{"id":1403618,"date":"2023-12-20T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=454734"},"modified":"2023-12-20T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T17:00:00","slug":"grizzly-bear-poachers-flout-the-endangered-species-act-and-get-away-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/12\/20\/grizzly-bear-poachers-flout-the-endangered-species-act-and-get-away-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzly Bear Poachers Flout the Endangered Species Act \u2014 and Get Away With It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Co-published in partnership with High <\/a>Country<\/a> News<\/a> and Montana Free Press<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was hunting<\/span> season in Wyoming\u2019s Shoshone National Forest, and the Marine sniper was alone on a backcountry trail more than an hour\u2019s hike from his vehicle. He carried a camouflage Remington rifle and was in sight of an elk herd when a grizzly bear emerged from the brush. In a series of audio and video recordings from that autumn day in 2015, he narrated what happened next:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just got attacked by a grizzly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI fucking laid into him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t want a big bear like that where I hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m smoking him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is destiny. That bear attacked the wrong man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Finally, after tracking down the federally protected grizzly he had shot, seeing blood along the way, he said, \u201cLooks like I found a dead bear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kneeling over the dead grizzly with his rifle in hand, the man took selfies and recorded a narration of his wilderness adventure. The bear\u2019s coat was splattered in blood. The Marine cut off one of its claws then continued his hunt, spending two more nights in the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until he completed his hunt several days later that he reported the bear\u2019s death, as required by federal law. By then, investigators were already on the case, alerted to the grizzly\u2019s killing by an anonymous tipster who had encountered the Marine during his trip. The Marine kept the bear claw as a souvenir, the tipster told investigators, according to their report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Marine, on reserve duty at the time, told U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents that the bear charged him. The killing was in self-defense, he said. He was \u201chappy for the experience and thought it was pretty cool.\u201d After killing the bear, the Marine admitted, he went on to kill an elk that he did not tag, ignoring his legal obligation to register the kill with state officials who issue a set number of hunting licenses each year. His plan, he told investigators, was to illegally use his tag for a future hunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n The Marine, whose name is redacted in the report, had a history of legal infractions, the agents soon discovered, including a warning from a Wyoming wildlife law enforcement officer for harming or killing a kit fox. They seized his recording devices. Besides photos of the dead bear and elk, they found pictures of a bald eagle carcass. The Marine claimed he had nothing to do with the bird\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Killing an endangered or threatened species in self-defense is not a crime. Cutting off a grizzly\u2019s claw for a souvenir, however, is a clear violation of the Endangered Species Act and associated regulations. In their incident report, the feds determined that the Marine had likely violated a slew of federal and state laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hunter was found guilty of wasting an elk under a Wyoming state law and ordered to pay a $640 fine. A federal prosecutor, however, declined to bring charges<\/a> under the ESA. The Marine faced no consequences for desecrating a protected grizzly bear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n