Looking out for wildlife
Don’t try to hide something from Chase Savage. He’ll probably find it.
As a wildlife inspector for the Office of Law Enforcement based at the Port of Baltimore, a large part of Savage’s work involves facilitating the legal trade by reviewing declared shipments and associated documentation. But he has a knack, and a love, for interdiction — intercepting goods that may be illegal or prohibited.
In addition to his duties connected to facilitating the legal trade, Savage has increased his proactive investigations of undeclared wildlife shipments. His investigative skills were so impressive that in 2020, he uncovered 50 percent more illegal wildlife products than in the previous year.
“I started going to express mail facilities in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area that we haven’t had much of a presence at in the past, and looking for oddities in packages as they moved along the conveyor belt,” he said.
Savage’s finds have included a tiger’s head and an entire taxidermized penguin.
Throughout his 11 years as a wildlife inspector, Savage has demonstrated this commitment to going above and beyond his duties time and again, always while maintaining a high standard of excellence in his regular assignments.
Frequently, that has involved going beyond his duty station. He has assisted U.S. Customs and Border Protection with conducting physical inspections of ocean freight at ports that were otherwise unstaffed at the time, where he uncovered evidence that has informed an international investigation into the illegal trade of marine wildlife parts.
Savage was recognized on April 27, 2021, as the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Wildlife Inspector of the Year in 2020 for continually stepping up to take on more work and help others in support of the mission. It’s an ethic that predates his time with the Service.
Driven to serve
As soon as Savage graduated from high school, he enlisted in the United States Marines Corps. Serving his country had become a top priority in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
He completed boot camp, trained as a rifleman, and was deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit to Fallujah, Iraq. During the end of this deployment, on November 10, 2004, Savage was injured by an improvised explosive device while operating a machine gun in the turret of his Humvee, and lost a portion of his right arm.
After 10 months of recovery back in the U.S., Savage was granted medical retirement from the Marines, and enrolled in Mississippi State University to study wildlife science.
“I grew up hunting and fishing in rural Mississippi, so I had always been interested in wildlife,” he explained. “I assumed I would end up working as a biologist on a wildlife refuge or something like that.”
But when he came upon the advertisement for the wildlife inspector position in Baltimore, it seemed like the perfect fit with his background.
His love of the job suggests he was right.
“I really enjoy the inspection side of things, but I also like knowing it’s having a bigger impact when it contributes to a larger investigation,” he said.
Savage regularly assists special agents, and has maintained an active role in an investigation he initiated, involving search warrants and possible grand jury involvement, as well as collaboration with wildlife law enforcement in other countries.
“At times, it may seem like we’re a drop in the bucket in terms of confiscations, but we have inspectors across the country,” he said. “We all play an important role in stopping wildlife trafficking.”
Savage is determined to help expand that role. In previous years, he participated in trainings involving the illegal timber trade, and since then, has shared his experiences and trends with ports outside his own to help build knowledge and awareness of this topic.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture handles permits for wood products, so timber has not traditionally been the purview of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But wildlife inspectors are well positioned to help address this trade too, and as Savage explained, “Without forests, we won’t have wildlife.”
Without inspectors like Chase Savage, we may not have either.
