Warden Tales: C.L. Garland - Graham County Wildlife Protector

Graham County in southwestern North Carolina is in many ways the perfect game warden county.  From a weather standpoint there are four distinct seasons.  It is an environment where it is best to have a coat stashed in the truck well into June.  Then there are often days that are springlike in mid-January.  The hunting and fishing opportunities are equally diverse and an officer can hardly bore of one season before the shift is made to the next.  This was my first duty station.

Wildcats insignia

Charles Lester Garland was Graham County’s first North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission game protector.  Born in May 12, 1893, Garland served during World War I with Company B, 324 Infantry of the 81^st Division.  This was known as the Wildcat Division and made up of draftees from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.  Garland entered the military on May 24, 1918.  The division was deployed  in two waves to France as the war wound down in late summer/early fall of 1918.  The 81^st attacked German positions on the Woevre Plain on November 9, 1918 advancing five and a half kilometers against resistance.  They remained in position until the armistice was signed two days later.  There can be few things that are scary than fighting the last battle of a war.  Garland was discharged from the Army on June 23, 1919.  I recall a school teacher from Robbinsville telling me that the best thing that happened to Graham County was World War I.  He claimed it pulled men from the county and gave them a taste of a bigger world.

Garland began his wildlife career as the county game warden under the Department of Conservation and Development in 1937.  Prior to that he served for three and half years as a Graham County sheriff's deputy.  When the Commission was formed in 1947, he became a wildlife protector – same job - different title and agency.  He attended the third wave of protector training in 1950 at the age of 57.  There’s little doubt that his age contributed to his nickname of “Uncle Charlie.”

C.L Garland - First row - 4th from right

Uncle Charlie’s public service record is typical of most wildlife officers.  Many followed a similar path of military service prior to becoming an officers.  Others worked in emergency services – fire, rescue or local law enforcement.  All have a desire to conserve our wildlife resources and serve the public.  And like many wildlife officers, he was a self-taught naturalist and conservationist who knew much about the woods and waterways.

Officers like C.L. Garland are the foundation of the current NCWRC Division of Law Enforcement.  I count myself as a link in the Graham County chain that spans from Garland all the way to current Wildlife Enforcement Officer Austin Hernandez.  It is a chain that has produced a couple of captains, a chief pilot and a colonel.  Not bad for one tiny mountain county.

C.L Garland - Protector of the Month - December 1955 - age 62

I’m glad we lost the short neckties, but the pith helmets with the agency emblem are very cool.