As the Wisconsin DNR prepares to welcome another warden recruitment class, now, more than ever, diversity in the field is essential to make sure the warden service reflects the communities they serve. In this episode, we hear from DNR Conservation Wardens Vong Xiong and Juan Gomez who come from different walks of life and serve the same mission. Both share how they were introduced to the career field, the experiences they’ve had and why it’s important to have people of color in the warden service. Learn more about becoming a Wisconsin conservation warden: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WardenRecruitment--------------------------------------TRANSCRIPTSARAH HOYE: [00:00:00] From the Wisconsin DNR, this is Wild Wisconsin. Bringing you inside voices on Wisconsin's outdoors.KATIE GRANT: [00:00:17] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin Off the Record. I'm your host, Katie Grant. It's a new season. Spring has sprung and we're looking for our newest class of Conservation Wardens. At the Wisconsin DNR, we want to make sure our wardens represent our community. So today we're talking with wardens Juan Gomez and Vong Xiong about their experiences on the job and why diversity matters. So sit back and listen in.All right. Thank you guys for joining us today. On this episode, we really want to talk about what it's like to be a Warden, why you wanted to become a Warden, what some of the challenges are that you face as a Warden and what your favorite part of being a Warden is. So to get started, why don't you guys go ahead and, and each introduce yourselves. Tell me your name, where you're based, the region you cover and kind of, you know, what it is that you do here. Vong let's go ahead and start with you. WARDEN VONG XIONG: [00:01:17] Thanks, Katie. Again, I appreciate you having us on the show here and, um... kind of about who I am. My name is Vong Xiong. I'm a Conservation Warden for Jackson County in Wisconsin and I cover all of Jackson County right now.There are two stations, technically one is vacant. So I do cover both sides of the County and, uh, that's... I'm a Field Warden so I spend every day out patrolling, enforcing ATV, boating, snowmobile laws. Uh, whatever the seasons bring is what I enforce. So that's pretty much the sum of what or who I am.KATIE GRANT: [00:01:55] Perfect. And Juan, why don't you go ahead. WARDEN JUAN GOMEZ: [00:01:58] Sure I appreciate it. Um, my name is Juan Gomez. I am a Lieutenant with the Department of Natural Resources. I started in 2008 as a Field Warden, very similar to Vong, uh, down in Kenosha. Um, I spent about a year and a half in the Kenosha station before transferring to Walworth County where I spent a larger bulk of my career.Um, when I was a Field Warden down there, um, I covered the county of Walworth by myself for, uh, a pretty extensive period of time, um, engaging with the public and enforcing recreational vehicle enforcement, environmental enforcement, um, uh, and a number of other areas that the department is responsible for.Uh, in 2017, I promoted and I supervise the Field Wardens in Sheboygan and Fondulac County. I've again, been here since 2017, uh, have enjoyed every minute of it. I've had the opportunity now to, uh, use the skills that I learned while in the field and working with the field members that are now, uh, under my supervision to kind of help, uh, you know, mold them to be the best Field Wardens that they can be.KATIE GRANT: [00:03:08] Absolutely. So DNR Conservation Wardens are credentialed law enforcement officers. You guys work across the state and are responsible for enforcing natural resources and recreation safety laws. You also educate the public on conservation topics and help patrol those state parks, forests and trails. Can you guys walk me through a little bit of what a typical day is? If there even is one. WARDEN VONG XIONG: [00:03:34] You know, with, with a lot of our presentations, that's probably one of the most common questions that we received. You know, what does a typical day look like? And quite honestly, there is no typical day. So for example, right now, the fishing season is starting to become really hot. You know, fish are starting to swim up river and, and people are really starting to catch fish.I might be out there with the intention of working fishermen today, you know, checking licenses, checking bag limits, and, and that kind of enforcement. But my, um, direction might be changed. Like a couple of weeks ago when I had to respond to a vehicle that was on fire in the state park. So it's one of those situations where something like that can happen in a split second and it could change your day.You know, obviously we work closely with our, with our Sheriff's departments and we get dispatched, um, to help them out, you know, or we get dispatched to a traffic stop to help out the deputy with a traffic stop or whatever the case may be. So it changes almost daily.KATIE GRANT: [00:04:41] For sure. So, you ...
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