casper, WY 82604
207-233-6413
[email protected]
A California hunter received a $1,000 fine
and loss of hunting privileges for one year
for taking this mule deer in the wrong area,
then trying to cover it up after being told by
the RP they were in the wrong area.
CANADA
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division
Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division (FWED) of the Department of Justice and
Public Safety (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador) is responsible for the
enforcement of laws relating to the province’s inland fish and wildlife resources in
Newfoundland and Labrador. FWED has a wide range of enforcement
responsibilities. Primary efforts are directed towards illegal and organized
poaching activity usually involving the illegal commercialization of salmon and big
game.
Officers also enforce legislation relating to all-terrain vehicles,
snowmobiles, endangered species and wilderness reserves. With a mandate “To
protect and conserve inland fish stocks and wildlife populations by apprehending
serious resource abusers that are having a detrimental impact on these
resources”, FWE Officers respond to complaints and gather information and intelligence involving
poaching.
Enforcement Efforts
FWED had a particularly busy year in 2015 in their efforts to
ensure that people of the Province continued to enjoy pristine
natural resources in a safe and legal manner. Officers, with the
assistance of hundreds of tips from the public, took action on
more violations than ever in 2015. In total, 1,499 violations
were noted representing a 26 per cent increase over 2014
(when there were 1,191 violations) and a 96 per cent increase
over 2013 (when there were 763 violations). Of these 1,499
violations, 119 were small game violations (8%), 183 were big
game violations (12%), 190 were fishing violations (13%), 271
were firearms violations (18%), 730 ATV/snowmobile violations
(49%) and 6 other violations in just a 12 month span. This resulted in the seizure of 4 pickup trucks, 12
ATVs, 26 moose, 67 firearms, 25 fishing roads and 3 boats along with numerous other items.
In 2015, the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division received nearly 600 public complaints via its Report
Poaching 24/7 telephone line (1-877-820-0999) and website (www.stoppoaching.ca).
Communications and Outreach
During 2015, FWED launched a Twitter account at
twitter.com/FWE_GovNL. Content that may be of interest to the
public is posted on a regular basis including PR efforts, pictures
of officers on patrol, media releases, and requests for
information from the public. FWED also had new public display
posters professionally designed and printed as a cost effective
way to promote the 24/7 poaching line and website. One of
these posters is focused on firearms safety (as these type
violations have been on the rise in recent years), while the other
(pictured left) encourages people to report illegal activity relating
to inland fish stocks. Officers distributed these posters in their
patrol zones in high traffic areas such as post offices, community centers, convenience stores, and
hunting and fishing supply stores. Also during 2015, officers continued to be engaged in numerous
community events such as the Law Enforcement Torch Run, Special Olympics, numerous Christmas
parades and toy drives, community cleanups, and frequent visits and presentations to schools, youth and
user groups.
Recruitment, Staffing and Training
FWED continues to recruit officers for vacant field officer positions. Recruitment to the Labrador portion
of the Province continues to be a high priority, particularly regarding the enforcement of the caribou
hunting ban.
FWED continues to provide high quality training to officers.
This includes annual Use of Force and firearms
requalification, wilderness survival and first aid, ice rescue,
and snowmobile, UTV and ATV operators. As FWED has
in house trainers for ATV, UTV and snowmobile operators,
as well as Use of Force and firearms, FWED maintains the
flexibility to provide this training as needed and to newly
hired staff as necessary, and also the ability to customize
the training more so towards conservation law
enforcement.
Submitted by
Jason M. McGinn
Senior Policy Analyst
Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Division
Department of Justice and Public Safety
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
115 Riverside Drive
P.O. Box 2006
Corner Brook, NL A2H 6J8
e. [email protected]
t. 709-637-7528
c. 709-632-0612
f. 709-637-2975
w. www.stoppoaching.ca
Report Poachers – 1-877-820-0999
New Brunswick 2015
In April of this year our enforcement section officially left the department of Natural Resources and joined
the Department of Public Safety. Our Conservation Officers now fall under the Inspections and
Enforcement section which includes Off Road Vehicle Enforcement (ORVE), Commercial Vehicle
Enforcement (CVE), Safer Communities and Neighborhoods (SCAN), Inspections and Investigation (IIU),
National Safety Code (NSC) and General Investigations. Our Officers still have a Fish & Wildlife mandate
and as well protecting our other Natural Resources. With the addition of Special Constable Appointments
our Officers are better equipped in dealing with situations encountered in the field.
