Controlling the Wilderness: The Work of Wilderness Officers

Abstract

Ideologies having roots in the legal structure of the system of wildlife protection characterize the work culture of the Pennsylvania wilderness of cer. This paper examines these ideologies and the characteristically strong social solidarity of the community of wilderness of cers. Wilderness of cers are both law enforcement agents and conservationists. They mediate between human and animal as well as between what is considered scienti c management and what is considered unenlightened and even lawless behavior. In performing this boundary work, wilderness of cers par ticipate in the social construction of the science of land management, which views animals as renewable resources.The wilderness of cer's job is to insure the continuation of this resource as a part of the natural heritage of Pennsylvania and the United States. The wilderness of cer's concept of "animal" becomes a byproduct of this social construction and of the culture of hunting that supports it. The rural upbringing common to many of cers suits them ideally to their task.This research focuses on the occupational ideology of Pennsylvania wilderness of cers, a collective term for "conservation of cer" and "game warden," the two types of eld workers employed by Pennsylvania to police the forests. It examines their motivations, values, and their social constructions of "animals" Society & Animals 11:4

The influence of conservation agency resources on officer entry and training requirements

“…Prior research has found that not only are the enforcement of natural resources laws an important part of their work, but that more traditional policing tasks are increasing for conservation officers (Falcone, 2004). Beyond law enforcement, conservation officers must also make efforts to mitigate human–wildlife conflict, provide habitat consultations to landowners, assist in hunter safety programs and provide outreach to special interest groups (Lawson, 2003; Rossler and Suttmoeller, 2021). This especially broad role may highlight the value added to conservation police for increased educational and training standards in their recruitment process.…”

A Comparison of the Drug Use and Protective Factors of Rural and Urban Students

“…The exception seems to be the occupation of game warden and the crime of poaching which has received scholarly attention (Carter, 2004(Carter, , 2006Dizard, 2003;Forsyth, 1993aForsyth, , 1993bForsyth, , 1994Forsyth, , 2008Forsyth & Forsyth, 2009, 2010Forsyth & Marckese, 1993a, 1993bForsyth, Gramling & Wooddell, 1998;Hampshire, Bell, Wallace & Stepukonis, 2004;Jacoby, 2001;Lawson, 2002Lawson, , 2003McMullan & Perrier, 2002;Sherblom, Keranen & Withers, 2002). Their job is dangerous with wardens getting killed and assaulted on the job.…”

Dire and Sequestered Meetings: The Work of Game Wardens

“…The data revealed excuses and justifications for poacher behavior. Other research has focused on describing the work of game wardens regarding fisheries (Hampshire et al 2004;McMullan and Perrier 2002), general job descriptions (Lawson 2002(Lawson , 2003Tobias 1998); the changing nature of the job (Sherblom et al 2002) and historical studies of the work of game wardens (Jacoby 2001). While all work on game wardens and poachers implicitly focus on the dangers of the job, only Carter (2004), Forsyth (1993b, Palmer and Bryant (1985) and Walsh and Donovan (1984) contain data on the dangers of the work of game wardens.…”