From Publishers Weekly
Environmentalism meets Indiana Jones in these rip-snorting tales of a former wildlife conservation officer. The bad guys here are illegal deer hunters, law-breaking drag-boat fishermen who pilfer the ocean depths, poachers who kill elk, anglers who disrupt historic salmon spawning grounds and other miscreants who feed the flourishing illicit wildlife trade. Grosz has seen them allAand arrested manyAin his 32 years as a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and as a California state fish and game warden. A bear of a manAsix-foot-four, over 300 poundsAGrosz relates his exploits in adventures full of slam-bang action and bravado tempered by a coolheaded sense of humor. Motivated by reverence for God's creation, he comes off as a mixture of guts and heart. In one episode, he sleeps overnight in a California rice field with a feeding flock of several thousand mallard ducks to protect them from commercial hunters. Full of gumption and guile, Grosz readily admits to failings that render him more likably human. He gets seasick and retches while making on-board boat inspections, and in one bust gone bad, a duck hunter sprays his backside with 189 shotgun pellets. Overall, these offbeat tales effectively dramatize the underfunded, underappreciated, dangerous and heroic activities of wildlife agents. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The author of these memoirs worked for the California Department of Fish and Game from 1966 to 1970 and for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1970 to 1998. He fought a war against the greed of the market hunters, who traded in animals and animal parts, and the egos of the trophy hunters, who consider themselves above the law. His collection of tales needs to be told, for it helps combat an enormous problem concerning our country's natural wildlife. Grosz is obviously a very committed individual--and also a natural storyteller. This collection consists of stories about his early years as a warden in California. They relate many close calls with mother nature: wild creatures and savage lawbreakers. The fact that the prosecution of environmental crimes has dropped precipitously in recent years indicates a need for a wake-up call such as this. Those who cherish the outdoors for hunting and fishing as well as those involved in environmental studies will benefit from this work. Fred Egloff


ASPCA Animal Watch, Summer, 2000
"this book will make you grateful that America has outsized spirits like Grosz on the front, swinging hard to defend our precious wild creatures."


Book Description
In "Wildlife Wars," Terry Grosz serves up fascinating stories—alternately hair-raising, hilarious, and heart-wrenching—from his 30-year struggle to protect wildlife in America. A natural storyteller, Grosz writes about the remarkable characters he met—on both sides of the law—as he matched wits with elk poachers, salmon snaggers, commercial-market duck hunters, and a host of other law-breakers. Best of all, though, these stories are so remarkably entertaining you won’t want to put them down.


From the Inside Flap
At six-foot-four and 320 pounds, Terry Grosz nickednamed "Tiny" by his fellow officers seems larger than life, and his stories contain the stuff of legend as well. A natural storyteller, Grosz writes about the remarkable characters he met on both sides of the law and the tight sports he got into, all the while extracting lessons from these experiences that would make him a better conservation officer, and a better human being. In Wildlife Wars, he serves up tales from his early years as a game warden, matching wits with elk poachers, salmon snaggers, commercial-market duck hunters, and a host of other law-breakers. As a law enforcement agent, he learned to sniff out trouble, defuse tense situations, and stay alive; and as a human being, he learned to temper justice with mercy and to treat everyone fairly. Best of all, though, these stories are so remarkably entertaining you won't want to put them down. And yet the cause for which Terry Grosz fought for more than three decades rarely makes headlines or the six o'clock news, and so most Americans do not realize the enormity and the urgency of the problem. The greed of the market hunters who traffic in animals and animal parts, and the egos of the trophy hunters who consider themselves above the law, place a severe strain on America's wildlife. And the stakes are high when thousands can be made with the slaughter of a bear or bighorn sheep, poachers play for keeps, and they play a deadly game. With these tales from the sharp end of law enforcement, Terry Grosz shows the courage and dedication that he and his colleaguess bring to their work every day. Terry Grosz worked for the California Department of Fish and Game from 1966 through 1970, and for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1970 through 1998. He lives in Evergreen, Colorado.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly