Page 8 - January/February 2023 Outdoor Oklahoma

GAME WARDEN’S JOURNAL

ACCOUNTS FROM THE FIELD BY THE PUBLIC SERVANTS WHO ENFORCE THE FISH
AND WILDLIFE LAWS OF OKLAHOMA

While Game Wardens spend most of their time When visiting public lands, please leave it better
working fishing and hunting violations, they also work than you found it.
hard to protect our public lands and waters from
being abused.
District 1 Game Wardens responded to a serious
case of trash dumping on Oologah Wildlife Manage-
ment Area in late October. Reports started weeks
before with public complaints about a large amount
of trash from apparent partying. Beer cans, liquor
bottles, burned tires and more were found around an
illegal burn pile and for several hundred yards down
both sides of the road going to a bonfire location.

Wildlife Department personnel teamed with U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Rangers and local volun-
teers to pick up the trash, which took several hours
and resulted in dozens of trash bags full of empty beer
cans and other waste.
The following weekend, District 1 Game Wardens
waited at the location until 11 p.m., when partygoers
began showing up. Within 30 minutes, more than
100 people had arrived. That night, Game Wardens
wrote 42 citations for illegal assemblage on a wildlife
management area.
Game Wardens also worked with the Nowata County
District Attorney’s Office on additional charges includ- Game Wardens Cody Youngblood, based in Chero-
ing underage drinking, providing alcohol to minors, kee County, and David Garrett, based in Adair County,
and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. recently participated in the Keys Fall Festival at Keys Ele-
mentary School. They set up the Wildlife Department’s
fishing simulator and letting the youngsters figuratively
IT’S THE LAW: fight a fish. The simulator was a hit among the kids com-
POSTING OF TRAPS ing through the festival, which was full of other activities
and games.
Anyone delving into the rich heritage of trapping will need to know
when notification signs are required to be posted. Signs must be posted (Reports from the Oklahoma Game Wardens Face-
at all entrances from public roads and highways when smooth-jawed, book page.)
double-spring or coil-spring offset, no less than 1/8 inch, traps are used.
Signs must be 5-by-8-inches in size or larger, and the word “Traps” must EDITOR’S NOTE: Please help make a difference!
be included, printed in letters at least 2 inches tall and be conspicuous When violators break the law, they steal fish and
on the signs. However, anyone trapping on their own property or private wildlife from you! Report violations anonymously by
property is not subject to the posting requirement, unless requested by the calling Operation Game Thief at (800) 522-8039. You
landowner or lessee. could earn a cash reward.

6 OFF THE BEATEN PATH