The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has 83 conservation officers covering 84,000 square miles.

Doing the simple math, Idaho Conservation Officer patrol districts average more than a thousand square miles. Within each patrol district, officers have a wide variety of duties to perform.

Law enforcement activities amount to only about a third of a Conservation Officer's time over the course of a year. Many hours are spent performing fisheries and wildlife management work, teaching hunter education, helping landowners and homeowners with wildlife problems, giving classroom and civic group presentations, attending training meetings, and dealing with whatever unexpected fish and wildlife matters may arise in the districts. Sometimes officers must cover a neighboring district if an officer is on vacation, sick, or temporarily assigned to another area.

With all the things a Conservation Officer has to deal with, it can sometimes be a challenge for the public to contact them.

If everything happened between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, it would be easy. The IDFG Panhandle Region office on Kathleen Avenue in Coeur d'Alene is open during these regular business hours (excluding holidays) and people can walk in or call us at 769-1414.

But that only covers a third of the hours in a day and not every day of the week. So, I would like to provide some suggestions for ways to contact us outside regular business hours.

I started my career as a conservation officer before cell phones existed. Reports from the public came either through my home phone number (which was listed in the phone book and in the hunting and fishing regulations), or through the local sheriff's department. Calls came at all hours of the day and night.

I remember well when the first answering machines came out and I bought one. I could finally listen to the topic of middle of the night calls without first answering the phone. When it was a report of a wildlife violation in progress in the middle of the night, I could answer the call and head out to take care of it. If it was an injured deer on the side of the road, I could call the sheriff's office and they would take care of it. If it was a call about a raccoon in an attic, I could return the call in the morning. It gave me some ability to prioritize work and get some sleep for a change.

The answering machine was purchased at my wife's insistence. One morning I was at work before 4 a.m. for the opening day of waterfowl season.

The phone rang and my wife answered it, only to be asked what legal shooting time was. When she said she didn't know, the caller said "You're the game warden's wife ... and you don't know what shooting time is?"

I bought an answering machine that day.

Many people, including IDFG officers, have canceled their home phones and now only have cell phones. But with cell numbers not being in the phone book and not listed in the regulations, what does a person do to contact Fish and Game when the office is closed?

For emergencies or to report violations, the first option is to call the local sheriff's office dispatch. Conservation officers have radio contact with the state police and the local sheriff's department and can be contacted fairly readily.

The problem with calling an officer's cell phone number if you happen to have it, is that many places in Idaho are outside cell phone range.

If you call and leave a message on a cell phone about an urgent matter, the call has reached a temporary dead end. The officer will not hear your message until returning to cell phone range and it may be too late to address a need.

Another option for a wildlife law violation is to call the Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) hotline at (800) 632-5999.

Instead of leaving a voice mail while the officer is out of cell coverage, you can talk to a live person as the line is manned 24/7 during hunting seasons and a few weeks either side of hunting seasons.

At other times of the year, there is a recording suggesting what to do.

A dispatcher, either through the local sheriff's office, the state police or the CAP line has the ability to reach multiple officers at once on the radio. These dispatchers are true professionals at routing calls quickly and efficiently to the appropriate officers in the field.

When you see a violation in progress or want to report a wildlife emergency, it is acceptable to call 911 just as you would when you need other law enforcement help.

Dispatch centers can immediately contact the local fish and game officer with the pertinent information.

Callers can remain anonymous when calling the CAP line or a dispatch center, but we encourage you to leave a callback number so officers can get additional information if needed. Callers can also receive a reward for information that leads to a conviction.

Phil Cooper is the wildlife conservation educator at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.