Colorado Outfitter Receives Probation for Poaching Wildlife

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, an Ignacio outfitter will receive five years of supervised probation, with a number of conditions, for poaching wildlife. Here are the details.

* Parks and Wildlife reported that 66-year-old Robert C. Peck, the owner of Antler Meadows Outfitters in Ignacio, was convicted of wildlife law violations by Colorado's 6th Judicial District Court in Durango.

* Following an investigation led by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with the assistance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Peck was initially charged with 14 counts. Those counts included six felonies that could have resulted in more than $600,000 in fines and 18 years in jail.

* Tips from the public "were important in this investigation," Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported.

* According to Bayfield district wildlife manager Cary Carron, Peck's actions "have had a major negative impact on buck deer populations in La Plata County for many years." Carron added that Peck "displayed a blatant disregard for wildlife and the people in this area. Poaching is basically stealing wildlife from the public."

* Peck accepted a plea deal in which he was convicted of seven misdemeanors, including three counts of hunting without a proper and valid license, three counts of illegal possession of wildlife and one count of illegal transfer of a license.

* A one-year prison term was suspended, but could be enforced if Peck violates any of the terms of his probation, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

* In addition to the five years of supervised probation, Peck's plea deal also prohibits him from hunting anywhere in the United States. He is also prohibited from participating in any hunting-related activities, including guiding hunters, leasing land for hunting, brokering licenses or participating in any commercial hunting activities, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported.

* In accordance with his probation conditions, Peck also cannot own or handle firearms or possess any body parts of any wildlife species.

* Peck has agreed to pay around $8,000 in fines for the wildlife violations and must make a $10,000 donation to Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Operation Game Thief program.

* Operation Game Thief is a nonprofit wildlife crimestoppers organization that relies on the public to report information about activities that violate the state's wildlife laws. Rewards are offered for information that leads to an arrest or a citation being issued.

* Since 1981, Colorado's Operation Game Thief has received more than 2,400 reports of poaching, resulting in more than 700 convictions. Nearly $130,000 in rewards have been paid to citizens making the reports.

* According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, poachers are generally not killing animals to feed their families, but rather are killing for the thrill of it, to lash out against wildlife laws, or for profit.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-outfitter-receives-probation-poaching-wildlife-222800664.html

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