For the second year in a row, Shikar-Safari Club International named a southeast Idaho Fish and Game Conservation Officer as Idaho’s Wildlife Officer of the Year.
Shikar-Safari Club International is a conservation-based organization that presents awards annually to wildlife law enforcement officers in all states, provinces and territories in the United States and Canada. The annual award honors a state officer whose efforts show outstanding performance and achievement among sworn conservation law enforcement personnel.
For 2020, Cody Allen, Regional Investigator for the Southeast Region, was selected as the Shikar-Safari Wildlife Officer of the Year for the state, and just last month Senior Conservation Officer Raliegh Scott of Soda Springs was named the 2021 recipient for the same award.
“We are fortunate as a region to have an exceptional conservation officer staff working for the people and wildlife of southeast Idaho,” says Regional Conservation Officer Scott Wright. “It is no surprise that two of our region’s officers received such a prestigious award in back-to-back years.”
Idaho Fish and Game
Cody Allen, regional investigator for Idaho Fish and Game's Southeast Region, received the Shikar-Safari Club International Wildlife Officer of the Year for Idaho in 2020. Pictured left to right: Lana Mellen with Shikar-Safari Club International, Cody Allen, and Idaho Fish and Game Enforcement Bureau Chief Greg Wooten.
Cody Allen
Cody Allen was nominated for the 2020 award for a number of reasons. Allen was involved in every phase of several large investigations in the Southeast Region. That year his efforts resulted in the Southeast Region serving four search warrants in three investigations-- securing over fifteen felony indictments and over twenty misdemeanor charges on three individuals.
Allen’s success as a regional investigator is due to being part sleuth and part technology “geek”. His skills at collecting evidence from cell phones, social media sites, and computer storage has been described as “second-to-none”. He created and implemented a new advanced digital evidence tracking system which was adopted by the region for use in Fish and Game investigations.
Ryan Hilton, Special Investigative Unit (SIU) Supervisor for Fish and Game, says of Allen’s accomplishments, “The Fish and Game Department as a whole is lucky to have Cody as an employee. I don’t believe he could have done a better job with what was asked of him while handling the many demands on his time. The successful outcome of these [SIU] cases would not have been attainable without the work of a dedicated regional investigator like Cody.”
Allen’s contributions to this region go far beyond his wildlife criminal investigative skills. He often volunteers to assist other Fish and Game programs with data collection, including lek counts and big game radio collaring efforts. He is currently a POST-certified firearms instructor and a Field Training Officer who mentors new conservation officers.
Cody Allen has been a Conservation Officer with Idaho Fish and Game for 10 years.
Idaho Fish and Game
Idaho Fish and Game Senior Conservation Officer Raliegh Scott was named the 2021 Shikar-Safari Club International Wildlife Officer of the Year for Idaho. This is the second year in a row a Southeast Region conservation officer has received this prestigious award. Pictured Left to Right: Southeast Region Supervisor Dan Garren, Raliegh Scott and his family, Regional Conservation Officer Scott Wright.
Raliegh Scott
Originally from Star Valley, Wyoming, Raliegh Scott has been working as a conservation officer for Idaho Fish and Game for seven years, spending all of those years stationed in Soda Springs.
In 2021, Scott investigated wildlife crimes and issued citations in his efforts to preserve and protect the wildlife resource. He made several good poaching cases, two of which involved big game animals taken over bait. Scott spent numerous hours collecting evidence, interviewing suspects, and serving search warrants. With the evidence gathered, he was able to charge multiple suspects with taking big game over bait and seized a variety of big game animals associated with the cases. It’s worth noting his enforcement efforts don’t always end with citations— he issues warnings to minor offenders whenever possible as a means of educating individuals.
Scott’s efforts as a Conservation Officer don’t start and end with investigating wildlife crimes—he serves and protects his community, too. He has been the principle contacting officer on various DUI cases throughout his patrol area. He provided suggestions to mining companies for fence redesign to mitigate road mortalities on an important mule deer migration route. He is often called to help landowners dealing with depredating wildlife-- lending a hand to panel haystacks and fix fences taken down by elk. On his own time, he enjoys working side by side with local landowners working and branding cattle.
Fish and Game staff has benefitted from his cooperative spirit as well. He has worked with mining companies to enroll lands in Fish and Game’s Access Yes! Program to the benefit of sportsmen. He has also helped with aerial moose surveys and mule deer capture, assisted with habitat improvement projects, retrieved backcountry elk collars, placed wolf monitoring cameras, assisted other conservation officers with patrols and investigations, and taught trapper and hunter education classes.
Outside of work, Scott spends his free time with his wife Sharyl and their growing family. He plays an active role in his local church while also serving as a Platoon Sergeant, in a field artillery battery with the Idaho Army National Guard.
“Raliegh’s working relationships with individuals, landowners, and businesses within his community is one of the many reasons he is so successful in protecting Idaho’s fish and wildlife resources,” says District Conservation Officer Korey Owens. “His passion for protecting wildlife and serving his community is why he is so deserving of this award.”