Agency Profile: The Ohio Division of Wildlife

Wildlife Pilot: Joe Barber

by W. H. (Chip) Gross
Editor, Wild Ohio Magazine

As far back as he can remember, 35-year-old Joe Barber not only wanted to be a pilot, but a natural resources pilot. “I remember taking my first flight in a small plane—a Cessna 182—when I was just seven years old,” Barber said. “I got a little touch of air sickness, but I wasn’t discouraged. I knew that some day, if possible, I wanted to combine my love of the outdoors with flying and be at the controls of an aircraft.”

Wildlife Pilot Joe Barber has been flying both airplanes and helicopters full-time for the Division of Wildlife for the past six years. His assignments range from aerial wildlife surveys to wildlife law enforcement surveillance projects. On weekends, he flies UH1 helicopters for the Ohio Army National Guard where he holds the rank of major.

Following high school, Barber began pursuing his dream by attending Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, majoring in biology. “I also wanted to get the best flight training available,” said Barber, “and I knew that meant eventually joining the military, so I enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program while I was in school.”

After graduating from college in 1986, Barber spent the next six years on active duty with the U.S. Army, continuing his flight training in both airplanes and helicopters. Upon his discharge from the military he took a job for a time in the financial world as an investment adviser, but continued to fly on weekends for the Ohio Army National Guard, as he does yet today. Barber finally achieved his professional goal in 1995 when he was hired by the Division of Wildlife to replace retiring, long-time Division Pilot John Clem.

Currently, the Division of Wildlife owns two fixed-wing aircraft and one helicopter. “The airplanes are twin-engine Italian-made Partenavias, both six-seaters,” Barber said. “The helicopter is a five-seat Bell 206B3 Jet Ranger. We keep them hangared at OSU’s Don Scott field in Columbus.”

The Division of Wildlife owns three aircraft—two airplanes and a helicopter. The fixed-wing aircraft are twin-engine six-seat Partenavias. Barber is pictured attaching a telemetry antenna to the wing of one of the planes which allows biologists to track radio-collared wildlife species from the air.

According to Barber, he flies a variety of assignments for the Division, involving everything from wildlife surveys concerning waterfowl, furbearers, upland game, deer, and fish to endangered species. The aircraft are also used for wildlife law enforcement surveillance work.

“For example, we fly Lake Erie’s international boundary between Ohio and Canada looking for illegal commercial fishing,” he said. “Downstate, we use the aircraft to watch for illegal spotlighting of wildlife at night, deer poaching, illegal waterfowl baiting, or road shooting.

The Division’s helicopter is a Bell 206B3 Jet Ranger, used for aerial wildlife work requiring a slow-moving aircraft that can maneuver close to the ground. Such applications include checking bald eagle nests or rounding up Canada geese during the birds’ annual flightless period in early summer.

“Miscellaneous flights might include Canada goose round-ups, aerial photography, or pesticide and herbicide applications. And sometimes my role is simply just transportation,” Barber said, “such as during the last two winters when we reintroduced snowshoe hares to Ohio. It was my job to fly the hares from where they were live-trapped in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula back to Ohio for release by wildlife biologists.”

Asked what he enjoys about his work, Barber surprisingly mentions more than just the opportunity to fly. “It comes down to simply what the Division of Wildlife is all about: ensuring that the wildlife resources we have today can continue to be enjoyed by people into the future. For instance, my two children enjoy the outdoors and I want them and others to be able to do that all of their lives, just like I have. That’s why I do what I do.”