2010 Officer Of The Year
Jeremy Peery, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

1.Overall Law Enforcement Program: Conservation Warden Jeremy Peery has worked diligently to build a law enforcement program that balances enforcement and community needs while exceeding expectations in many facets of a warden’s duties. Jeremy’s enforcement efforts demonstrate an effective, efficient enforcement program that blankets a wide array of resource activities and averages approximately 100 citations per year. In 2009 Jeremy recorded 131 citations, and 81 assists demonstrating that he is always willing to help others when requested. On the environmental side, Jeremy issued 7 citations/criminal complaints along with 17 warnings. Enforcement is only as strong as the educational impact experienced by the violator and Jeremy documented 651 contacts that resulted in the issuance of a warning, each indicating his dedication to people learning from their mistakes. Jeremy is the only Warden stationed in Rusk County, a county that has a population base active in hunting and fishing activities with plenty of land on which to pursue those activities. Rusk County covers approximately 936 square miles, has over 90 lakes, two major rivers, 141 miles of trout streams and over 86,000 acres of public land. Since being stationed in Rusk County in 1999, Jeremy has earned public respect for his work ethic, public involvement and enforcement program. Jeremy also lends his help and expertise to team members and other enforcement teams as well as to the needs of the warden service. Community Wardening efforts provide measurable benefits for the targeted community and Jeremy’s programs accomplish these goals and reach beyond to a more personal level. Through Jeremy’s efforts, many successful, self-sustaining programs have been developed by creating and tailoring the program to fit the community and resource needs. The efforts have enriched the lives of many young people through exposure to resource related activities in hunting, fishing and trapping, and in some instances by giving back to the resource through habitat improvement projects. Jeremy has also provided lifelong memories for special children and their families by organizing a bear/deer hunt for terminally ill children. 2.Investigative Abilities: Maintaining a consistent effective enforcement program requires a warden to hone their investigative skills. The ability to apprehend subjects committing minor violations up to managing an investigation involving multiple subjects and array of violations all hinge on a wardens investigative abilities. Jeremy displays excellent skills whether minor or major case investigations are conducted. Here is one highlighted case to demonstrate this ability: Jeremy investigated and subsequently interviewed a subject who had allegedly shot at a deer utilizing a spotlight. Upon arriving, there was an untagged antlerless deer that had been cut up and the rest of the carcass was hanging in a nearby shed. Jeremy interviewed the subject and discovered that the subject possessed another untagged deer from this archery season, and two more from last year that were never registered or tagged. Jeremy has built a very strong case documenting probable cause for civil and criminal charges which are now pending. 3.Community Wardening: Community Wardening efforts have benefited both Jeremy and the targeted community. Through Jeremy’s efforts many successful, self-sustaining programs have been developed by creating and tailoring the program to fit the community and resource needs. The efforts have enriched the lives of many young people through exposure to resource related activities in hunting, fishing and trapping. Jeremy has taught our youth the resource is really there’s to manage such as in habitat improvement projects. Here are a few examples: Of all the many meaningful community wardening programs Jeremy has been involved in, the most emotionally moving program involves youths fighting life-threatening illnesses. The first special hunt took place in 2005 and again in 2009 Jeremy again organized a hunt for two special youth enabling them to enjoy a hunt of a lifetime. Jeremy worked collaboratively with other volunteers and property owner Mr. Bill Rands. Community support could be described as a large family reunion where everyone worked toward providing the most memorable experience imaginable for these special kids. This year's participants were a young lady from Hayward who suffered a brain tumor and a stroke when she was 11 years old. The other was a young man from Tennessee who is battling Hodgkin’s Disease. Jeremy and volunteers met and completed a 4-hour instructional session and then hunted deer in the evening. The program lasted three days and both hunters succeeded in harvesting animals. The sixth annual Youth Outdoor Field Day in Rusk County was organized by Jeremy with help from Safe Hunters of Tomorrow (SHOT).S.H.O.T. is a community action organization that Jeremy helped to organize while stationed in Rusk County. Last year’s hunter education graduates were invited to the event with 28 kids participating. Eight field stations were implemented which included: bear hunting, wildlife management, .22 caliber rifle shooting, archery, trap shooting, dog training/pheasant hunting (participants get a chance to actually shoot a pheasant) and bird cleaning. 