Nebraskaland

54 Nebraskaland • April 2026 While the conservation officer's job has grown more complex, their duty in serving the public and protecting the state's natural resources remains the same. of the century, and since the centennial, would see through even more changes. ENTER SOCIAL MEDIA Presently, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's law enforcement team continues to face many of the challenges of the last century, in addition to new ones — the rise of social media and technology being two of the most significant factors in changing the way conservation officers have done business during the last 25 years, said Law Enforcement Division Assistant Administrator Travis Shepler. "Everybody likes to take pictures of what they kill," said Shepler. "It used to be everything was stored in somebody's deep freeze in their house. Now, everything's stored in their phone or on the cloud somewhere." Today's conservation officer must be adept in digital evidence collection, including obtaining search warrants on a violator's phone, email and social media accounts when needed, along with integrating traditional methods of investigation. The division also employs a team of investigators dedicated to working on complex cases involving commercialization and trafficking. T h e s e i nve s t i g a to rs a re " te c h - type, undercover officers" skilled in the collection of digital evidence and analysis, and they have been instrumental in cracking larger, more complex investigations, such as the Noble Outdoors case, when a North Platte man was prosecuted for guiding 114 unlawful hunts to knowing, paying c l i e n t s b e t we e n 2 0 1 5 a n d 2 0 2 1 (see page 57). Social media also has changed the way officers have traditionally shared information and formed relationships with people. "Historically, the way that was done was meeting with people in person to talk and go into coffee shops," Shepler said. With social media, those spaces no longer exist, and more people prefer to get their information online. On the one hand, social media has allowed conservation officers to reach more people. On the other, Shepler also feels that it has hindered their ability to maintain meaningful co n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e p u b l i c, a s conservation officers have previously relied on these relationships to gain tips and information on violations. Although the division has come a long way since 1901, with 72 sworn-in officers and 5 vacancies to be filled, coverage will always be a problem. Each officer patrols an average of 1,700 square miles — an area larger than the size of Rhode Island. They simply can't be everywhere at once. "The number of officers that we have, it's not enough. It'll never be enough for us to be behind every violation," said Shepler. "A deer gets poached on Farmer John's property. Does he know who to call now? We lost that connection." NEW TECH Violators, too, are using technology to change the way they poach. The av a i l a b i l i t y o f t h e r m a l i m a g i n g rif le scopes has allowed poachers to unlawfully kill big bucks under the cover of night. Compared to t h e o l d m e t h o d o f s p o t l i g h t i n g, t h e r m a l i m a g i n g i s j u s t a b o u t impossible to detect. At the same time, conservation officers are using t h i s s a m e te c h n o l o g y to re s c u e people at night. If Shepler could point to one major shift in Nebraskan's expectations of conservation officers in the last 25 years, it would be public safety. Today's conservation officers respond to considerably more non-fish-and- wildlife-related calls than they did 25 years ago, and communities have come to rely on them. " If t h e re 's a n a c c i d e n t o n t h e interstate or a domestic violence call in a small town, we may be the only law enforcement available. This day and age, we're trained and expected to be able to deal with those things," Shepler said.

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