Our Conservation section is comprised of 83 dedicated Conservation Officers who continue to protect the
natural resources of our province. Of these 83 officers, 20 are also assigned to act as law enforcement
coordinators with a provincial Crime Stoppers Chapter. Each Chapter holds monthly meetings and
participates in public awareness in and around their Chapter areas. A training conference involving all
chapters is held annually. With the addition of other units in our section our Officers will also represent
those sections at monthly meetings.
Our public awareness trailer was out for 12 different events this year (Apr – Sept). Because of
department and uniform changes the outside of the trailer will be changed to reflect our new look. We
continue to look at ways we can change and improve our display and the future addition of interactive
items will be in the plans. We continue to promote our program and each year we aim to bring our tip
numbers up. This year we have received 44 tips on major violations which resulted in 7 arrests and 28
charges being laid. This is very close to the numbers we had the previous year. To date a total of $2,200
has been approved for payment and 2 tips resulting in $700 have been claimed. Our department
continues to look for ways to promote our program and educate the public.
Province wide, the number of violation occurrences has increased.
investigated last year.
A total 3,202 violations were
If anybody has any questions please contact me and I will assist with your request.
Sincerely,
(A) Sgt. W. Shawn Farrell
Provincial Conservation Officer / Agent provincial de la conservation
Conservation Enforcement
Public Safety / Securite Public
Cell: (506) 476-0377
Fax / Téléc: (506) 453-2412
ONTARIO – Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Enforcement Branch
Ontario’s violation reporting program began in late September 2005 and has seen an increase in tip
numbers and telephone activity since that time. Originally marketed as TIPS-MNR, the Ministry of Natural
Resources (MNR) recently changed its name to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF).
As such we no longer officially use the acronym and associated branding but still refer to the information
as a TIP. The program is now referred to as the MNRF Violation Reporting Line.
The program is government funded and operated, with the MNRF Provincial Communications Unit taking
the calls 24/7. Enforcement dispatchers take the TIP and there is no extra staff hired for the program.
The program is not marketed as anonymous and callers are asked for their name so that a CO can
contact them during the investigation, although no tip is refused if callers are reluctant or refuse to identify
themselves. No rewards are offered. The program currently relies on telephone reporting only but
continues to explore on-line and wireless options.
The program received over ten thousand telephone calls in 2015 that resulted in 5197 occurrence reports
of which 4735 were assigned for action.
Our program is marketed for reporting all natural resource violations although fish and wildlife issues
make up the bulk of the infractions reported. A full range of natural resource violations were reported in
2015.
Every tip received is reviewed and screened for urgency before dissemination. A Conservation Officer is
required to make a follow-up call to every known tipster but there is no expectation of on-site response by
an officer for every occurrence.
We continue to modernize our enforcement intelligence program by moving toward more focused
leadership using modern concepts and practices including data mining the information collected from the
TIP reporting program for analysis and planning.
The Enforcement Branch modernized our records management system, moving from an in-house built
legacy platform to an off the shelf RMS called NICHE. This new application is used by the provincial
police and many municipal services. It too can be set up to collect information of intelligence value. A
Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) module is being attached in late 2016 and is expected to replace the
current TIP collection system and database.
Ontario continues to operate 4 outreach trailers across the province. Each has content and displays that
reflect a regional flavour like 5 Lined Skink in the southwest and Polar Bear in the northeast. The trailers
remain popular with the public but can be a challenge to maintain.
ALBERTA - Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Branch (FWEB)
The Alberta Report-A-Poacher (RAP) hotline is answered 24/7/365 by the Provincial Radio Control
Centre (PRCC) dispatchers. We have yet to institute e-mail, texting or social media official reporting
methods, mostly based on confidentiality and privacy concerns. Funding for rewards comes from a
portion of hunting license sales. Rewards are also given out to eligible callers that report directly to field
offices.
Callers to the hotline do hear a message in an attempt to filter calls down to violations and wildlife
threatening public safety. However, problem wildlife (safety concerns and injured animals) are still the
majority of calls to the line.