8 guns that were used during the day’s events were given away and all participants went away with a hunting related door prize as well as a SHOT T-shirt. Here’s a quote from Chuck Bingham, Pro Staff-Catch-n.com that speaks of Jeremy’s mentoring abilities: “The time and effort Jeremy volunteers to guide this event is something to see. His energy and ability to motivate not only the youth but all that come in contact with him, makes him a true Mentor himself in every sense of the word. I know first hand because I use to coach wrestling against him and every year I see the differences he has made in his program and the young men who look to him for help.” An additional interesting point about this year’s success is five of those first people that went through this event were back as mentors. Jeremy worked collaboratively with the S.H.O.T. program and implemented the 2nd annual Rusk County Learn How to Hunt Bears event. This event is a “no-kill” event that focuses on the bear hunt. The program works as follows: All of the previous year's hunter education graduates get an invitation as well as a general invitation goes out publicly to anyone between the ages of 10 – 17, to attend a workshop to learn how to hunt bears. The kids know that this is a “no kill” event, so kids who truly are interested in learning how to hunt bears apply - not just those looking for a kill permit. There is an educational session on Friday afternoon (biology, laws, etc.). Then everyone travels to a cabin on the Chippewa River where there is an overnight stay. After supper, the participants are paired with mentors and they sit on stands over active bear baits to learn how to hunt bears using this method. All of the participants (11) observed bears this way. They return back to the cabin for a bon fire and then bed. Early the next morning (Saturday), they get up, eat breakfast, and are paired up with hound bear hunting sponsors. They then learn how to hunt bears with hounds (all groups observed bear with 4 groups treeing bear). They return back to the cabin for lunch and a wrap up session. What they don't know is that during the year the volunteers find people who want to donate their bear harvest permits to kids, usually through the bear hunting sponsors. This year, 4 permits were donated to the program. At the wrap up session Jeremy announced that they had 4 permits (up until this time the kids had no idea that they may have an opportunity to get a harvest permit) for them to use during the regular season. Jeremy drew names from a hat from all who participated in the training event and the lucky hunters are linked with mentors for the fall hunt. Jeremy also co-hosted the first ever disabled hunt in Rusk County this year (October 9-10) for veterans who received their disability serving our country. Veterans were able to hunt on the Flambeau Mining Company property south of Ladysmith which has not been hunted in over 10 years. They had four hunters with mentors from the SHOT program and in one evening they harvested 6 deer. 4.Teamwork: Jeremy understands the concept of a “team”, and offers and receives assistance from other Park Falls team members as well as other Warden teams in the area. During the 2009 year Jeremy offered assistance on major bait dealer audits, fur tagging complaints, as well as assisting the Park Falls team with the implementation of a search Warrant that resulted in the seizure of hundreds of animals. A couple of years ago, Jeremy worked with the WTA trapper education coordinator to establish a trapper education instructor workshop certification in Ladysmith – the only one in Northern Wisconsin. Previously the only certification workshop was in Sand hill property in the West Central Region. In the past, Jeremy assisted in the statewide fur audits by traveling to Illinois and Iowa to audit fur dealers. He also assisted sorting though information compiled for the "BFO investigation". 5.Integration: In the last nine years, Jeremy has set up and taught Rusk County’s only trapper education class. In 2001 Jeremy was selected as the WTA’s Conservation Warden of the Year. In 2000 Jeremy was a member of the BMP trapping committee as the law enforcement representative for the development of trapping Best Management Practices. Jeremy has also taught trapping techniques and enforcement to recruits as well as regional training sessions throughout the state. Jeremy’s efforts toward strengthening the future of trapping have been recognized and appreciated and Jeremy continues to work with those who share his enthusiasm. Recently Jeremy was selected to serve as a warden representative on the furbearer advisory committee. Jeremy is active in the trapping community and well respected for his efforts to advance the sport. 