Environmental challenges are complex, and affect all actors in society.
Sustainable development is only possible when environmental considerations are integrated
into policy making, and governments acknowledge their responsibility to create a clean, safe,
and healthy environment for present and future generations.
Within the Kingdom of Norway, protecting and conserving the nation’s natural heritage
is achieved through various environmental targets, part of a structured management system
designed to identify key environmental impacts, measure performance, and actively identify
opportunities for improvement.
Such targets include biodiversity, climate, outdoor recreation, pollution, and troll hunting.
This latter aspect is unique to Norway, and the responsibility of the Norwegian Wildlife
Board, known internally as the Troll Security Service.
A secret department within the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, the Troll Security
Service is the primary method by which Trolls are deterred from human population centers,
and their existence concealed from the public at large.
It is a deliberately compact organization, consisting of a director who reports to the
Federal Government, their accompanying staff, and a single Troll Hunter responsible for
the whole of Norwegian territory.
They are assisted by a network of freelancers and contract workers, many of which are unaware
of the true nature of their work.
The Troll Security service concentrates its efforts on known Troll territories, namely
in Finnmarksvidda, Hardangervidda, Dovrefjell and Jotunheimen.
They monitor local news stories, looking for signs of troll activity.
When such evidence is found or suspected, the service’s Troll Hunter will be dispatched
to investigate.
Typical signs of a troll include rock slides, toppled trees, or missing livestock.
Troll territories likewise are ringed with rubber tires, which trolls can not resist
chewing on.
A mangled tire is a sure sign that a Troll has broken out of its territory.
In such a case, lethal force will be required, as no other methods of control are without
flaw in their reliability.
During troll hunts, the surrounding area will be closed to civilians under the pretext of
blasting or some other potentially dangerous activity.
Traps and lures will then be placed, sometimes consisting of charcoal and concrete, or cattle,
depending on the type of troll suspected to be in the area.
Once located, the troll hunter will then expose his target to intense flashes of UV light.
The troll’s inability to convert vitamin D will cause them to explode, or in some cases,
particularly in older trolls, quickly turn them into stone.
A troll petrified in this manner will then be drilled apart, or otherwise demolished
into gravel.
The appropriate paperwork will then be sent to the director of Troll Security Service.
Destroying the troll is only a part of the Troll Hunter’s responsibilities however.
They must also determine what caused the troll to leave its territory.
This might involve exploring the path of the troll, observing local caves or disused mines,
or in some rare cases, taking a blood sample from the troll before its destruction.
When samples are taken, they are then given to local experts to whom the existence of
trolls has been disclosed, typically veterinarians.
If diseases or other ailments are found within a troll, further action may be required in
that area.
Rabies in particular is highly contagious among trolls, and known to make them unusually
aggressive.
In cases when the actions of trolls have become publicized, or when a loss of human life has
occurred, the Troll Security Service will fabricate evidence of a bear attack.
This involves hiring freelancers, often from Russia or Eastern Europe, who can acquire
a suitable bear corpse and leave it for the public to discover.
The Troll Security Service maintains a network of cabins across Norway that the Troll Hunter
or other personnel can use at their discretion.
Caches of tires, and other resources are likewise kept stocked by the TSS.
The most prominent infrastructure utilized by the Service however, are enormous rings
of power-lines that surround the territories of the Jotun trolls, enormous creatures that
can reach over 300 feet in height.
Though the utility companies who manage these power lines are unaware of their significance,
they are a critical deterrence.
Before 2010, the then serving Troll Hunter, a former Coastal Ranger Commando of the Royal
Norwegian Navy, had been the only man alive to have seen a Jotun.
But in the autumn of that year, a group of students from Volda University College purportedly
captured the creature on film, as well as many other troll hunts taken in the previous
weeks.
Once the footage was confirmed to be genuine, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged
the existence of trolls, but the media largely failed to take notice.