River Boots: Fish warden’s memoir tales have local connection
Contributed photo
“River Boots — A Fish Warden’s Tales of Pennsylvania Fish and Game Law Enforcement” is a new book by Robert Lynn Steiner.
Contributed photo
Robert Lynn Steiner, veteran of 27 years as a fish warden, on boat patrol.
Ever wonder about the exciting and romantic life of a conservation officer? A former fish warden with ties to this region can tell all about it.
Robert Lynn Steiner, born and raised in Jeannette, Westmoreland County, lived a 27-year career as a law enforcement officer for the Fish and Boat Commission. Now he’s published a book that relates his most amusing, and harrowing, experiences on the job.
“River Boots — A Fish Warden’s Tales of Pennsylvania Fish and Game Law Enforcement” is this irreverently humorous yet dead-serious warden-writer’s slightly twisted view of more than a quarter-century in the conservation business. It’s a collection of accounts of encounters with outlaws, ne’er-do-wells, the clueless, accidental offenders, and some responsible, upstanding anglers and hunters. Some of Steiner’s 250 stories are belly-laughing funny, while others turn deadly serious in a heartbeat. Readers may see themselves in some of the situations Steiner worked through as an officer. Some of the book’s 24 chapters include “Thrills on Wheels,” “Trouting Culprits,” “Warmwater Culprits,” “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” “Snakes and Turtles and Frogs, Ah-ha,” and “Game Calls.”
Steiner tells of catching anglers with too many trout, apprehending trout-stocking “helpers” who dumped trout in the woods then returned for them later, nabbing drunk kayakers, spotting counterfeit fishing licenses, and his favorite catch, ticketing litterbugs. The book also includes more modestly told accounts of quick-thinking that saved lives on the water.
Steiner was stationed through most of his career in Luzerne and Venango counties in the northeastern and northwestern parts of the state. But he also served as Manager of Law Enforcement at the Fish and Boat Commission’s Southwest Region office in Somerset. He was honored as Officer of the Year in 1993.
The book is not Steiner’s first attempt at writing. He’s has been a published author and photographer for 50 years, winning many awards on the state and national level. He is a former long-time columnist for Pennsylvania Outdoor News and a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. He and his wife, Linda, one of the first female deputy conservation officers in Pennsylvania, live in a log home on 30 wooded acres near Cooperstown, Venango County.
River Boots is available through Amazon.com.