When Oregon fish and wildlife technician George Jacobs tells people what
he does for a living, they assume all his job entails is counting fish. All
day. Every day. One fish, two fish, three fish.
"Needless to say, they're not interested in hearing about my job once
they make this assumption," he says. Jacobs finds this lack of interest in
his job quite disappointing, because he's always eager to talk about
being a fisheries technician.
What's to talk about?
"Well, there was the time when I came face to face with an alligator during
some fieldwork on a marshland." It was a tense situation.
Jacobs was working with an environmental consulting agency doing some habitat
testing near the Everglades. The adventure began when Jacobs was wading through
the water attempting to get a water quality sample. But before he could get
a clean sample, he met a rather unfriendly looking resident of the habitat.
"All of a sudden, I looked down and there he was. I've never been
so scared in my life."
Luckily, Jacobs played it cool and backed slowly away from the alligator
towards land. The alligator eventually lost interest in the slow moving Jacobs
and turned towards more exciting looking game.
It was a scary event, but excitement has always been part and parcel with
the fieldwork involved in being a fish and wildlife technician. "There's
always something new. It's not always that scary, thank goodness, but
this work can be very exciting," says Jacobs.
Wildlife technicians monitor, maintain and study fish and wildlife and
their habitats. The work people in this field do is an important part of the
process of resource management.
Wildlife technician Ellen Swansen says it's the idea of being this
link in the management of our environment that makes her excited about her
job. "There's an enormous satisfaction in knowing you're playing
a role in preserving the natural resources your great-grandchildren
will have," she says.
Swansen takes her responsibilities very seriously. Knowing the effect her
work will have on future generations, she does her best every day of her job.
"It's not always easy -- demanding those high standards from yourself.
Some days the tasks can be pretty dry and boring and you feel like a machine
could be doing your job. So you have to keep the long-term implications of
your work in mind."
But you don't have to wait 100 years to see the results brought on
by the work of fish and wildlife technicians. Swansen and George Jacobs see
tangible results of their labor swimming in our oceans and streams, flying
over wetlands and moving through our forests.
Swansen, who was involved in an effort to re-stock elk populations, feels
a surge of pride when the number of elk in certain areas grow each year. "The
statistics may look like a dry read to anyone else, but they're more
exciting than any novel to me!"
Whether it's the excitement of fieldwork adventures or of leaving
a legacy of natural resources for future generations, fish and wildlife technicians
say they enjoy an exciting, fulfilling career.
"If you care about the natural environment, like the outdoors and want
a great job, I'd highly recommend it," says Jacobs.