Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Five have pleaded guilty to combining to take 265 snow geese over the permitted limit.
The five people charged with combining to kill 265 snow geese over the permitted limit all have pleaded guilty to charges and together will pay more than $55,000 in fines and replacement costs, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced today. Read more
African Wildlife Foundation lauds Chinese government’s increasing steps to stem illegal ivory trade, including indications to phase out domestic trade
BEIJING—Following on the heels of an initiative announced yesterday by the Beijing Capital International Airport Customs Office to inform Chinese air travelers to never buy ivory abroad and bring it home, the Chinese government today symbolically destroyed 662 kgs of ivory outside of Beijing. It further indicated it may eventually phase out its domestic ivory trade. With China being the world’s largest ivory-consuming nation and with 25,000 to 35,000 elephants killed in Africa each year to supply the illicit ivory trade, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) applauds the Chinese government for taking steps to ensure its citizens do not contribute to the illegal trade. Read more
At 9 a.m. Nov. 18, conservation officer Richard Cardenas received a complaint that had been phoned in to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Report All Poaching Line about a deer that had been shot.
The caller said she was awakened by a loud thud against her house at approximately 3 a.m. When she went outside to investigate, she discovered a deer lying near her house between a woodshed and the back porch. She then witnessed her neighbor come into her yard, claim the deer and drag it by the antlers to his property.
After speaking to the witness, Cardenas went to the suspect’s residence next door, where he contacted the suspect and observed a bait pile in the backyard, with spotlights from the house pointed toward it.
Cardenas questioned the suspect about the deer in the back of his pickup truck, including about what time of day he shot the deer. The suspect first told Cardenas that he shot the deer at 6 a.m. After further questioning, the suspect changed his answer to say he didn’t know what the time was when he shot the deer. Read more
GW: Disgusting for sure. Michigan has just increased poaching penalties, and as far as I’m concerned, they could be much higher – especially if a youngster is induced to cooperate with a perverted mentor. And, when I think about how much a private property owner/wildlife manager puts into habitat improvements, etc., it makes me grit my teeth.
This New York buck, estimated to be 5.5 years old by hunters on a 1,700-acre QDM Cooperative in Washington County, was shot by a poacher at night from a public road in late October 2013. The poacher took the head and abandoned the rest of the buck in the ditch. QDMA staff biologist Matt Ross (pictured here) lives nearby and helped start the Cooperative.
The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) supports New York Senate Bill 4727 and Assembly Bill A7171, which would increase the penalties for the illegal taking of deer and help reduce the number of unlawful activities with respect to white-tailed deer poaching. QDMA believes Senate Bill 4727 and Assembly Bill A7171 would benefit the state of New York, its wildlife and citizenry.
DENVER–Assistant hunting outfitter and guide Nicholaus Rodgers, was sentenced to 6 months home confinement, a $5,000 fine, 50 hours of community service and 3 years’ probation for conspiring to violate the Lacey Act, a federal wildlife protection law. During his probation he is prohibited from hunting or fishing. Rodgers, worked as an assistant hunting guide for Loncarich Guides and Outfitters. The conspiracy involved felony interstate transportation and sale of unlawfully taken wildlife, and felony creation of false records concerning wildlife that was sold in interstate commerce. The sentence was the result of a joint investigation by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read more
March 4, 2015 Tucson, AZ – Joseph Hosmer, President, Safari Club International Foundation (SCI Foundation), announced that SCI Foundation’s Hunter Legacy 100 Fund (HLF) donated $100,000 to provide the Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Tanzania (WCFT) with vehicles to be used by anti-poaching patrols.
SCI Foundation has outfitted anti-poaching units with two fully equipped Toyota Land Cruisers to monitor the Selous Game Reserve. These new Cruisers will allow teams to locate and track areas most susceptible to poachers.
“I am very sure that the elephants and other wildlife are more secure today and we already see the difference in the bush,” WCFT Trustees and Executive Vice President Eric Pasanisi said. “On behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Tanzania, I would like to sincerely thank you for your generous donation to our fight to preserve our wildlife in Tanzania.”
The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to ban elephant imports from Tanzania has limited conservation funding considerably; but SCI Foundation’s grant has allowed the WCFT to mobilize additional scouts and maintain programs in place to protect Tanzania’s wildlife. Read more
A Jackson County man has confessed to the illegal killing of a small bull elk during the firearm deer season in Otsego County, according to Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers who investigated the incident.
A passerby discovered elk parts dumped along a rural road Nov. 29, 2014. A DNR conservation officer investigating the scene located a grocery store receipt among the entrails of an elk. A six-week investigation ensued, with a suspect being identified and interviewed. A confession was obtained, and charges are now being reviewed by the Otsego County prosecutor.
According to Lt. Jim Gorno, DNR law enforcement supervisor in Gaylord, conservation officers from the DNR’s Gaylord Customer Service Center were assisted in the investigation by officers from southern Michigan, a diligent Report All Poaching (RAP) Hotline dispatcher, and a detective from the department’s Special Investigations Unit.
“This case started with very limited clues and evidence, but through solid investigative follow-up, in conjunction with excellent teamwork being displayed by several of our officers around the state, it was brought to a successful conclusion,” said Gorno. “It shows diligence and tenacity in investigating cases involving our high-value fish and game species.” Read more
AUSTIN – Texas game wardens have seized a Mexican shark-fishing boat in state waters near the Texas-Mexico border.
Wardens were patrolling the Gulf of Mexico earlier today for illegal fishing activity when they spotted a Mexican fishing boat moving northbound in Texas waters.
When the wardens, who were operating a 29-foot Safe Boat equipped with twin 250-horsepower motors, attempted to stop the boat its occupants ignored the state vessel and began racing back toward Mexican waters. After a brief pursuit, the wardens were able to pull along the boat and get it stopped. Read more
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard interdicted one Mexican fishing vessel, Friday, after observing the vessel’s crewmembers poaching in U.S. waters.
At approximately 12:00 p.m., while on a routine patrol, an Air Station Corpus Christi aircrew aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter spotted a lancha north of the United States – Mexico maritime border and offshore of South Padre Island. When sighted by the helicopter the lancha fled. The helicopter crew then notified the Sector Corpus Christi Command Center and commenced pursuit of the lancha.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command diverted a crew aboard a Station South Padre Island 33-foot law enforcement boat to interdict the lancha. The Dolphin helicopter aircrew vectored in the law enforcement boat as the lancha fled toward the border. After a more than 30-minute pursuit, the lancha crew was stopped 10 miles into Mexico’s Exclusive Economic Zone. There were no injuries or damage to either the lancha or the pursuit boat after the pursuit in 4-5 foot seas. The four Mexican nationals aboard admitted to fishing illegally in U.S. waters and had 12 red snapper, 2 nurse sharks and 1 grouper totaling 150 pounds aboard their lancha. Read more
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Coast Guard crews seized a total of approximately 3 miles of long line fishing gear set by multiple Mexican fishermen operating illegally in U.S. waters Jan. 30.
Last night, Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack sighted multiple vessels moving at a high rate of speed southwards the maritime border. Unable to interdict the vessels, Amberjack returned to the vicinity of initial sighting, where crewmembers removed 700 yards of long line gear late last night and recovered an additional 4,400 yards this morning. The majority of the gear was found approximately 35 miles off the coast of South Texas.
Each mile of long line has scores of baited hooks and is capable of catching hundreds of fish per mile set. The seized lines contained 175 red snapper, 16 sharks, 3 stingrays and several other reef fish. Approximately 170 of these fish were found alive and released at sea. Read more