Two Montana men have been charged with killing a brown bear on a national wildlife refuge in Southwest Alaska, federal officials said Friday.
Richard McAtee, 46, and Arlon Franz, 51, conspired to transport and posses a brown bear illegally killed in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge between May 9 to May 12, 2022, court documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Alaska state.
McAtee and Franz were charged with one count of conspiracy and two counts of violating the Lacey Act. McAtee had an initial court appearance Aug. 1 and if convicted, both could face up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine, officials said.
The Lacey Act, as defined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says any importation of injurious wildlife into the United States or its territories must be authorized under a permit issued by the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service.
A federal grand jury in Alaska returned the indictment July 18, charging the men in violation of the Lacey Act. It alleged one of the men was a nonresident hunting without a contract with a mastery guide and the bear was shot and killed before the legal season opened, officials said.
McAtee, arrested Wednesday, is from the Kalispell, Montanna, area and Franz is from Sidney, Montanna, federal officials said. Authorities said Friday that Franz has agreed to appear voluntarily and a warrant was not necessary.
The indictment states both defendants salvaged the hide of the bear and transported it from the Alaska Peninsula, a local hunting lodge, Port Moller and finally to Anchorage.
The National Wildlife Refuge System consists of federal land set aside by Congress as, “a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of the present and future generations of Americans.”
Sonny Tapia is a criminal justice and education reporter for the Helena Independent Record. © 2024 the Independent Record (Helena, Mont.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Publish date : 2024-08-05 03:00:00
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