Page 2 - OutdoorOK-2023-September-October-Low

PANORAMAS

Habitat improvement activities are a vital Recent decades have seen record deer
part of modern wildlife management. Wildlife harvests, dozens of new record fish, resto-
biologists and technicians spend a great deal ration of wild turkeys , and expanding ranges
of time, effort and money maintaining essential for pheasants, mule deer, black bear and
food, water and cover for Oklahoma’s diverse other species. Those accomplishments can be
wild populations. traced in part to resource protection through
But protecting those populations is an ele- law enforcement.
ment that is just as important for conservation. Imagine what might happen if Game War-
Nathan Erdman The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Con- dens didn’t exist and Oklahoma relied solely
servation sets aside a sizable part of its annual on printed regulations to protect wildlife. The
budget and staff to enforce the laws and reg- number of game thieves would certainly grow,
ulations that are meant to protect Oklahoma’s and some species would surely become scarce,
wildlife resources. In doing this, Game Wardens regardless of the habitat’s condition.
also protect the state’s sportsmen and sports- The Wildlife Department was established to
women, landowners’ properties and the public prevent and reverse declines of many wildlife spe-
of Oklahoma at no cost to the general taxpayer cies. Wildlife welfare will always be a never-ending
of Oklahoma. and progressively challenging problem.
But there are those people who contend the Oklahoma’s hunting, fishing and trapping
wildlife protection segment of this strategy is activities have become more tightly regulated
unnecessarily restrictive. They claim that prime over the years to support ODWC in fulfilling
habitat can easily withstand a few unethical its mission: We manage and protect fish and
hunters. This faulty notion can be addressed by wildlife, along with their habitats, while
looking at how wildlife has changed in Oklaho- also growing the community of hunters and
ma in the past century. anglers, partnering with those who love the
Although habitat was barely a concern 120 outdoors, and fostering stewardship with
years ago, several species were nonetheless those who care for the land.
reduced to minimal levels by rampant, unregu- Fishing and hunting regulations exist for the
lated hunting for commercial purposes. long-term best interests of wildlife and society,
In 1895, still years before Oklahoma’s state- and those regulations demand enforcement.
hood, concern over declining species such as Of course, wildlife must have habitat, which
deer, turkey, elk, bear, wood ducks and other must be managed. Sportsmen and sportswom-
species led to the first territorial game and fish en must have rules, which must be enforced.
laws. In 1909, the second State Legislature rec- The state’s 118 Game Wardens are vital to wild-
ognized the importance of enforcing those laws life’s future and to the Oklahomans who appre-
and appointed a state Game Warden and eight ciate the natural resources as an important part
assistants; those nine men were the origin of of life.
today’s Wildlife Department and the first officers
of the oldest state law enforcement agency.
Since then, the deliberate protection of
wildlife has become one of a wildlife manag-
er’s best tools for improving and sustaining Col. Nathan Erdman,
wild populations. Chief of Law Enforcement