Does anyone keep up with saving the wolf population?
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2...09.asp#anchor6
Wolf Kill Costs Idaho Vigilante Dearly
MOSCOW, Idaho, August 3, 2004 (ENS) - The killing of a gray wolf has cost a Lewiston, Idaho man $21,252 and the loss of his hunting privileges nationwide for one year.
Robin Shafer pleaded guilty to the killing of a gray wolf on Thursday in federal court in Moscow. He was ordered to serve one year of probation with nationwide revocation of hunting privileges, and to pay the fine to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Shafer was charged with violating the Endangered Species Act, including the killing, possession, and transport of a gray wolf, a threatened species.
Shafer admitted that he had shot and killed the wolf during a 2003 elk hunt near Elk River, Idaho, and that he had taken the tail of the wolf to his Lewiston residence. The wolf, an adult female, was not radio-collared.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho Department of Fish and Game began investigating the case in late 2003 after the department received a tip from a concerned citizen.
State and federal investigators found the carcass of what appeared to be a wolf with its tail missing under about four feet of snow near the campsite Shafer had used during the 2003 elk season. The remains were sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Forensics Lab in Ashland, Oregon for confirmation.
The investigation indicated that the wolf had not been attacking or threatening Shafer when he shot it, and that he had transported the wolf carcass to his camp to show it to others.
Shafer is believed to have killed the wolf because of his opposition to the reintroduction of the species into Idaho. Sentencing Shafer, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams said, "Regardless of whether you agree with the law or not, you can not engage in vigilantism."
Federal investigators requested that the court order Shafer to pay the restitution to an Idaho Fish and Game account where it will be used to help offset costs of the state's gray wolf management program.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is arranging payment of a monetary reward to the concerned citizen whose call initiated the investigation. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Law Enforcement Field Supervisor, Craig Tabor, said, "We hope that this penalty will serve as a deterrent to others who would take the law into their own hands, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to provide funds that will support Idaho's increasing role in wolf management."
The Interior Department is taking steps to hand more responsibility for wolf management to the states, including Idaho.
