For Love of Wildness: The Journal of a U.S. Game Management Agent (Paperback)

~ (Author) "IT WAS MAY 1970, and I had just gone to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a U.S. game management agent for..." (more)
Key Phrases: game management agent, duck draggers, legalized baiting, Sacramento Valley, Butte Sink, Colusa County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"For Love of Wildness" is Terry Grosz’s eagerly anticipated sequel to the stories he told in his first book, "Wildlife Wars." Picking up where he left off, Grosz, who was a conservation officer for California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 30 years, begins this new book with his move from the state to the federal level, where the cases are often bigger and more complex. Grosz’s stories are action-packed, yet always infused with his love of wildlife and the great outdoors, and he makes the urgent point in his book, as he did in his career, that our failure to protect our fragile natural resources is the same as stealing from our children and our children’s children.

"Having been unable to put the first book down until the last shot was fired and the last poacher was clapped in irons, I’m eagerly awaiting more—from the safety of a reading lamp." —Ed Dentry, Denver Rocky Mountain News

About the Author

Terry Grosz earned his bachelor’s degree in 1964 and his master’s in wildlife management in 1966 from Humboldt State College in California. He was a California State Fish and Game Warden, based first in Eureka and then Colusa, from 1966 to 1970. He then joined the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and served in California as a U.S. Game Management Agent and Special Agent until 1974. After that, he was promoted to Senior Resident Agent and placed in charge of North and South Dakota for two years, followed by three years as Senior Special Agent in Washington, D.C., with the Endangered Species Program, Division of Law Enforcement. While in Washington, he also served as a foreign liaison officer. In 1979 he became Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Minneapolis, and then was promoted to Special Agent in Charge, and transferred to Denver in 1981, where he remained until retirement in June 1998 (although his title changed to Assistant Regional Director for Law Enforcement).

He has earned many awards and honors during his career, including, from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Meritorious Service Award in 1996, and Top Ten Awards in 1987 as one of the top ten employees (in an agency of some 9,000). The Fish & Wildlife Foundation presented him with the Guy Bradley Award in 1989, and in 1995 he received the Conservation Achievement Award for Law Enforcement from the National Wildlife Federation. His first book, "Wildlife Wars," was published in 1999.

Terry Grosz lives in Colorado with his wife, Donna, who teaches fourth grade and makes the best pies in the world. They have three grown children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: Johnson Books (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555662641
• ISBN-13: 978-1555662646
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,654 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, entertaining, informative..., November 17, 2000

By	Larry Jay Martin (Clinton, MT USA) - See all my reviews

After reading Wildlife Wars, I wondered if Terry Grosz could keep up the pace with a new set of memories and fascinating law enforcement experiences. Not to worry. For Love of Wildness takes you into a world almost never visited by even those of us who love the outdoors. Seldom does one who possesses a depth of knowledge in one field of endeavor, rise to be able to chronicle that knowledge and experience in an entertaining and compelling manner. Grosz has risen above all but a very few professional authors. Don't miss this one! Larry Jay Martin, author The Last Stand

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Professional, December 7, 2001

By	John Tate (Evansville, IN USA) - See all my reviews

After reading Mr. Grosz' first book, Wildlife Wars, I couldn't wait to get his next one. For Love of Wildness exceeded my expectations and now I am looking forward to reading his new book.

The main reason I found it so enjoyable is because the passion with which the Mr. Grosz conducted himself while carrying out his profession comes through in his writing. I felt like I was right beside him during his adventures.

For a busy person, it is an easy book to read because each chapter is independent of the others and can be read as time permits. The problem is you want to keep reading.

When I completed this book, I was sorry I that was finished.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ducks, ducks, and more darned ducks, October 31, 2007

By	Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This is the second book in a series of memoirs by game warden Terry Grosz. I really enjoyed the first book, in which he began as a California Game Warden. There he confronted a wide range of wildlife problems, from abalone fishing to steelhead and salmon poachers, endangered Tule elk, deer, and interstate shipment of illegally harvested items. Grosz is a born raconteur, and the variety made the previous book lively and interesting.

Grosz is still a great story-teller but unfortunately he left his state job to work as a warden for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This job involves enforcing the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the Sacramento Delta region, a hugely important flyway. In practice, this means catching illegal duck hunters.

Sadly, there are only so many things that duck hunters can do. They can hunt over the limit. They can remove the plugs on their shotguns to shoot more ducks faster. They can bait the ducks, and shoot over a baited area. They can shoot protected species of ducks. Usually, they do all of these things at the same time, early in the morning. So the book consists of Terry Grosz staking out wetlands and then watching hunters violate the same laws over and over again.

Of course, there is some variety in the stories. But not enough. It's ducks over and over again.

Fortunately, his next book involves a promotion to a supervisory position in the USFWS. From this higher vantage point, his life became more varied once again. As a result, this book is the only real disappointment in the series.