As a former Deputy Commissioner for Natural Resources at NYS DEC, I had a number of great wildlife encounters - helicopter surveys of moose, banding bald eagles and loons. The most memorable one was sampling the federally-endangered Atlantic Sturgeon. I joined the Division of Marine Resources staff on the Hudson River, netting sturgeon, weighing and measuring them before returning them to the water. Saving that pre-historic fish makes DEC's work so vital.