6.Criminal Justice Relationships: Jeremy works closely and rides along with each Rusk County sheriff deputy on their “recreational vehicle” patrol to ensure that they are enforcing the laws correctly and fairly. Jeremy rides with each deputy at least once to provide some practical guidance as most deputies have no experience in recreational vehicle laws and do not know what to look for. Jeremy’s efforts help to build a better working relationship between the sheriff’s department and our department. Jeremy is involved in Rusk County’s DARE program each year by being a chaperone to the annual DARE Kids Day at the Minnesota Twins game in Minnesota. He also sits in the dunk tank during Ladysmith’s Mardi Gras celebration. Jeremy maintains a relationship with the Rusk County Recreational Patrol Officer and when the opportunity arises Jeremy will ride with the officer on patrol. During one of these joint efforts they issued boating citations and three fishing without license citations. During the fall of 2009 Jeremy demonstrated his strong alliance with the Rusk County Sheriffs Department by assisting them with an armed bank robbery complaint that they had received from Sawyer County. Jeremy offered his assistance and worked jointly with Rusk County on attempting to locate the suspects. Jeremy ultimately single handedly located the driver of the suspect vehicle and a high speed pursuit ensued. Jeremy was fired upon by the subject prior to Rusk County Deputies arriving. Jeremy continued the pursuit after being shot at until the suspect was ultimately boxed in by Rusk County officers. Upon exiting his squad Jeremy exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The suspect was ultimately stopped and seized. Jeremy undoubtedly saved human lives and preserved the safety of many people who will never know what could have happened that day if Jeremy had not intervened. 7. Recreational Vehicle Enforcement, Education and Investigation: Each year Jeremy sets up and operates a DNR law enforcement booth at the Dairy Land Implement Appreciation Day with average attendance by over 700 people. The topic is recreational safety involving ATV, boat, snowmobile and hunting. At one of the past events Recreational Safety Wardens have commented that Jeremy’s booth was “one of the best demonstrations he had been associated with.” Jeremy sets up and operates a DNR booth at the Rusk County Annual Safety Fair. The display focuses on recreational vehicle safety. The event averages attendance by over 400 people. This event and the Dairy Land event benefit Jeremy’s programs and other efforts as between the two programs Jeremy interacts with 1100 Rusk County residents and demonstrates a sincere desire to work with the community. 8.Enforcement of Fish and Game Laws: Jeremy’s station is loaded with natural resources and outdoor opportunities. Jeremy has obtained a vast knowledge for the resources, and the laws that have been put in place to protect them. Here are a few examples of Jeremy’s case work during 2009: Jeremy received and investigated a complaint of a farmer who had shot a turkey in the early morning. Jeremy traveled to his house and interviewed him regarding the accusation. He admitted to shooting and killing a tom turkey that was in his field. He shot it with a 30/30 rifle and carried it to his barn. Jeremy seized the turkey and issued a citation along with numerous warnings. Jeremy observed several individuals fishing in a posted fish refuge. Jeremy contacted the individuals and cited one of them for fishing in the refuge. While running a check on them it was discovered that one subject had a warrant for his arrest. The subject was arrested and turned over to a Chippewa County Deputy. Jeremy and Deputy Warden Phil Grassman were working in Rusk County when they received a deer shooting complaint. It was determined that a subject was driving past a house, when he observed a doe and three fawns in the back yard. He stopped, knocked at the front door and found no one at home. He proceeded to acquire his firearm and shot twice, about 25 feet from the back door of the home, dropping one doe in its tracks while the other ran off, mortally wounded. He retrieved the one that dropped, realized that he did not have an antlerless tag, and transported the deer over four miles to a farm and found someone to tag the deer. The homeowners came home, found the drag marks and were extremely upset. Jeremy investigated and the deer were seized and numerous citations issued. Jeremy and Warden Kendall Fredrick (Madison) investigated several baiting complaints that Warden Peery had received. The first bait site was located and Wardens found the hunters hunting over the illegal bait locations. One individual was using non-expanding ammunition in his AR-15. Two citations were issued in this case. Jeremy investigated an individual possessing a deer without a tag. He stated that he lost it in transport. Warden Peery found that the man has never registered deer before. Warden Peery learned the subject possessed untagged car killed deer in the past. When asked, he has always cut up his deer before this year. Warden Peery seized the deer and issued a citation to him for harvesting an antlerless deer with a herd control tag in a regular unit. Jeremy received and investigated a complaint of a possible untagged deer that responders found during a car crash investigation. A drunk driver crashed his truck and they found fresh blood and corn in the bed, along with a validated deer tag. During the investigation Jeremy found that the deer had been hit by the truck two days before and had not been tagged or reported. The deer was seized, interviews were conducted and a citation was issued for the untagged car kill violation. 