After nearly 32 years of state service, NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Mike Arp is calling it a career. Retiring this week, Mike has been our local ECO, first in Albany, then Greene County for the past 22 years.
Mike started state service as a Correction Officer from 1989 to 1996. After receiving a bachelors in criminal justice from SUNY Albany in 1996, he began his career as an ECO in Region 1 on Long Island. Transferring to Region 4 in 1999, Mike served as a dog handler from 2006 to 2015. He and his K9 assisted fellow officers finding evidence, guns, spent shell casings, and successfully tracking lost people as well as fugitives.
ECO Arp was the recipient of the Shikar Safari Club International Doug Kerr Award for Excellence in Conservation Law Enforcement in 2004. He received numerous captains’ commendations throughout his career and served at the World Trade Center on 9/11, and during responses to Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and Super Storm Sandy.
Mike had a couple of particularly notable cases during his career. One was while working as an ECO on Long Island. Acting on a tip that two professional clam poachers were working the dangerously polluted waters of Jamaica Bay, Mike set out to find them.
Peering through a nightscope at 3:00 am, he spotted the two illegally digging clams in waters off the runways of JFK Airport.
Mike had a boat lined up operated by ECOs Mike Terrell and John Fitzpatrick anticipating they would make contact with the poachers.
As the ECO boat cut through the dark night and got within feet of the pirate vessel, a high-speed pursuit ensued. One fly in the ointment was that when the outlaws weren’t illegally clamming, they were professional ocean boat racers. S
peeds over water quickly approached upwards of 80 mph.
Knowing the outlaw’s sideline, Mike and his fellow officers prepared for this eventuality and had an NYPD helicopter on standby at nearby Floyd Bennet Field which allowed the chase to continue. One NYPD chopper flew just feet over the gunnels of the racing clam bandits and flying UNDER the Verrazano Bridge!
The 23-mile pursuit continued up the East River until the clam pirates rammed a NYC Corrections vessel called out from Rikers Island. NYC Corrections Officers boarded the vessel that rammed them and arrested the two clam poaching pirates.
Had the contaminated clams hit seafood markets, sickness or worse could well have ensued if consumed due to human coliform and heavy metals contamination.
Closer to home, I recall Mike catching a crew of deer jackers in the act of shooting deer at night from the back of a pick-up in New Baltimore. When Mike focused on poaching, he was often very successful. I worked with Mike for more than 20 years and have always found him to be firm but fair in his approach to conservation law enforcement.
Speaking of enforcement, to say Mike comes from a law enforcement family is an understatement. I worked with Mike’s father, Trooper Herman Arp out of SP Catskill for many years. Herman and wife Marge, who sadly passed away just a few years ago, were the proud parents of four boys, all of whom became law enforcement officers.
Danny Arp retired after service as a Greene County Deputy, Billy Arp still works as a Park Police Officer, and Steve Arp is a NYS Trooper.
I’m sure Herman and Marge are gazing down upon all of their son ‘s with pride for their service and accomplishments as law enforcement professionals.
Please join me in wishing Mike Arp and his family all the best as he embarks on the next phase of his life in retirement.
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and Happy Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping until next time.
News and Notes
Polish Sportsmen’s Club Ham Shoot — Sunday, March 28: On Sunday, March 28 beginning at 9 a.m., the Polish Sportsmen’s Club will be hosting a Ham Shoot at their facility on Newman Road in Greenport. Lunch will be served between 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Covid Restrictions will be observed.
Remember to report poaching violations by calling 1-844-DEC-ECOS.
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