- April 25, 2024
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Bob Lee wrote a book about his experiences as game warden. Photo by Wayne Grant
You can sit in a boat under a bridge anywhere in the U.S. and not worry about human waste being sprayed on you, partially thanks to Bob Lee, former Florida game warden.
How this came about and other stories were related by Lee on Nov. 18 at the Ormond Beach Regional Library, while promoting his book, “Backcountry Lawman.” He was a game warden in Florida for 30 years until 2007.
The bridge story involved one the largest environmental cases in Florida history. At one time, Amtrak had an exemption from environmental laws and could release liquefied sewage from its trains.
Lee was assigned by state officials to help the lawyer preparing for trial against Amtrak. He was told to find a victim that could testify at trial, in other words, someone who had been dumped on.
Lee staked out a train trestle crossing the St. Johns River.
“I spent three months watching trains pass by,” he said at the library presentation.
Then one day a runabout with two couples fishing was parked under a bridge just as an Amtrak train passed over and released waste.
Lee quickly made his way along the bank to the boat, asking, “Did anyone get sprayed?”
A woman in her 70s pointed to yellow and brown spots on her pants. She then told the warden she would never fish again under a bridge unless she had an umbrella in one hand and a train schedule in the other.
The case went to trial and they won in state court. Federal laws were changed in the 1990s and now Amtrak trains have holding tanks.
“Today Amtrak does not poop on anyone anywhere in the United States,” Lee said.
His adventures often involved rescuing animals, such as bald eagles.
He had one assistant who believed he could handle an eagle without any coaching because he had worked with snakes and alligators a zoo. But he ended up in the hospital after an eagle put its talons through the palm of his hand.
He said the assistant became receptive to instructions about how to catch animals after that.
His book contains stories of catching poachers, but also some who got away. He bad guys get away from every law enforcement agency.
“I wanted it to be realistic,” he said.
During his career, he spent a lot of time chasing people who were “monkey fishing,” cranking a small motor and dropping live wires into the water to electrocute the fish. He said it was once popular in Florida, but does not exist anymore because farm-raised fish have taken away the market for the wild-caught fish.
It was called monkey fishing because the person cranking the little motor and the person netting the fish would look like an organ grinder and his monkey.
Lee’s book has stories of high speed boat chases as well s a time when his boat sank in the Ocklawaha River and he floated on a gas can amid alligators.
More enjoyable moments involved luring poachers with a robotic deer.
“It was always fun watching a would-be Davy Crockett stalk one of these deer,” he said with a laugh.
Today, wardens look at Facebook to find people posing with illegal catch.
“It’s more effective than sitting out there for 500 hours waiting for a poacher,” he said.
He said he always had an urge to write and published the book in 2013. He has since written another book to come out next spring with true stories from other game wardens he collected around the state. He said he spent three years researching it.
Currently, he’s working on a novel.
Visit bobhlee.com
