2007 NWTF
Conservation Officer of the Year

For Immediate Release
For more information contact: Brian Dowler, (803) 637-3106

Local Wildlife Officer Wins Award from National Wild Turkey Federation

PLAINWELL, Mich.– Continuing their commitment to law enforcement, the National Wild Turkey Federation will honor Conservation Officer Ivan Perez with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) for his efforts in conserving America’s wildlife.

Perez will be recognized as the NWTF’s Michigan Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year during its 32nd annual Convention and Sport Show held Feb. 21 to Feb. 24, 2008 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Ga.

The NWTF initiated The State Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award in 2000 to highlight the contributions from wildlife officers across the country.  

“Without the tremendous level of support for wild turkey conservation from wildlife officers such as Mr. Perez, restoration efforts and wildlife management strategies would never have succeeded,” said NWTF CEO Rob Keck. “We wanted to ensure that they receive the thanks and recognition they so richly deserve.”

By earning the State Wildlife Officer of the Year award, Perez and other state winners are eligible for the NWTF’s National Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award, which will be presented during the NWTF’s Awards Banquet Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Convention and Sport Show.

“Officer Perez has shown commitment to the wild turkey resources through his education, habitat protection, public relations and professional investigation of turkey poaching incidents,” said Rodney Stokes, acting chief of law enforcement for the MDNR. “He consistently leads the district in hunter safety classes he teaches and has a great rapport with youth.”

According to Stokes, Ivan Perez also makes an extra effort to spread a positive image of the DNR by speaking to sport clubs, conservation organization banquets and other civic groups.  “Ivan is an asset to conservation law enforcement and embodies the history of those who have served the people of this great state since 1887,” said Mr. Stokes.

For more information about the NWTF’s law enforcement award winners, or the NWTF’s efforts to support wildlife law enforcement, call (800) THE-NWTF, or go online at www.nwtf.org <http://www.nwtf.org> .

Candidate Information

Conservation Officer Ivan Perez hired on with the Law Enforcement Division in 1995. Off ricer Perez has been assigned to Ottawa County since his graduation from the police academy. For the past four years, Officer Perez has been the only field officer assigned to Ottawa County. Ottawa County has traditionally had two field officers assigned to respond to the heavy workload in this heavily populated county. Ottawa County is approximately 90% privately owned, and is adjacent to Michigan's second larges city, Grand Rapids. Officer Perez handles his busy workload with a positive attitude. Officer Perez takes every complaint he received seriously and produces thorough investigations.

Habitat Protection

Ottawa County was closed to the hunting of wild turkeys when Officer Perez was first assigned. This was due to the fact that there were several established flocks of domestically raised bronze variety turkeys which had been illegally released. Officer Perez assisted Wildlife Division in locating proper habitats for the release of wild turkeys. Officer Perez, at the same time, was aggressively enforcing the captive animal regulations to control these illegal releases and the potentially damaging effects these flocks could have on the genetics of the wild birds. Officer Perez has handled numerous complaints concerning protection of the limited habitat located in several state game areas within his assigned county. Officer Perez often patrols these public lands and has completed enforcement cases including litter, illegal timber cutting, illegal use of off road vehicles and illegal burns.

Enforcement

Conservation Officer Ivan Perez has had several outstanding wild turkey poaching cases.

Officer Perez received information of a subject who had been poaching mature male wild turkeys during the spring season for the past several years. Officer Perez continued to work the complaint area and received a citizen complaint of a subject who was observed to have shot a tom turkey from the roadway. Officer ran the registration information and immediately recognized the suspect to be the same subject he had been working. Officer Perez went to the suspect's residence and obtained consent to search the yard area from a family member. Officer Perez located the heads and remains of six to seven patricianly burned male turkeys from a barn barrel near the garage. Officer Perez quickly went and secured a search warrant for the residence and returned with a team of officers. In the end, Officer Perez was able to locate evidence of 16 male wild turkeys and obtained a confession to 10 illegal birds. The suspect later plead guilty to the illegal killing of six wild turkeys, paid restitution for each bird and lost his hunting privileges.

Officer Perez successfully prosecuted two illegal turkey baiting cases. The first one stemmed from information received that led to Officer Perez entering private property undetected to confirm the presence of  a large quantity of spread shell corn. Prior to the hunting season, the property was flown with fixed wing aircraft to again document the presence of bait. On the opening morning of the spring season, Officer Perez apprehended two subjects hunting from a raised blind with their turkey decoys deployed in the shell corn area. Both subjects plead guilty to the charges. On another complaint, Officer Perez located a subject hunting turkeys from a location in a baited blueberry field. This subject also plead guilty to the charge of hunting wild turkey with the aid of bait.

Officer Perez has handled several of the typical complaints dealing with recreational trespass, hunter harassment, and licensing issues. Officer Perez takes an aggressive stand on wild turkey hunting violations.

Public Relations

Officer Perez makes an extra effort to pay special attention to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) constituent groups, such as sport clubs, conservation organizations, etc. by accepting every speaking engagement he is asked to perform. He believes that this effort in public relations will impact many sportspersons in a positive way and result in the DNR being thought of as an agency that still cares about the people they serve. Officer Perez consistently leads the district in hunter safety classes he attends and has a great rapport with youth. Officer Perez participated in a JAKES Day at the West Walker Sportsman's Club and manned a booth at the Sportsmen for Youth Day held at the P.J. Hoffmaster State Park. Officer Perez maintains excellent working partnerships with other divisions within the DNR. Officer Perez' success at natural resource law enforcement is aided by his many positive relationships he has fostered with area law enforcement agencies. Officer Perez is well liked and respected by his peers and the citizens he has had contact with.

Summary

Conservation Officer Ivan Perez would be an excellent representative as Michigan's Wild Turkey Enforcement Officer of the Year. Officer Perez has shown commitment to the wild turkey resources through his education, habitat protection, public relations and professional investigation of turkey poaching incidents.