9.Protection of Fish and Wildlife Habitat: Jeremy has actively enforced water regulatory and habitat protection laws as demonstrated through his aggressive enforcement. Jeremy participates in the WRA (Wildlife Restoration Association) banquet. The money generated at the banquet goes toward habitat protection and restoration projects in Rusk County. Youth from Rusk County are active in designing the projects and providing the physical labor to complete the projects. Jeremy has assisted members of the Ladysmith environmental class on development of a brochure to post at Rusk County boat landings. Jeremy helped to promote awareness on the spread of invasive species as well as educate youth. Jeremy also takes time to inform and educate the pubic on the need to keep boats and equipment free of invasive species and included this information in one of his written newspaper articles. Jeremy met with Warden Bowe at the office and then the two spent the day conducting bait dealer audits throughout the county. In Jeremy’s preliminary work, Jeremy found that only 5 of the eight or nine bait dealers in the county had valid permits. Scott and Jeremy were able to conduct 6 audits and found numerous violations. Those violations included no license, not checking minnow traps as required, no health certificates on selling wild caught bait, trapping bait without a valid harvest permit and no daily logs for bait harvested under a harvest permit. Jeremy traveled to Chippewa Falls and attended a court trial with Bowe on the Cyran case - harvesting minnows with a bait harvester permit and co-mingling wild minnows with fish farm minnows. The judge found Cyran guilty on the license violation. 10.Career Development: Serving the department as an FTO, Jeremy delivers a memorable training experience to the warden recruits assigned to him. Those recruits assigned with Jeremy over the past few years all comment on the complete experience they receive while working in Rusk County. Jeremy immerses the recruit in the realities of a busy station assignment and the responsibilities that go with it. As a background investigator, Jeremy understands the importance of hiring recruits of qualified integrity and moral character. Jeremy willingly accepts the responsibility of completing a thorough background investigation on each perspective recruit he is assigned to. Jeremy has served as a DAAT instructor since 2004. Providing an important function to the warden service Jeremy has been instrumental in adding scenario based training that simulates enforcement situations that wardens frequently face in the field. 11.Public Relations: Jeremy annually participates in the Special Olympics Torch Run Fundraiser by selling shirts and running a 5-mile stretch between Rice Lake and Cameron. Connecting with the community through printed media is another method Jeremy utilizes. He established a monthly newspaper column in the local paper and writes seasonal article regarding various DNR issues and concerns. Jeremy also writes a bimonthly article for trap and trail magazine and has done so since 2001. Every year for three days in September, Jeremy gives hour-long presentations to all Rusk County’s fifth graders on the job of a Conservation Warden. These talks are part of the ‘Trails End’ program. Jeremy also gives yearly talks to the Kiwanis, sporting clubs, conservation classes in area schools, the Rusk County FFA chapter in Ladysmith and Bruce, lake owners associations, QDM club and conducts the spring hearing in Rusk County. Internships are an important part of recruiting and inspiring interest in young people about a warden career and Jeremy accommodated three student interns during 2009, making the time served an interesting and rewarding opportunity. Jeremy participates in the Rusk County High School Career Day by setting up a booth and answering questions about the Conservation Warden career and the application process. This event is also attended by all Rusk County 8th graders as well as Holcombe, Winter and Cornell. This annual event serves as an excellent recruiting opportunity for the department by instilling a desire in youth to work toward a career in natural resources. Serving as a judge for Our Lady of Sorrows school’s conservation and environmental awareness speaking contest for 45 sixth through 8th graders in Ladysmith is a yearly event for Jeremy and emphasizes the connection between environmental concerns and the conservation warden. Each year Jeremy participates in the Summit Lake Youth Field Day in Sawyer County and in 2009 Jeremy gave 8 presentations on furbearers and trapping to 40 youth participating in the event. Jeremy volunteers for the Shop-With-a-Cop program with the Rusk County Sheriff Department each year that provides money for less fortunate children of the community allowing them to purchase Christmas gifts for them and their families.