Crystal Poole serves as Caldwell agent, shares duties in Daviess

Agent Crystal Pool of Caldwell County and Agent Zach White of Clinton County Conservation Agent shown with evidence of “Taylor,” a suspect in an illegal turkey hunting case earlier this year

You may have seen Conservation Agent Crystal Poole out patrolling the woods for poachers, or just relaxing around a campfire. As long as she is spending time in the great outdoors, she’s where she wants to be.
The 26-year-old is one of several agents covering Daviess County after the retirement of
Alan Bradford in March of this year. Those agents include Mark McNeely (DeKalb), Josh Roller (Harrison), Caleb Pryor (Livingston), Brandon Lyddon (Gentry/Worth), Lieutenant Jason Braunecker, and Poole (Caldwell), just to name a few.
“Agents are state law enforcement officers so we tend to work more than just our assigned county anyway,” says Poole.
Poole started as the Conservation Agent in Hamilton in October of 2017.
Poole was raised in Platte County, where both her parents worked for the telephone company. She says becoming a conservation agent was the fulfillment of two lifetime ambitions. She’s a believer in law-and-order and was drawn toward either the military or law enforcement. She also wanted a career that would let her work with animals and be outside, like veterinary medicine.
“I was interested in going into law enforcement and have always enjoyed being outdoors, hunting and fishing,” Poole says. “The job of conservation agent is a natural fit, it combines both.”
As a female conservation agent, Poole is a rare bird. According to an article in the 2018 Missouri Conservationist Magazine, historically, women have been underrepresented in MDC’s Protection Division.
It wasn’t until 1975, that the first female conservation agent, Jill Cooper, was assigned to the Kansas City area. Currently, 19 of MDC’s approximately 197 agents who are peace-officer certified, only about 9.6 percent are women.
Poole says competition for conservation jobs is fierce with thousands of people applying for only a few open positions. It’s important to start your career path early and build a resume if you’re interested in an MDC job.
Be willing to volunteer and take those classes that will help. Poole is dive certified, can handle a dart gun, and is a trap-shooting expert. She’s waded the waters in search of rare Blanding’s turtles and run scientific experiments on how to trap flying squirrels.
Poole had early experience working part-time at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in Holt county the summer of 2015; and Pony Express Conservation Area in DeKalb county summer/fall 2016.
She graduated from Missouri Western State University in 2016 with a B.S. degree in wildlife conservation and management. She then had to pass muster at a six-month Conservation Agent Training Academy in Jefferson City. The classroom work was intense and the physical exercise demanding, but she passed the training and became one of 199 conservation agents in Missouri.

Poole says she may be one of only a handful of female conservation agents, but she hasn’t had any issues with discrimination or people treating her badly.
“People are respectful,” she says. “I have not had any real issues with anyone treating me any different than any other officer.”
Whether you’re a male of female agent the job can be dangerous, lawbreakers of Missouri’s wildlife codes are almost always armed. Poole say the benefits of interacting positively with the community, protecting Missouri’s fish, forests, and wildlife, spending time in our region’s rich and diverse countryside outweigh the risks.
If anyone has questions about Wildlife Code regulations, they can call either the St. Joseph Regional Office 816-271-3100 or the Chillicothe Office 660-646-6122 during normal business hours. For after hours and weekends, they can call the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office 660-663-2031. The caller’s information can then be passed to the nearest on-duty Conservation Agent for contact.
If anyone would like to report a game/fish violation, they can contact the Operation Game Thief Hotline (OGT) 1-800-392-1111, which is staffed 24/7. They can remain anonymous and may even be considered for a reward if their information leads to an arrest.
“Conservation Agents are licensed peace officers,” says Poole. “We work all hours of the day and night, weekends and holidays. Our primary focus is enforcing the Wildlife Code of Missouri, but we can, and do enforce all state laws. Never hesitate to contact us if you suspect a wildlife crime in progress.”