{"id":1194,"date":"2014-01-09T11:32:34","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T19:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2022-08-01T15:47:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T22:47:02","slug":"wildlife-officer-keeps-watch-over-open-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/2014\/01\/09\/wildlife-officer-keeps-watch-over-open-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife officer keeps watch over open spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn, January 9, 2014<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

BIRD\u2019S-EYE VIEW\u2014Dennis Rosenberg, an officer with Ventura County Fish and Wildlife, watches from the Newbury Park overlook as bicyclists ride the trails in Santa Rosa Valley on Dec. 31. He says binoculars are one of the most useful tools for his job.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dennis Rosenberg stood a discreet distance from a group of men fishing along the shore of the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. He watched them through his binoculars for a bit before coming closer to ask if they had fishing licenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I approached them, I learned that none of them had a license,\u201d Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne guy said, \u2018I wasn\u2019t fishing. I was just watching.\u2019And I said,\u2018So was I.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident, which took place about three years ago, was one of many such encounters the 58-year-old wildlife officer for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has had during his time patrolling Ventura County\u2019s great outdoors.<\/p>\n

Wildlife officers, previously called fish and game wardens, patrol in and around lakes, rivers, beaches, wetlands, forests and deserts to manage the state\u2019s fish and wildlife resources.<\/p>\n

They are the police officers of the outdoors, warning, citing and arresting those who violate laws and regulations intended to protect and conserve fish and wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Wildlife officers) protect plants, animals and the habitats they live in,\u201d said Mike Stefanak, the fish and wildlife captain for Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties. \u201cVentura County has a very diverse population of wildlife. . . . Our wardens are responsible for managing and enforcing the laws as they relate to those populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are approximately 350 wildlife officers in the state and about 10 in Ventura County.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg, a Ventura resident, regularly patrols the southern and eastern portions of the county\u2014a 600-square-mile territory that includes Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A MAN AND HIS TRUCK\u2014Fish and Wildlife officer Dennis Rosenberg patrols the southern and eastern portions of Ventura County. \u201cI\u2019m always learning,\u201d says Rosenberg, who earned his badge in 2009 and has a degree in biology from Cal State San Francisco. IRIS SMOOT\/Acorn Newspapers<\/p><\/div>\n

Rosenberg spends the bulk of his workday in his official green pickup truck.<\/p>\n

Wildlife officers will sometimes leave their assigned areas to assist with high-priority issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go where the action is,\u201d said Rosenberg. \u201cWe\u2019ll cover wherever we\u2019re needed in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the seasons dictate his schedule, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo two days are the same. If it\u2019s lobster season, we\u2019re working the coast. If it\u2019s deer season, we\u2019re up in the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

The areas open to hunters and fishermen also depend on the time of year, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to give the deer a chance to breed and raise fawns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosenberg said many hunting and fishing laws are meant to keep people out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cBullets can travel over a mile,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to know what you\u2019re shooting at and what\u2019s behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He receives calls on a range of issues, including illegal activity and environmental concerns. On Monday, someone informed him of an illegal poaching.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg\u2019s job, like many positions in law enforcement, has the potential to be dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe regularly deal with people who are armed,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen a city cop sees a gun, it\u2019s a very bad sign. For us, it\u2019s normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outdoorsman said he approaches every situation with caution.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety comes first,\u201d he said. \u201cThe most important part of your job is going home at night. You can\u2019t protect the wildlife for 20 years if you get injured or killed in your first year of service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Boy Scout said he hasn\u2019t come across a marijuana grove but knows officers who have. People who grow marijuana in hidden patches along the area\u2019s wooded mountainsides are often heavily armed, Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell people, \u2018If you see something unusual in the woods, turn around and go back.\u2019 It\u2019s very dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also his job to oversee oil leak cleanups to protect state waters from pollutants.<\/p>\n

Anyone interested in becoming a wildlife officer must complete a lengthy application process that includes a criminal background check, an interview, a psychological evaluation and a written test.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg completed seven months of training as a warden cadet at Butte College in Oroville, Calif., before earning his badge in August 2009.<\/p>\n

There he learned how to use his firearm, conduct interviews and operate a wide variety of vehicles and equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it\u2019s really intensive, what you learn (at the academy) just scratches the service,\u201d Rosenberg said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re out of the academy, before you\u2019re cut loose in your assigned area, you go through three one-month sessions with a field training officer. They\u2019re kind of like mentors, who observe and help you while you\u2019re out in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

He will complete a wildlife forensics course next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always learning,\u201d said the officer, who earned his degree in biology from San Francisco State University in 1981. \u201cAs a warden, I need to know all the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosenberg has learned to be ready for anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this job, you never know what you\u2019re going to see around the next corner.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the things he\u2019s seen is bobcats on back roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see wild animals where they belong is always very impressive,\u201d the wildlife officer said.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg said he enjoys meeting and talking to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people know we\u2019re the good guy,\u201d he said. \u201cThey understand that we\u2019re doing our jobs and they need to follow the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn, January 9, 2014 Dennis Rosenberg stood a discreet distance from a group of men fishing along the shore of the Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. He watched them through his binoculars for a bit before coming closer to ask if they had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,10,64,19,13,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-los-angeles","category-region","category-santa-barbara-county","category-santa-monica-mountains","category-ventura-county","category-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3592,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1194\/revisions\/3592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}