Colonel Bernard Chastain,
Division Director
Major Aaron Frenzel,
Deputy Director
The Division of the Alaska Wildlife Troopers provides a law enforcement presence in remote areas of Alaska where little or no law enforcement exists. Wildlife troopers are fully-commissioned Alaska State Troopers who provide the vital role of enforcing all state wildlife laws and regulations, while also being able to recognize and act upon other public safety emergencies, enforcement matters, and other concerns. Alaska Wildlife Troopers patrol a complex array of sport, commercial, personal use, and subsistence fisheries as well as hunting game management units. Their duties are carried out independent from local village or tribal law enforcement agencies. Further, these troopers are frequently called upon to assist other federal, state, and local law enforcement entities, due to their various ranges of outdoor skills and the equipment they operate. For this reason, the majority of new trooper applicants for the division require extensive training in the nuances of Alaska resource enforcement, as well as several years of field experience learning their local operating area and the varying patterns and rhythms of the resource users.
Alaska’s coastline of 6,640 miles is more than all the other states combined. The Alaska Wildlife Troopers’ patrol area is unrivalled, and is the equivalent in distance from the Carolinas to California and from Texas to the Great Lakes. Each wildlife trooper in the field has such a large patrol area that many areas of the state are not patrolled or infrequently receive attention.
The division headquarters is located in Anchorage, overseeing the Northern and Southern Detachments, the Wildlife Investigations Unit, and the Department of Public Safety Marine Unit. It consists of a Division Director (Colonel), Deputy Director (Major), two Captains, and other support staff of the Division of Alaska Wildlife Troopers.