A Turf War to End Them All - How K9s Are Fighting to Save Our Lands - with John Nores The Hero Beside Me

Listeners, welcome back! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m really glad to have the opportunity to bring you today’s episode, because it will be very educational to many on some very important issues that affect all of us. If I hadn’t been introduced to today’s guest, I don’t know if I would have ever learned about the crucial work that K9s and humans are doing in his field of expertise. Now that I’ve learned about it, I’m honored to pass on the knowledge to you, and I hope that you will do the same and pass it on to the people in your world. 

Friends, I am someone who happens to absolutely relish being in the outdoors. I love camping and backpacking and going on hikes in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but nature, having an unobstructed view of the stars at night, walking along flowing streams and breathing in crisp, mountain air. Going on camping trips to national parks is one of my most cherished past times, as is hiking on public lands with my dog. If you share these passions with me, then this episode is for you.

Maybe you’re listening to this and thinking that camping and hiking sound like the last activities on earth that you’d ever want to do. But you’re listening to this podcast, which is all about dogs, which means that in all likelihood, you’re a dog lover, and if that’s the case then you’re probably an animal lover in general. I’d be willing to bet that if you’re an animal lover, then you would be incensed if I told you that much of our wildlife…I’m talking about squirrels and rabbits but also bears, mountain lions, golden eagles, and the list goes on…are routinely poisoned in large numbers on our public lands. 

If you live in California like myself, then you’ve had it drilled into you how important it is to conserve water, because we have had some serious droughts in recent years. How angry would you be to learn to that billions of gallons of our water are stolen to line the pockets of violent criminals?

Listeners, what I’m talking about is the situation we find ourselves in as Americans today – in a war for our environment, our wildlife, and our water – that most of us didn’t even know we were fighting. My guest today is John Nores, who, according to his bio, served 26 years as a warden for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife and co-developed and lead his agency’s elite tactical unit and sniper unit, which were developed to combat the most environmentally damaging criminals working within California and impacting the nation. He’s going to tell us all about those criminals, what they’re up to, why it matters, how dogs are integral to the fight against them, and how we can help.

Find out more on John's website, in his books, the latest of which is Hidden War, on his podcasts, The Thin Green Line, and Warden's Watch, and on social media @johnnores.

On this podcast, we seek to highlight the work being done by working dogs of all disciplines. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing to it, rating it, leaving a positive review, and sharing with people you know who are interested in this topic. This show exists in support of its sister photography project on the same topic and of the same name. You can learn more about that by visiting www.herobeside.me.

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