Game wardens shine in 'Lone Star Law'

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For the last 121 years - since the first six officers were hired in 1895 to enforce then-new laws protecting Galveston Bay's oysters from unregulated plundering - Texas' game wardens have labored under relative obscurity and not a little public mystery and misunderstanding concerning their role in the state's law enforcement and natural resource conservation community.

That almost is certain to change over the coming months as "Lone Star Law," a 13-episode television series on the Animal Planet cable channel, offers viewers a window through which they can witness the work of some of the 550 or so men and women in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's law enforcement division.

The documentary series, which premiered last week and is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Thursdays, follows TPWD game wardens afield, on the water and on the roads, day and night, as the officers go about their jobs. And those jobs are anything but predictable and everything but dull.

"If you're a Texas game warden, there's no telling what the day will bring," said Grahame Jones, chief of special operations for TPWD's law enforcement division. "I think this series shows that very well."

Rare insight into job

That variety and unpredictably will surprise, educate, engage and certainly entertain most viewers, including Texas anglers, hunters and boaters who are the most likely to have encountered state game wardens as the officers pursue their primary duties of enforcing fishing, hunting and water safety laws.

A Texas game warden approaches a large alligator in a scene from "Lone Star Law," an Animal Planet documentary series that chronicles the work of the state's game wardens. A Texas game warden approaches a large alligator in a scene from "Lone Star Law," an Animal Planet documentary series that chronicles the work of the state's game wardens. Photo: Discovery/Animal Planet Photo: Discovery/Animal Planet Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Game wardens shine in 'Lone Star Law' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

But the job of Texas game wardens entail much more than that.

"Lone Star Law's" biggest revelations to viewers, in Texas and, especially across the country, are likely to be the incredible diversity of a Texas game warden's responsibilities - the diversity and richness of Texas' natural resources and the diversity of Texas' warden force.

The series' premiere gave a taste of that with a game warden in East Texas investigating the poaching of a deer and relocating a huge alligator snapping turtle, a protected species in Texas, that had found its way into a rural yard.

Wardens near Dallas investigate and serve a search warrant in a case involving the alleged poaching of an alligator - a case triggered by the suspect posting a photo on social media.

A pair of wardens - a husband/wife team - stop and board a shrimp boat to check compliance with commercial fishing laws - a dicey, dangerous maneuver in sloppy seas.

Wardens on the lower Rio Grande find and remove gill nets, illegal in Texas waters, set by Mexican commercial fishers, releasing any live fish while keeping a close eye for the potential of dangerous confrontations with the net's owner or the drug and human trafficking cartels operating along the river.

A trio of officers in a blacked-out patrol boat at night off South Padre Island use night-vision gear to watch for Mexican commercial fishers poaching fish from Texas Gulf waters or drug traffickers trying to slip contraband across the border.

Game wardens patrol north Texas back roads at night and, after checking a legal angler, stop a car and make an arrest of a testy suspect on charges of possessing methamphetamine.

That is the kind of diversity that lured Steve Engel to Texas. Engel, whose Engel Entertainment has two game warden-focused series - "North Woods Law" set in Maine and "Rugged Justice" in Washington state - approached TPWD officials with the idea for the series.

"One of the key elements was that we could show so much diversity," Engel said during a sneak-peek premiere of the series in Austin this year. "Texas is so huge. And there's just so many types of work Texas game wardens do. I don't think people have any idea."

Texas and Texas game wardens were an obvious natural for such a "reality" television series. And Engel was far from the first one to approach TPWD officials with a proposal.

"A lot of companies had come to us over the years, but it was never the right fit," TPWD's Jones said. "These folks were different. I can't say enough about the production company and Animal Planet."

Filming began in 2015

Crews began filming the series more than a year ago, teaming up with wardens from across the state. And some of them quickly got to see and capture on film some of the most important but often unheralded work of TPWD wardens.

Texas' game wardens are some of the primary first responders to floods, storms and other disasters. Wardens have the boats and other equipment, training and experience to respond to natural disasters, and their familiarity with their areas, especially the more rural and isolated areas, makes them a huge asset. And they had plenty of that work over the past year. "Lone Star Law" film teams were with Texas wardens when they responded to the deadly 2015 Memorial Day Flood, documenting wardens conducting evacuations, search and rescue and, sadly, recovery of victims of the flooding.

(So far this soaked spring, TPWD game wardens have evacuated or rescued "about 2,000" Texans from flooded areas, Jones said.)

Such work is part of the public-safety responsibility that is a large part of Texas game wardens' jobs, Jones said. That public-safety component also means Texas game wardens, all of whom are certified Texas peace officers, enforce all Texas laws, not just fish, game and water safety. And that leads them into areas most would not normally associate with game wardens. In the course of their work, Texas game wardens come across a considerable number of drug- and alcohol-related violations, as well as vehicle theft, property theft and other criminal activity.

"Lone Star Law" shows that side of Texas game warden's job. But it also shows the breadth and depth of Texas and its stunningly diverse natural resources, and the connection Texas game wardens and their fellow Texans have with those things.

There is a lot of potential benefits to that, Jones said.

"It can be a great recruitment tool for our agency," he said. "But it also serves our mission of education and introducing people to outdoor recreation in Texas."

It doesn't hurt that it also is entertaining as heck.