JULY 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 7

TEXAS GAME WARDENS

TEXAS GAME WARDENS Jennifer Provaznik grew up along the Ohio River in Huntington, West Virginia, with her parents Gwen & Tim Provaznik. She spent time hiking, camping and fishing alongside her father, who held three different jobs simultaneously while she was growing up. Her work ethic to this day stems from watching him work as a firefighter, paramedic and 911 dispatcher. In 2009, her dad was promoted to fire chief of Huntington. She graduated from Spring Valley High School and enrolled at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, majoring in marine science. And like her father, she worked several jobs simultaneously while attending school. Countless times, she slept in her truck in between jobs and classes. Shortly after graduation in 2007, she went to the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas to research sharks and found herself working alongside scientists from around the world. While working at the station, she was hired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to work offshore on commercial fishing vessels as a fisheries observer. She worked on multiple styles of fishing vessels collecting data on targeted and bycatch species. The boats consisted of tuna long line vessels, shrimp boats, and bandit boats (boats that catch snapper and grouper). While at NOAA, Jennifer also had the role of doing statistical analysis on information collected in the field and writing scientific papers. Eventually, she transferred to the NOAA lab in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where her research expanded to bluefin tuna, plankton and red snapper. While working offshore, she noticed some things on the vessels that just didn’t seem right and thought to herself that there must be rules and regulations and someone to enforce them. Never on shore long enough to research who that was, Jennifer called an old co-worker and asked what he was up to. He stated he was a game warden cadet in Texas. Jennifer said what’s that and franticly started Googling Texas Game Warden and while she was reading what game wardens do, she thought to herself, that sounds just like me! When does the application process end? Wait, it’s tomorrow?? She sent her application over immediately and was amazed she got in on her first attempt. Provaznik entered the Game Warden’s 58th Cadet Class in 2013. When I asked her what the academy was like she said, “The Academy is almost 8 months long and you stay on academy grounds in Hamilton, TX. It’s a large facility and to describe the ruralness of it, the closest cheeseburger is about 30 mins away. It’s a full day of learning and physical exercise every day. You learn fast, take all the PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE DEPT. & THE TEXAS GAME WARDENS 48 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 49 48 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 49