We had the opportunity to meet the acclaimed author of Badges, Bears, and Eagles: The True-Life Adventures of a California Fish and Game Warden recently. Over his 30 year career as a wildlife protection officer, Steven Callan conducted some of the most fascinating and highly successful wildlife investigations in the state of California. As Cultural Director for the local Sons of Norway lodge, I invited him as a special guest to talk about his experiences.
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He shared photographs and anecdotes of the many undercover cases he was a part of during his career. He is most proud of his efforts to save Lake Matthews from development, a large reservoir in Riverside County, California, located in the Cajalco Valley in the foothills of the Temescal Mountains. Lake Mathews is surrounded by approximately 4,000 acres of protected land that was declared a state ecological reserve in 1982.
After his talk, he visited with the lodge members and signed copies of his book. He and his wife, Kathy, were warm and eager to talk with us. We would have loved to spend more time with them.
His book is available on Amazon and I highly recommend it. I found Badges, Bears, and Eagles
This book will make a wonderful supplementary text for a high school science course (Biology, Wildlife Science, or Environmental Science). I look forward to discussing it with my children in a few years.
To the delight of the his audience, during his presentation at the lodge, we learned that his grandfather was a Norwegian immigrant. To learn more about Steve Callan’s work and to stay informed of his speaking engagements and his highly anticipated upcoming sequel to Badges, Bears, and Eagles, check out his website or follow him on Facebook.