2014/15 (April 1-March31)
• 10,375 total calls from the public to the RAP toll-free hotline
• 2034 calls of suspected illegal activity - reporting fish and wildlife resource crimes
• 333 charges initiated from all RAP eligible calls
• $47,600 in rewards paid to 115 individuals whose information led to those charges
Promotion of the RAP program is the responsibility of the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), a nonprofit, non-government, Delegated Administrative Organization. One education trailer is utilized at public
events, usually with staff from the ACA and the FWEB working together. The ACA takes the lead with
various promotional items, signage and advertising. The ACA is planning for a new trailer.
Coinciding with RAP is the Human Source Handling and Payment for Information program. With many
controls and guidelines, payment can be made for information received from informants regardless if it
ends up with charges, unlike RAP that requires charges laid.
https://www.solgps.alberta.ca/programs_and_services/public_security/Pages/ReportAPoacherProgram.a
spx
http://www.reportapoacher.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaFishandWildlifeEnforcement
Brian Voogd - Sergeant/Intelligence Officer - Major Investigations and Intelligence Unit
Justice and Solicitor General - Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Branch - Special Investigations Section
3rd Floor, Great West Life Bldg.
9920 – 108 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2M4
Office: 780.427.9346
Mobile: 780.554.3760 Fax: 780.422.1480 (secure)
Email: [email protected]
The Turn In Poacher program (TIP) in Manitoba turned 30 years old this year. It was established in
August of 1985 as an experimental program initiated by Manitoba Conservation to provide a mechanism
where violations of the Manitoba Wildlife Act occurring in southern Manitoba could be reported on a 24
hour basis.
In 1987 the program became a permanent Department initiative expanded to encompass the entire
Province and to include all natural resource legislation.
In 1990 the program was again expanded, enabling the public to report forest fire via the TIP line. The
program provides a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year answering service designed primarily for the public to
report resource violations and wildfires.
In addition to these calls the TIP line handles many calls related to problem or injured wildlife and
human/black bear conflicts in rural area and parks.
On average the TIP line receives about 330 calls per year related to resource violations and 80 calls per
year reporting wildfires. Information received for resource violations is passed on to Conservation
Officers for follow up and investigation. All information on wildfire calls is passed on to the provincial fire
duty officer.
Table RO.2
T.I.P. Calls by Year 2005/06 to 2014/15 (excluding Fire)
Total Calls
Information
Actioned
Prosecutions
Warnings
05/06
06/07
07/08
08/09
09/10
10/11
11/12
12/13
13/14
14/15
330
10
217
37
8
364
11
261
28
15
312
6
192
18
1
300
6
153
22
5
319
25
156
23
6
317
32
129
20
6
311
13
161
14
9
358
15
247
31
8
310
45
146
20
3
392
8
210
20
9
SINCE 1985
Total Calls
Calls Actioned
Prosecutions
Warnings
Prosecutions/call
Prosecutions/call actioned
Violations/call
Violations/call actioned
14,389 (excluding fire)
7,706
1,971
434
14%
26%
17% (includes warnings)
31% (includes warnings)
Partners
- Manitoba Wildlife Association since 1987 (MWF)
- The Manitoba Natural Resource Officers Association (MNROA)
- The Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association (MLOA)
TURN IN POACHERS
1-800-782-0076
REPORT FOREST FIRES
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY REPORT
With the addition of Larry Weishuhn, as the Association’s spokesperson, and other partnerships with
corporations and individuals, the IANRC is growing rapidly. The majority of our growth is from a direct
result of our President, Lt. Lewis Rather’s loyalty and hard work. Lewis has been working diligently
throughout the year to enhance the Association with conservation groups and individuals who share our
mission to protect our natural resources.
As of today, our Facebook page hit 500 “likes”. Visit www.facebook.com/wildlifecrimestoppers and share
with friends. We will also share your Facebook poaching tips.
This year’s conference in Texas promises to be one all members do not want to miss. As they say
“everything is BIGGER in Texas”. Reminder: dues payments should be sent to me by March 1.
Conference registration payments should also be sent to me by June 1. If you need any information
regarding these payments please let me know. See you in Texas!
Candice “Candy” Henderson
IANRC Executive Secretary
404-680-4670
[email protected]