Conservation Officer
A conservation officer’s main responsibility is to make sure that the natural resources to which they have been allocated are well safeguarded. While some positions specialize in upholding the law regarding hunting and fishing, others are responsible for maintaining national parks and other recreational areas.
A conservation officer is what?
Duties
The responsibilities that a conservation officer must do include:
- Utilizing patrol trucks and boats, conduct routine patrols of the designated regions and thoroughly investigate any complaints involving alleged violations of the laws protecting wildlife, river pollution, or unauthorized fishing or hunting.
- Prepare informative talks on wildlife management, conservation enforcement, and aquatic preservation for speaking engagements on radio and television.
- Conduct assessments of the fish, game, and boating censuses; compile statistics on boating mishaps, fish tagging, and animal poaching.
- Maintain security at all park locations and provide emergency services as needed. You should also keep an eye on how various species and people interact on public spaces like roads.
- Create and establish a chain of custody for any evidence gathered while looking into potential violations of laws protecting animals.
Everyday Life
The majority of your work as a conservation officer will be spent ensuring that various natural resources and habitats are used sustainably. Depending on where you work, you might have slightly different daily tasks using your understanding of federal and state laws protecting wildlife.
Additionally, you might need to interact with the community to discuss how to use natural resources properly, investigate any suspicious or illegal activity, and help with wildlife-related situations. Some people would have to keep tabs on data relating to particular animal populations, plant growth, etc. You will be in charge of selling the proper recreation licenses, providing tourists with information, and evaluating various equipment at recreational places like campgrounds or parks.
Schedule For Work And Typical Hours
One of the best things about this profession is that it allows for plenty of thrilling outside time while also allowing for flexible hours. Working on the weekends and traveling to other locations to provide conservation work advice are both quite typical. When necessary, you could also need to bring accomodation for the night.
Your schedule will be less erratic in senior roles, with more desk-based administrative tasks and less outdoor work. For shifts of nighttime, weekend, and holiday patrols, you should feel at ease operating in various weather conditions.
Expansion of the job
Working as a conservation officer involves facing fresh difficulties practically every day. An experienced conservation officer or game warden may be promoted to the role of a supervisor, administrator, or field training officer, especially if they consistently perform excellent work. There has been an increasing need for experts in public conservation in recent years as awareness of the need to maintain natural habitats has grown. The allocation of state, federal, and local budgets will have an impact on employment prospects because many of these positions require government support.
Common Employers
National and state parks, natural environments like woods, lakes, and mountains, as well as international organizations, all employ conservation officers.
Getting Started as a Conservation Officer
Junior conservation workers are simply need to have a GED or high school graduation in addition to a valid driver’s license in order to be recruited, and they then enroll in on-the-job training to advance their abilities, according to the BLS. Usually, a more seasoned forestry or conservation officer will supervise this. This kind of instruction will cover learning how to identify wildlife, laws governing wildlife law enforcement, and the proper use of guns. State-specific requirements for becoming a conservation officer vary, but in order to be considered for prospective positions, you will eventually need to get a college degree with applicable sociology, law enforcement, criminal justice, or environmental studies curriculum.
In some circumstances, having significant forestry or wildlife preservation experience may make up for a lack of a bachelor’s degree. In addition to possessing the necessary academic credentials, candidates for conservation officers must pass a number of tests, including physical and psychological ones. You will need to meet the requirements to carry a firearm, undergo a thorough background investigation, and pass a drug test. A few conservation officers have pursued peace officer training through a vocational program; these programs are typically provided as part of an associate’s degree or as a certificate diploma.
Compensation for conservation officers
The information below will help you learn more about this profession. The editorial material and recommendations on this page are based on our research, while the income and growth information is based on newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Low Range for National Annual Salaries
- Average: $54,970 High: $76,510 Low: $42,780
- nationwide minimum wage
- Low $21/hour, Average $26/hour, and High $37/hour
How do Conservation Officer pay rates compare to those of other positions nationwide? According to the most recent statistics on employment across the country, conservation officers can earn an average yearly pay of $54,970, or $26 per hour. It is therefore a Salary Above Average. When just starting out or depending on the state you live in, they may make as little as $42,780, or $21 per hour.
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