Texas Game Wardens & Tech Tools By Matt Williams Outdoors Writer
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exas Parks and Wildlife’s 500-plus game wardens get spread pretty thin at times as they patrol the woods and waters to keep a watchful eye on our natural resources, but not near as thin as they once were. In 1919 there were only six game wardens to cover the entire state, a massive chunk of real estate spanning nearly 270,000 miles. The number jumped to nearly 50 1923 and 80 just ahead of the Great Depression. As time has progressed, so have of the responsibilities of the men and women in the green trucks. It’s not just about chasing brazen game thieves, performing search and rescue and assisting other agencies during with natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and flood events, anymore. Modern game wardens deal with drug dealers, perform border patrol and even render assistance to federal agencies like the U.S Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Coast Guard to help keep country safe from outsiders up to no good. There are no set hours and very few boundaries when the duty bell rings for game wardens.
They are out there day and night. Amid fair weather and foul. On big water and small. In tall woods and amid wide open prairies and extensive bay systems that in some cases gobble up more real estate than some states. And they are often times alone in remote areas while in pursuit of brazen criminals with no concept of the law, let alone any respect for it. Donning the silver and blue badge is an inherently dangerous gig. However, advancements in technology have helped make the job safer than it used to be while simultaneously providing wardens with some nifty tools to help make them more effective than ever when it comes catching the bad guys, nipping potentially dangerous situations in the bud and saving lives. “Back when I became warden in the 1980s we didn’t have anything compared to what our game wardens have today in the way of technology,” says Donnie Puckett, a retired Captain game warden from Lufkin. “Thirtyfive years ago the only red light we had on our trucks to alert somebody we wanted to stop was a spotlight with a red lens on it, and the light didn’t even blink. We were issued a pistol, shotgun and a pair of binoculars and told to get get ‘em.
Photo courtesy of TPWD
Drones and night vision are two of the high tech tool used by Texas game wardens. “Things have changed a lot since then,” Puckett added. “We’re in a high-tech age and it’s great that there are so many useful tools available to our wardens today. You’ve got to use everything you can get out there.
It can save lives on both sides of the aisle. That’s a good thing.”
High Tech Cowboys Texas game wardens make use of all sorts of crafty tools and instruments in the field and on
the water. The advancements in technology are particularly useful to wardens stationed along the Texas Coast — a sprawling complex of sandy, soggy land mass dissected by a host of
See TPW, Page 5
Scarecrow Trail set for Firearms October in Jacksonville industry makes
By Jo Anne Embleton
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Jacksonville Daily Progress
popular annual fall event will have a new twist to it this year: The Oct. 5 kick-off of 2019 Scarecrow Trail will include a one-day plant sale. “This year, instead of necessarily having performers and entertainment, we’re holding a (Cherokee County Master Gardener) plant sale at the same time,” said Cherokee County horticulturist Kim Benton, explaining that while both events are hosted by CCMG, funds collected from the trail – along with donated canned goods – will benefit The H.O.P.E. Center. The plant sale will feature a variety of fauna and foliage well-suited for growing in East Texas, with money raised to benefit the Master Gardeners. Together, the sale and the trail will create an atmosphere of fun for those attending, Benton said of the event, which begins Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Ruth Bowling Nichols
Arboretum, 1015 SE Loop 456 in Jacksonville. On opening day, both the Scarecrow Trail and the gardening sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the trail additionally will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday,with the final day slated Oct. 17. The display of scarecrows is a popular event, Benton said, noting that “like many things, there’s always an ebb and flow with the number of scarecrows we have, but it remains a really popular thing. “We still have busloads of kids who come see it, and we love that. During that two-week period that we’re open, there’s a lot of opportunity for people in the area to come see,” she said. The trail, launched in 2010, “is still really popular,” and participants’ imagination are limitless, she said. “I love how the theater club’s scarecrow is always related whatever play is going on downtown here; the scarecrows that the local schools enter, are always so entertaining to me, seeing the creativity and the curiosity that the students have – it really comes out and shines. There’s so much great opportunity for local color, and I love that a lot.” The location loans itself to the event, serving not only as a window to people’s creativity, but as a learning experience as well: “At the arboretum, we have historic trees on the trails, so it’s fun going around, reading signs along the way,” Benton said. “So, it was really natural to put it there because the trails are already there. And we love leading people through the Demo Garden so they can see what grows naturally well out there, and it’s a more positive experience all around. It’s perfect (for Scarecrow Trail).” The deadline to enter is Oct. 3, although Benton admitted “we never know how many scarecrows we’ll have until literally the day before, because we can have six entries and then 60 people show up on Friday to set up their scarecrows. The real answer to how many scarecrows? We always answer that the Saturday morning of, because those Thursday and Friday set up days always bring a lot of surprises!” Applications can be found at the Cherokee County AgriLife Extension office in downtown Rusk, at The HOPE Center in Jacksonville or on Facebook at “Cherokee County Texas Scarecrow Trail.”
See Scarecrow, Page 6
big impact on economy, conservation
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new report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) indicates the total economic impact of the firearms and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $52.1 billion in 2018, a 171 percent increase. Over that same time period, the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to almost 312,000, an 88 percent increase. “Our industry is proud to be one of the steady and reliable producers and manufacturers in our economy as Americans continue to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and to safely enjoy the shooting sports,” said Stephen L. Sanetti, NSSF CEO. “Our workforce is steadily adding good jobs to our local economies averaging $50,000 in wages and benefits. In addition, since 2008 we increased federal tax payments by 164 percent, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes that support wildlife conservation by 100 percent and state business taxes by 120 percent.” According to the report, excise taxes on guns and ammunition alone in 2018 generated $653,764,800 million for on-the-ground conservation work. The top five states in generating excise taxes were Texas, California, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Since 2008, excise taxes on guns and ammunition raised $5.78 billion for conservation.