Insider Info

Would you enjoy a career that allowed you to spend much of your time outdoors while protecting our environment and our wildlife from harm caused by lawbreakers? If this sounds good, perhaps you might want to pursue a career as an environmental protection officer.

Timothy Santel is currently completing the largest, most significant investigation of his career. "I'm not free to talk about the details because it will go before the courts, but the investigation lasted two years and stretched across the U.S.," says Santel. He is a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Springfield, Illinois.

Since he began working as a special agent in 1992, Santel has been involved in many interesting cases.

"My first big case after I completed my training at the academy involved a businessman -- a trophy hunter -- from Detroit who shot and smuggled bighorn sheep from Mexico into the U.S. It was a difficult case, but he was convicted and had to pay a fine of $200,000."

Santel has a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology from the University of Wisconsin. He began his career as a biologist working in a variety of government positions. However, he became frustrated at seeing wetlands being drained and at seeing more and more species continually being listed as endangered.

"As a scientist, I couldn't do anything about it. I could only write memos giving my recommendations. I thought if I went into enforcement, I could have a direct impact. If I saw something illegal, I could take action instead of just writing a memo."

There is no such thing as a typical day. When the phone rings, it could be anything from an oil spill to a report of somebody shooting too many ducks.

Due to a manpower shortage, he spends more time than he would like tending to paperwork and administrative tasks. At other times, he might be out in the field for weeks at a stretch.

"I might be working as a conservation officer and making contact with hunters. I might be serving a grand jury subpoena to a corporation president over toxic waste violations," he says.

"However, since we are federal officers, we tend to do more long-term criminal investigation as opposed to writing tickets. I might go undercover, I might do surveillance, track somebody down. Sometimes we put a plane in the air and follow suspects from state to state."

However, there are stresses. The judicial process can appear slow. Sometimes Santel believes that crimes against wildlife take a backseat to other types of crimes.

"It is also disheartening to see hunters and fishers and so-called sportsmen who are unethical. I see them abuse the privilege of the outdoors for the sake of personal or commercial profit or gain."

If you want to become an environmental protection officer, Santel advises you not to give up. "The competition is always tough. Do what you have to do to be the best, and don't get discouraged if you don't get selected right away."

"If you really want this type of work, it's important that you don't give up," agrees Daniel Boyco. He is the staffing and training coordinator for the enforcement division of an environmental agency.

"It's easy to fail at an interview and walk away from it, but that's not the right thing to do. If you get the right education and background, and if there is no glitch like not meeting the physical standards, then persevere and you will eventually be successful."

When Boyco was in uniform, a typical day might have started with a phone call at 2 a.m. If you are in a small community, people know you are the local conservation officer.

Boyco's shift could include working nights in park campgrounds dealing with drunk campers. Or in the daytime he could be out on a boat patrol checking anglers. As a conservation officer, he was called upon to do considerable public speaking -- maybe talking to classes of students in the morning and addressing a citizen's group in the evening.

"This type of work isn't a job," says Boyco. "It's a way of life."

Responding to public complaints is a big part of the job. "It could be anything from an orphaned wildlife rescue to a grizzly bear mauling or a cow killed by a cougar."

Boyco was attracted to the line of work because he combined an interest in hunting and fishing with an interest in law enforcement. "I haven't looked back. This is a great way to spend one's career," he says. "In this line of work, you have a wonderful connection with nature.

"You get to observe things about wildlife that many people don't see. Like any job, it can be stressful at times. If you are dealing with aggressive, abusive people, or if you are in a potentially dangerous situation involving grizzly bears, for example, or if you are on a boat in bad weather, it can be difficult. But we are trained to deal with those issues."

Mary Jane Lavin is a senior special agent stationed in the Washington office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She prefers working with what she calls "paperwork cases."

"I like building cases by poring through papers. I like to find the incriminating evidence in the criminal's own hand. I like working with the puzzles that you find in white-collar crime."

To Lavin, one of the good things about the work is that there is so much variety that people can discover the kind of cases they do best and find ways to work in that area.

"There is room for a lot of special skills and styles," she says.

Lavin notes that more women are entering into this work now than they did 10 years ago. "But it takes a big commitment. We work long hours and are away from home a lot. If anyone is the sole caregiver to children, it could be extremely difficult."

Lavin has a bachelor's degree in zoology. After completing high school, she spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. After returning to the U.S., she needed a job quickly, and was hired as a customs inspector.

"It was my first exposure to enforcement, and I really liked it," she explains. "When I learned that fish and wildlife employs law enforcement officers, I knew immediately that I wanted to apply."

Lavin's educational background, combined with her experience in the Peace Corps and as a customs inspector, qualified her for the position. She joined U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 1987. Her first 10 years were spent working as a field agent.

"My first posting was in Long Island, New York. We did a lot of work enforcing legislation that protects the bald eagle."

She later worked in Detroit and in Bellingham, Washington. But then she was assigned to the head office, where she is involved in areas such as policy making and lending support to field agents.

Agents who work in large cities often spend much of their time monitoring the imports and exports. "We try to focus on people who are commercializing illegally in wildlife. We also work closely with our Canadian counterparts regarding international trafficking in animals that are protected by CITES."

CITES is an international treaty signed by over 140 countries. It stipulates a set of rules on wildlife importing and exporting.

Lavin can't identify a favorite event in her career, because she believes the best is yet to come. However, attending a workshop in China was memorable.

"We talked about a rare breed of antelope that exists only on the Tibetan plateau and is protected by CITES. The animals are being poached for their hair, which is very fine and is woven into shawls called shahtoosh," she says.

"A shahtoosh is so delicate that it can be pulled through a wedding ring. These smuggled items are becoming popular as fashion accessories in the Western world, but they are absolutely prohibited. The antelope herds are being decimated by poachers."

If you are interested in this line of work, Lavin recommends that you get a background in biology or life sciences and gain some experience through volunteer work or through a co-op program. But it is very important to know that you have the right personality for this kind of work.

"You have to feel OK about working in enforcement. Your actions may result in someone being sent to jail. Ask yourself the hard question, 'Can I stand up and send somebody to jail without feeling guilty or thinking I have done something wrong?' If you think the answer is 'no,' then you may be better off pursuing a career as a biologist or a refuge manager."