Former Kamloops fisheries officer hosting new conservation officer TV show
KAMLOOPS — A retired fisheries officer’s book has become the inspiration for a new TV show, premiering this Friday (Feb. 14) in the U.S.
Wardens: Case Files, features Randy Nelson’s collection of stories from conservation officers around North America. Nelson spent most of his 35-year-career in conservation in Kamloops. Taking part in a TV show to highlight the dangers of the job and educate people on the damage poaching can cause was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Conservation and wildlife officer stories lining the pages of Nelson’s books will be coming to the screen when Wardens: Case Files debuts on the Outdoor Channel this year.
“What they show is exactly how the officers told the story. And that’s what I wanted,” Nelson says. “You know, it’s serious and some of it is gunfights and it’s scary.”
Nelson had a 35-year career as a fisheries officer and became an author in his retirement. One of his books, The Wildest Hunt, is where much of the show’s subject matter stems from. Last year, Nelson says he got a call from the Winnercomm production company, who was looking to create a show about game wardens.
“I had some criteria. I wanted to make sure it had to be authentic and show the officers in a good light and show that hunters are part of good conservation programs and poachers are not,” explains Nelson. “There was some criteria I put forward and they said, ‘We’ll do all of that. Give us your schedule, we’ll work around it.’”
Shortly after, Nelson was brought in as the show’s host while also helping to organize interviews. By summertime, production began shooting.
“We did a week of filming in Penticton and a week in Montana and brought in officers from all over North America. We interviewed about 20 officers for season one,” describes Nelson. “They did a bunch of reenactment scenes to put it together and dress it up for TV and it starts airing on Friday in the U.S.”
While it’s an American release to start, Nelson expects Wardens: Case Files to become available in Canada later this year and he’s hopeful a second season will come of it.
“There’s just a full range of absolute shocking and ridiculous (stories). There’s cases of people who have shot 200 deer, one person. Like it’s just unbelievable. There’s stories about narwhal tusks, polar bears,” adds Nelson. “Anything in the wild, if it is rare and valuable, people will poach it. That’s just the way it is.”
At the end of the day, the officer in Nelson wants the show to help people understand the risks that come with conservation work, and the differences between responsible hunting and criminal poaching.
“I’m hoping that’s what people go away from the show with is recognizing how broad it is, how much is happening around us and what they can do to help,” adds Nelson.
Image Credit: Winnercomm productions / the Outdoor Channel
