Update on Trespassing Wolves....

[JoseCuervo]

Wolf biologist charged with trespassing

Associated Press ѿ April 19, 2004

CODY — Criminal trespassing charges have been filed against a federal wolf recovery official and another man who were found with four wolves on a private ranch.

The men may have inadvertently landed their helicopter on private land Feb. 14 to place radio tracking collars on four wolves that had been tranquilized, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have said.

Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric said biologist Michael Jimenez of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Wesley Livingston of Hawkins and Powers Aviation, each faced two counts: trespassing and placing or depositing objects upon the property of another, "more commonly known as littering," according to a statement released through his office.

Both are misdemeanor counts that carry maximum penalties of up to $750 in fines and up to six months in jail, he said. The statement did not specify what items were considered to be litter.

Jimenez, wolf recovery project leader for Wyoming, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Friday.

Sharon Rose, a spokeswoman with the regional office of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said she hadn't yet seen anything and could not comment. "I know we have been looking into the incident and we'll continue to do that and proceed however is best for the situation we have here," she said.

Dan Hawkins of Hawkins and Powers declined comment.

Skoric, who also was not immediately available for comment, said a formal complaint was made through his office by Randy Kruger, a shareholder in the Larsen Ranch Co., who said he had found the two men on his property "tending to four tranquilized wolves." Skoric then requested an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

Wolves are a touchy subject because ranchers fear for their livestock, and news of the Larsen Ranch complaint led some to charge Fish and Wildlife with secretly trying to transplant the wolves into the area.

Kruger's wife, Sharen, said Friday that the ranchers "just wanted to know we still had some private property rights. That's the main reason we were doing anything."

Last month, in a letter addressed to Ralph Larsen of Meeteetse, Regional Director Ralph Morgenweck said that the wolf monitoring team believed it was on public land and that it is never the agency's intent to go on private property without the landowner's permission.

"If our team was on your land while processing these wolves, it was an honest mistake which prompted Mr. Jimenez to call you to apologize personally when he realized the team may have been on your property," he wrote.

Morgenweck said four of the wolves that had been captured were taken by helicopter "a couple of miles to a location safe to land on a county road so they could be" examined and have radio collars fitted and biological samples taken.

"The wolves were moved to an unfenced and unsigned flat area on the down slope of the road" in a shady area, he said. During the processing of the wolves, the helicopter left to refuel, he said.

He said Jimenez introduced himself to Kruger when Kruger stopped by, and that during the conversation "there was no mention by Mr. Kruger of the crew being on private land."

 

[JoseCuervo]

Two interesting points... The land was "unfenced and unsigned." and secondly, now another Rancher is filing trespassing 'cuz he saw a green pickup on his land....

Rancher wins an apology for wolf incident



CODY, Wyo. — Saying it was an "honest mistake," a federal official apologized to a rancher whose land a government wildlife biologist breached while placing tracking collars on wolves.

"I apologize to you if our wolf monitoring team inadvertently used your land to place radio collars on four wolves we had tranquilized," Ralph Morganweck, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wrote to Ralph Larsen of the Larsen Land Co.

A copy of the letter was sent to Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who has asked for an investigation by the departments of Interior and Justice at the request of the Park County Commission.

Enzi's action was prompted by Randy Kruger, a Larsen Ranch stockholder and employee, who filed a complaint with Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric. Skoric asked the state Division of Criminal Investigation to investigate. Its results are still pending.

Kruger said the federal agency did not have permission to use ranch land for handling wolves on Feb. 14.

Morganweck's letter noted the site was "unfenced and unsigned."

"The wolf monitoring crew believed they were on public land," as it had caught the wolves primarily on public land, he added.

"It is never the Fish and Wildlife Service's intention to go onto private property without the express permission of the landowner. If our team was on your land while processing these wolves, it was an honest mistake," he said.

Morganweck said it was important that the wolves, which were from the Washakie pack, be collared because they had killed livestock in the past.

The radio collars allow biologists to find wolves and deal with problem animals and minimize depredation, he said.

"As a result of this monitoring, we now know the Washakie pack moved out of the immediate area and are back near their usual territory near Dubois," he said.

Meantime, a second Meeteetse ranch filed a trespass complaint against the feds.

Daniel Ochsner and Susan Barrett, owners of the Flying River Ranch near Meeteetse, and ranch manager Jim Gould said a green truck with government license plates drove on their land without permission on Feb. 15.

State and federal agency representatives said they are unaware of the incident.

The state Game and Fish Department uses green pickups, according to Gary Brown, a wildlife supervisor with the state agency, said. If department personnel are involved in a law enforcement action, they need not contact the landowner, he said.

If they are entering private land to collect specimens, he said, the state will contact the landowner.

 

[Bambistew]

This is a waste of time and money... I wonder how much money has been spent on this already? For a maximum of $750 fine???

I got a bullshit tresspasing ticket in an area that was unsigned and unfenced, but the law states you have to know where you are at all times. The ticket I got was for "tresspassing" on public land too... It was two of them against me, and I had no way to prove that I wasnt' on thier land... The rancher just didn't like me because I would hike up behind his ranch on the forest and pick up all "his" antlers.