Remember the legacy of wildlife heroes

As the corner was turned from the 19th to the 20th century, conservation was still in its infant stages. Little value was seen within our wildlife resources, except for the money it could put in wallets or meals on the dinner table or sold at restaurants. For too many, the habitat we value today was looked upon as a hinderance to progress. As a few states — including Ohio — started fielding a limited number of game wardens, most regulations were extremely liberal and the job was thought to be more nuisance than necessary. The farsighted Teddy Roosevelt brought a fresh deck of cards to the conservation table, and organizations like the Boone and Crocket Club and the Audubon Society began playing their hand by encouraging public awareness of what was being lost. One of the big moneymakers of 1900 involved the fashion industry. The vanity of feathered plumes had become voguish stateside and abroad. Birds of all types ended up as hat ornaments or dangling additions to faddish costumes. Especially hard hit were the wading birds. Florida, with its vast swamps and coastlines, seemed to be home for endless numbers of snowy egrets, herons, ibis, spoonbills and flamingos. All were targeted by plume hunters — the prettier, the better. It was said that an ounce of feathers was worth more than an ounce of gold, close enough to the truth that thousands of birds were being killed daily during their breeding season. As the plume poachers and their guides absconded with bags filled with dead birds, their fledglings were left to die of starvation, exposure or predation. Entire rookeries were being decimated. The Florida Audubon Society and the American Ornithologists' Union recognized the long-lasting damage being done. Working together, they made the bold move to hire a game warden to try and curtail some of the slaughter until this feather-fad fell out of favor. That's how they found Guy Morrell Bradley. Bradley was born in Chicago but moved to Florida with his parents while still young. As he grew, he learned Florida's waterways, guiding anglers and plume hunters to collect whatever they decided to shoot or catch. He participated in hunts that killed many plumed birds and he witnessed their drastically shrinking numbers. When legislation was passed to protect the few birds left, he swore off poaching and became an advocate for protection. Deputized by the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, Bradley patrolled the area stretching from Florida's west coast, through the Everglades and to the state's east coastline. His job was to enforce the ban on killing wading birds, though markets in New York still didn't question where the birds or their plumage originated. On July 8, 1905, Bradley spotted notorious plume hunters he knew on sight: a one-eyed sharpshooter who had served in the Confederate Army named Walter Smith, and the old soldier's two sons. As Bradley attempted to arrest one of the poachers, he suffered a fatal rifle shot. His body was found the next day in the skiff that he used to look for violators. Smith turned himself in and was jailed for five months until his trial was held — but he wasn't destined to return to that cell. At the trial, Smith maintained that Bradley fired his gun at them first and that he acted in his own defense. Forensic examination of the Warden's gun proved that it had not been fired at all during the confrontation. Nevertheless, Smith and his sons were found not guilty. Warden Bradley was 35 years old and been on the job for three years. He left behind his wife, two children, his parents and brother. He was buried at Cape Sable Beach, Monroe County, Florida. His grave was washed to sea during a hurricane. Bradley's tragic death was the first fatality of a warden in the U.S. It brought national attention to his job and to the destruction being done to the nation's wading birds. In 1910, the New York Legislature passed the Audubon Plumage Act, which outlawed the trade and in 1918, the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty was signed into law. An Everglades trail that leads from the Flamingo Visitor Center to the Flamingo Campground is named in Bradley's honor. "The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example." — Benjamin Disraeli Along the way The death of Warden Bradley spurred many conservationists into action. It brought national attention to the problems with our wildlife populations and the difficulty in enforcing laws. Unfortunately, Bradley would not be the last to pay the ultimate price while protecting our resources, but the dedication he showed during his short tenure still provides encouragement and recognition to his counterparts today. In 