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New conservation officer at work

The islands have a new conservation officer.Sgt. Darryl Struthers has moved to the islands from Terrace with his wife and two children, and says they are loving it here.A conservation officer for 13 years, Sgt. Struthers has also worked in Prince George, Squamish and Hazelton and said he and his family were eager to come and experience the culture of Haida Gwaii.The interesting thing about working on Haida Gwaii is working in an integrated natural resource compliance and enforcement unit, he said."I'm supervising some forestry staff, called natural resource officers and we're adding a second CO position here that's going to be a Haida member," he said.Sgt. Struthers said it's a novel approach: "We're taking into account the interests of both the Haida Nation and the provincial government, so two governments working in cooperation to protect the natural resources of Haida Gwaii."The job of a conservation officer is never routine, Sgt. Struthers said."It's a good job," he said. "It changes every day. It's one of the perks of the job that you're never doing the same thing, it always changes. We always get different calls for service. It continues to challenge you and you have to continue to learn and grow."