Criminal Justice • Natural Resources • Public Service
Conservation Law Enforcement Minor
Protect Texas. Protect its people. Protect its natural resources.
Combine criminal justice with wildlife law, conservation, environmental policy, and natural-resource protection. Tarleton’s Conservation Law Enforcement Minor is designed for students interested in careers that take public safety beyond city streets and into the parks, lakes, ranchlands, forests, waterways, and rural communities of Texas.
Where Law Enforcement Meets Conservation
A Different Kind of Law Enforcement Career
Conservation law enforcement brings together traditional policing responsibilities with the protection of wildlife, public lands, waterways, natural resources, and people using the outdoors.
Professionals in this field may enforce wildlife and boating laws, investigate criminal offenses, patrol remote areas, provide emergency response, testify in court, assist during disasters, educate the public, and protect natural and cultural resources.
The work requires more than an interest in the outdoors. It calls for knowledge of criminal law, wildlife regulation, conservation policy, environmental issues, public safety, ethics, communication, and the unique challenges of policing large geographic areas.
18
Credit Hours
A focused minor combining criminal justice and environmental study.
Where Could This Minor Take You?
The minor is especially relevant for students interested in combining law enforcement, public service, environmental protection, and outdoor careers.
Texas Game Warden
Wildlife enforcement, public safety, criminal investigations, boating enforcement, emergency response, and resource protection.
State Park Police
Protect visitors, natural resources, historic sites, and public spaces throughout Texas state parks.
Federal Conservation Enforcement
Wildlife, environmental, public-land, investigative, regulatory, and natural-resource enforcement careers.
Parks & Natural Resources
Careers involving public lands, recreation management, conservation policy, investigations, and environmental compliance.
Interested in Becoming a Texas Game Warden?
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department currently requires Game Warden cadet applicants to hold a bachelor’s degree. Tarleton students can pair their major with this specialized minor to build an academic foundation in criminal justice, wildlife law, conservation, and environmental issues before entering the highly competitive application and academy process.
18 Credit Hours
Build a Specialized Conservation Law Enforcement Skill Set
The minor combines three specialized Criminal Justice courses with nine hours of interdisciplinary electives in environmental science, policy, law, natural resources, ethics, and sociology.
CRIJ 4360
Conservation Law Enforcement
Examine the laws governing wildlife, wildlife products, state ownership of wildlife, and state and federal regulatory approaches to conservation and public access.
CRIJ 4361
Texas Wildlife Law
Focus specifically on Texas laws governing wildlife and the regulatory tools used by the state to conserve wildlife while balancing public use and access.
CRIJ 4362
Green Criminology
Study environmental crime and harm, including wildlife offenses, pollution, toxic waste, extraction, climate-related harms, offenders, victims, and criminal justice responses.
9
Additional
Credit Hours
Customize Your Minor
Build Your Remaining 9 Credit Hours
After completing the three core Conservation Law Enforcement courses, choose three approved elective courses that complement your interests and career goals. Options span environmental policy, natural resources, law, ethics, and society.
Environment & Natural Resources
ENVS 1302
Science, Technology, and the Environment
ENVS / WSES 3315
Sustainability
WSES 3375
Population, Pollution, and Resource Depletion
Law, Policy & Society
ENVS 3310
Environmental Policy
ENVS 4301
Environmental Law
SOCI 3312
Environmental Sociology
ENVS 4312
International Environmental Issues
Ethics, Land & Stewardship
WSES / ANSC 3323
Ethical Issues in Agriculture and the Natural Resources
PHIL 4305
Environmental Ethics
ENVS 4302
Land Use in the American West
Choose any 9 credit hours from the approved elective list. Work with your academic advisor to select courses that best complement your major, interests, and career goals.
Learn from Experience
Faculty Who Connect the Classroom to the Field
Tarleton Alumnus • Practitioner • Instructor
Gregory Hollis
Gregory Hollis brings direct conservation law enforcement experience into the Tarleton classroom. He earned his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from Tarleton in 2022 and began teaching at the university that same year.
Hollis has served Texas as a game warden since 2016, combining law enforcement, public service, outdoor expertise, and natural-resource protection. His background also includes a Bachelor of Science in Forestry with a concentration in Recreation Management.
Criminology • Environment • wildlife Research
Dr. Leo Genco
Dr. Leo Genco specializes in green criminology, conservation criminology, wildlife crime, and rural crime. His research examines illegal hunting and fishing, environmental harm, and the geographic factors associated with wildlife offenses.
He brings this research expertise into CRIJ 4362 Green Criminology, connecting conservation challenges with criminal justice and law enforcement responses. In this class, students examine crimes and harms affecting wildlife, ecosystems, and communities while exploring how criminal justice institutions respond to environmental offenses.
Why This Matters Here
Texas Needs Law Enforcement Professionals Who Understand the Land
Conservation law enforcement has particular importance in Texas because public safety and natural-resource protection often overlap. Texas officers operate across lakes, rivers, state parks, rural counties, border regions, forests, coastal areas, hunting lands, and rapidly growing communities.
Texas Game Wardens are fully commissioned state peace officers. Their responsibilities extend beyond hunting and fishing violations to criminal enforcement, court testimony, emergency response, natural disasters, homeland security operations, boating and water safety, and protection of natural resources.
State Park Police likewise protect natural and cultural resources while maintaining safe environments for millions of state-park visitors. That combination of public safety, conservation, tourism, outdoor recreation, and emergency response creates a law-enforcement mission that is uniquely important to Texas.
What You Can Gain from the Minor
Law & Regulation
Build knowledge of wildlife law, conservation regulation, environmental law, and enforcement authority.
Environmental Awareness
Understand the environmental conditions and resource conflicts that shape enforcement decisions.
Interdisciplinary Skills
Connect criminal justice with environmental science, policy, sociology, ethics, agriculture, and natural resources.
Career Focus
Add specialized coursework to your degree that reflects a clear interest in conservation-oriented public service.
Ready to Add the Minor?
Declare the Conservation Law Enforcement Minor
Students interested in adding the Conservation Law Enforcement Minor should first review how the 18-hour curriculum fits into their major and graduation plan.
To declare the minor, contact Tarleton Academic Advising Center or the Department of Criminal Justice. An advisor can review your degree plan and help determine how the required and elective courses can fit into your remaining coursework.
Questions About the Minor?
Dr. Olga Semukhina
Department Head
Department of Criminal Justice
semukhina@tarleton.edu
Turn Your Interest in the Outdoors into a Career of Service
Build a degree that connects law enforcement, conservation, wildlife protection, environmental knowledge, and the communities that depend on Texas natural resources.