1988, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation established the Guy Bradley Award to recognize achievements in wildlife law enforcement. The award is presented annually to two recipients — one state and one federal officer. The Guy Bradley Award is given in the spirit of Warden Bradley, and seeks to recognize extraordinary individuals who have made an outstanding lifetime contribution to wildlife law enforcement, wildlife forensics or investigative techniques that warrant national recognition. This year's state recipient is the first from Ohio, investigator Kandy Klosterman. Hailing from Celina, Klosterman began work as a wildlife officer and was promoted to investigator. In her 28 years of service, she has been involved in many investigations that helped resolve serious abuses of the state's wildlife resources. A few of special note include: • Netted persons illegally purchasing and selling sportfish to restaurants. Five suspects were convicted on 17 counts of buying and selling walleye and white bass, resulting in $16,434 in fines and restitution, 960 days in jail and 16 years probation. • Detoured an illegal hunting guide service that took out-of-state hunters on property without permission. The suspects were indicted on 21 felonies and 14 misdemeanors, received a total of $10,582 in fines, 15 years probation and a 15-year hunting license revocation. The main suspect was sentenced to 15 months in prison. • Curbed the illegal transportation of live white-tailed deer, which resulted in the largest individual fines for a wildlife crime in U.S. history. Working closely with federal agencies, convictions resulted in fines of $1.67 million. The case involved the transportation of live deer with no documentation or health inspections. • Led a search team in the largest deer investigation in the Division of Wildlife's 150-year history for the alleged poaching of 44 deer and sale of more than 3,000 pounds of venison within a two-year period. More than 80 deer mounts, 200 pounds of venison, a truck and hunting implements were seized, which led to 14 felony convictions and 17 misdemeanor convictions. The results: $86,000 in restitution, $2,276 in fines, $5,089 in court costs and 30 years of license revocations. Klosterman is also a member of the division's tactics and training team, excelling in instruction of mental wellbeing and physical fitness. She created the She's a Force of Nature interactive webinar, highlighting different careers held by women at ODNR. She works with ODNR's Ohio Women's Outdoor Adventures to introduce women to new outdoor skills such as fishing, hunting, archery, birding and more. She's also an advocate for Ruling Our Experiences (ROX). Founded in Columbus, ROX operates programs in more than 350 schools and community organizations throughout the U.S. to create generations of confident girls. When I called Kandy to congratulate her about this award, I told her, "This is a big deal!" The other big deal was getting to work with her. Step outside • Today: Youth Fun Day, noon to 3 p.m., Mount Blanchard Gun Club, 21655 Township Road 186, Forest. This free event is for those 18 and younger. There will be range and firearms safety, shotgunning clay targets, 22 rifle target shooting, door prizes and free lunch. No experience is required, and first-time shooters are especially welcome. Targets and ammunition will be provided. Donations for the event are accepted. For questions, contact Bob Yoder at 419-273-5057. • Sunday: Trap shoot, 1 p.m., Mount Blanchard Gun Club. • Sunday: Muzzleloader shoot, 1 p.m. Patched round-ball only, public welcome. Black Swamp Muzzle Loaders, Township Road 19, quarter-mile west of County Road 139. Contact Kevin Thomas at 419-722-5063. • Thursday and Friday: Trap and skeet, open to the public, 5 p.m., UCOA, 6943 Township Road 243. • June 11: Ladies Day, noon to 4 p.m., Mount Blanchard Gun Club. Pistol, rifle and shotgun shooting for novice or the experienced. Contact Jackie Schnapp at 419-957-0459. Please note that I included the incorrect date for this event in my May 21 column. • June 15: 50-bird summer trap shootout, 5:30 p.m., UCOA. These Wednesday evening shoots will be held for six weeks. This is an individual event, so no teams are required — just come, shoot, make friends and have fun, and maybe take home some winnings! Cost is $20 per week. Contact Sandy Thomas at sandthm@aol.com • June 19: 75-bird trap shoot, practice opens 11:30 a.m., program begins 12:30 p.m., UCOA. Contact Sandy Thomas at sandthm@aol.com • June 26: 3D archery match, Field and Stream Bowhunters, 11400 Township Road 109. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Contact Harold Spence at 419-423-9861. Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com