104 Chris Johnson – Alaska – Part II

Picking up from our last episode, Wayne continues his conversation with Alaska Wildlife Trooper Chris Johnson. Come along as Chris shares more stories from his years patrolling the vast and sometimes unforgiving Kenai Peninsula as a US Fish and Wildlife officer, and looks forward to many more years of service to the people and wildlife of America’s true “Last Frontier.”

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Sovereign Sportsman Solutions

“A Cowboy in the Woods” Book

Hunt of a Lifetime

Maine’s Operation Game Thief

Wildlife Heritage Foundation of NH

International Wildlife Crimestoppers

Here’s what we discuss:

  • Chasing illegal baiters
  • Truck through the ice!
  • Recovering vehicles from water
  • A lifetime of physical fitness
  • Teaching HIIT classes as co-owner of Tides Yoga Studio
  • Small injuries can cause big problems
  • Exceed expectations when training
  • Consistency is paramount
  • An uneasy encounter in a remote village
  • The balance between enforcing wildlife laws and respecting indigenous lifestyles
  • Treaties have since changed subsistence living rules
  • A significant bear snaring case
  • Evidence showed it had been going on for years
  • Multiple scenes were discovered
  • Poachers were taking only the gall bladders
  • The illegal gall bladder trade
  • Alaska State Troopers are currently recruiting
  • Survivor Island
  • Your most important survival tool is your brain

Credits

Hosts: Wayne Saunders and John Nores

Producer: Jay Ammann

Art & Design: Ashley Hannett

Research / Content Coordinator: Stacey DesRoches

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103 Chris Johnson – Alaska

When US Fish and Wildlife Captain Chris Johnson reached the mandatory retirement age, he wasn’t quite ready to hang up his hat, so he did what most never would; after 33 years of federal service, he went right back to the Academy and became an Alaska State Wildlife Trooper! Join us as Chris shares stories of the outdoors from “Alaska’s Playground” – the rugged and stunningly beautiful Kenai Peninsula.

Our Sponsors:

Thin Green Line Podcast

Don Noyes Chevrolet

Sovereign Sportsman Solutions

“A Cowboy in the Woods” Book

Hunt of a Lifetime

Maine’s Operation Game Thief

Wildlife Heritage Foundation of NH

International Wildlife Crimestoppers

Here’s what we discuss:

  • Mandatory retirement from Federal law enforcement service
  • Torn between becoming a professional football player or game warden
  • Began career with the National Park Service and local PD in Minnesota
  • Joined USFWS in 1989
  • First full-time Federal wildlife law enforcement officer in the Alaska refuge system
  • Part-time positions now being phased out
  • Arriving at the 2-million acre Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
  • “The playground of Alaska.”
  • A one-day orientation
  • The first of many bear mauling cases
  • Charged by three juvenile brown bears in a row
  • A sow had been shot
  • Cubs became dangerously habituated to humans
  • The best bear defense
  • Bear incidents increased through the years
  • Black and brown bears tend not to mingle
  • Joined first USFWS Honor Guard team
  • Only federal member of state Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT)
  • Back to the Academy!
  • Previous experience was a huge advantage
  • Hoping to rejoin SIRT
  • The moose that shot back
  • Teasers for a follow-up: a truck through the ice and a ‘warm’ welcome to the Kenai

Credits

Hosts: Wayne Saunders and John Nores

Producer: Jay Ammann

Art & Design: Ashley Hannett

Research / Content Coordinator: Stacey DesRoches

Subscribe:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Amazon

Google

Waypoint

Stitcher

TuneIn

Megaphone

Find More Here:

Website

Warden’s Watch / TGL Store

Facebook

Facebook Fan Page

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

RSS