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Make the Call

It is early morning, hunting season is in full swing and the local conservation officer has to decide where to spend work efforts in the large area she is responsible to patrol. This is an every day decision all Idaho Conservation Officers face. The hard part of this decision is knowing the officer cannot cover her entire patrol area in one day, or even several days. In a perfect world, the conservation officer would cover every square inch of their patrol area, know every activity that is occurring, and catch every poacher poaching.

Idaho covers nearly 84,000 square miles, and only 77 senior conservation officers with a designated patrol area, which leaves each officer nearly 1,100 square miles to patrol. Idaho Conservation Officers know they will never catch all the poachers. But officers have come to rely on the concerned citizens of Idaho, and other states, that enjoy Idaho’s great outdoors. Without concerned citizen’s calling Idaho’s Citizens Against Poaching Hotline, known as CAP, many of these game thieves and fish thieves would not be caught or punished.

Idaho’s CAP Hotline started in January of 1981. This fall we are celebrating the 25th fall CAP has been helping conservation officers catch poachers. Idaho’s CAP program has been very successful. For the past 20 years, Idaho Fish and Game has documented 5,582 calls to the CAP Line, which has generated 1,832 cases, and 3,449 citations have been issued. Successful prosecution of these 3,500 citations has resulted in fines totaling $703,578 and civil penalties totaling $594,318. The truly exciting result of the nearly 5,600 calls CAP has received is the $382,097 in rewards that have been paid to concerned citizens since 1986.

CAP has been successful because of the help of concerned citizens. So, please continue to help. “Make the call” for the fish and wildlife of Idaho. “Make the call” to protect Idaho’s great resources. “Make the call” for our future generations.

Whether you hunt, fish, photograph, or enjoy Idaho’s scenery, “make the call” to protect Idaho and catch poachers stealing from the rest of us.