Indiana Conservation Officer Chris Long has been selected the 2021 District 9 Officer of the Year.
Long is assigned to Dearborn and Ohio counties and has been a conservation officer since 2019.
In addition to his normal duties as a field officer, he also serves as a side-scan sonar operator.
District 9 includes Rush, Ripley, Fayette, Union, Franklin, Decatur, Dearborn, Ohio, Switzerland, Jefferson, and Jennings counties in southeast Indiana.
The district award puts Long in the running for the Pitzer Award, which is given to the top overall conservation officer in the state and selected from the 10 district award winners.
The Pitzer award is named after Indiana Conservation Officer James D. Pitzer, who was fatally shot while investigating illegal hunting activity on Jan. 2, 1961, in Jay County.