(music)
(Brandon Rose) Somebody needs our help we are going to be
there for them.
(Brad Haeggquist) They are heroes amongst us.
(Judge Dana Ashmore) They sacrificed and I will never forget that.
(Bryan Reed) Any kind of natural disaster we're ready to go.
(music)
(Carter Smith) Since 1895 our game wardens have played a
critically important role serving Texas and Texans.
Our Game Wardens help protect our lands, our waters, our fish, our wildlife, our property
and environment but also our lives.
(Game Wardens) Take a break.
We're good.
We got you.
I got you right here.
(Representative James White) Their ability to be mobile to know that terrain
like the back of their hand in many instances our Game Wardens are multiplying the reach
of that County Sheriff.
(LT. Andrew Alexander) They've been doing what equivalates to Search
and Rescue for a long time since our agency began.
It's just an enhancement on what they do and in a way that we further help them out
and help the citizens and the public of Texas.
(Carter Smith) Our Search and Rescue team consists of a very
integrated tame of exceedingly well-trained professionals.
It takes teamwork and every single one of our 551 Game Wardens
across the state plays a critically important role in our search and rescue efforts and
I'm very proud of them.
We have well trained aircraft and helicopter pilots that can search areas by air to get
people where they need to go quickly.
We have a K-9 teams that can be sent in to help track scents to help find people that are
lost or in danger.
(LT. Andrew Alexander) We work with some of the most advanced technology
from underwater on up into the air with aviation.
On our dive team boats and the sonar that we have on some of our boats stationed throughout
the state to our swift water boats when we are running swift water rescues to our aviation
assets with our Flir capabilities and camera capabilities and hoist capabilities are now
on our machine.
We can pretty much cover everything that Texas has to offer.
All of our specialized equipment and training takes a lot of money but it keeps people alive
and keeps our Game Wardens safe.
(Brad Haeggquist) You can't put a value on human life and
the people that we would have lost.
(Representative James White) It is highly important that we maintain the
appropriate funding levels so Search and Rescue can have the training that they need and they
can do the response.
(Lanie Brown) I can't even begin to explain how important
I think that is to our state and to the individual communities and is not important people until
they have a natural disaster.
You don't think about it until you need it.
(Brandon Rose) We are responsible for the whole state.
(Bryan Reed) Such a diversity in the missions that we fly.
Public Safety.
Law enforcement.
(LT. Andrew Alexander) The value of this program, of the Search and
Rescue program as a whole, is just the how much were able to enhance what our Game Wardens
do out in the field.
(Representative James White) This was a millennial flooding event.
(Judge Dana Ashmore) We've never had a massive flood like this
so I really wasn't sure what to expect.
(Lanie Brown) A span of probably about 10 or 15 minutes
I went from the water being about 50 feet away to over my ankles standing on Highway 12.
(Representative James White) The amount of water with the amount of devastation
we did not have one loss of life.
(Brad Haeggquist) Parks and Wildlife people coming in with their
game wardens with their boats, with their equipment, with their resources, without a doubt represents
the best of Texas.
(Lanie Brown) Their passion for what they do.
I was humbled by that.
(Judge Dana Ashmore) Some of those green trucks had family that
they left and risked their lives for us here.
They were here to do a job and they went above and beyond.