Torrie Hunter, longtime Yukon conservation officer, calls it a day

Torrie Hunter, a longtime Yukon conservation officer, recognizes the irony in his surname. So have a lot of other people.

"I got that lots through my career," he laughs. "I generally get it once or twice a year."

Now, after 31 years spent patrolling the Yukon backcountry, checking licenses, issuing fines, and just keeping tabs on wildlife management throughout Yukon's Far North, Hunter has turned in his uniform. He's retired.

Hunter worked out of Teslin, Mayo and Whitehorse, but he's been based in Dawson City since the early 1990s. As manager of field operations for the North, he's been responsible for a vast and remote area, stretching from Ross River to the Arctic Ocean.

"In my opinion it's one of the great mountain wildernesses of the world," he says. "I don't think there'd be a better place to work in the world.

"We get to travel lots in the wilderness, looking, and talking to people. And we have the Dempster highway, which keeps us busy."

The Dempster highway cuts a swath through some of Yukon`s most wildlife-rich regions. The Porcupine caribou herd travels through the area. That's made it a major draw for hunters, and an occasional headache for officials. Hunting restrictions and roadside corridors have not always been popular.

"There werecertain degrees of buy-in," he says, referring to restrictions imposed a decade ago. "I would say for my career, that was kind of a challenging time for sure.

"One of the most important skills is just being a good listener, and being able to talk to people."

Hunter may be retiring, but he's not about to "snowbird"off to warmer climes. He'll stay in Dawson, and keep busy with the local ski club and as a volunteer firefighter. There's a big retirement party planned for himnext week.

And of course, he'll keep doing what he loves most.

"Probably go do a bit of hunting, a bit of fishing," he says.