Regional Roundup
Upper Snake — December 2009

As reported by Regional Conservation Officer John Hanson.

Region Activities

• Several officers volunteered for the annual Shop-With-A-Cop program at two locations this year. District Conservation Officer Mark Carson and Senior Conservation Officer Clark Shackelford participated in the Idaho Falls program, while Senior Conservation Officer Tony Imthurn, Senior Conservation Officer Andrew Sorensen and Regional Conservation Officer John Hanson participated at Rexburg.
• Officers attended the annual pre-season Sand Creek Desert Closure meeting with the BLM and local county sheriffs' offices. Most participants were satisfied with the progression of enforcement effort and compliance in 2009 and look forward to continuing the effort in 2010. Most discussion involved minor operational tweaking.
• RCO Hanson met with the regional program managers to discuss possible projects for enforcement officers to participate in where personnel funding is provided. Lots of tentative ideas with few concrete possibilities. The most likely possibility involves officers manning the fish weir at Blacks Creek off of the South Fork Snake River. It would offer about 240 hours of personnel dollars from Pitman-Robertson funds over a three month period in the spring.
• Many officers were involved with patrolling the Sand Creek Desert during December. Officers patrolled 10 man-days and issued five citations to Shoshone-Bannock Tribe members for hunting and harvesting elk on private ground. (The Sho-Ban treaty allows the tribe to hunt only on federal unoccupied lands.) Most of the activity occurred between Christmas and New Years near Hamer on potato fields in Unit 60A. Several hundred elk were chased and hunted by tribal and non-tribal members. Five bull elk were seized as evidence. Officers also issued two citations to Unit 63 elk hunters for killing elk in Unit 60A.
  • As a result, officers met with Sho-Ban Tribal wardens who expressed the desire to pursue the violations on their members in Tribal Court on the Fort Hall Reservation. We are presently holding off prosecution of state charges in abeyance that tribal charges, prosecution, penalties and revocations are brought forth against the tribal members.
• RI Rob Howe investigated the report of a mountain lion attacking a man on a snow-machine in the Jack Pine Loop area northeast of Driggs. Apparently, the snow-machine rider stopped to wait for another person when he was knocked off his sled. When he came up, he was face to face with the mountain lion. The cat quickly disappeared when the other person arrived. It was assumed that the cat was equally surprised as the snow-machine rider when it found a mouth full of snow machine helmet.
• SCO Andrew Sorensen and RCO John Hanson met with the victim of the hunting accident at Cartier Slough Wildlife Management Area. The victim was shot while walking his dog at the WMA when a deer hunter mistook the man's dog for a deer. The victim was shot through the ankle and will likely suffer permanent damage. The shooter was illegally using a high-powered rifle in a short range weapon hunt and also possessed the wrong tag for the unit. Idaho Fish and Game filed charges for the hunting violations and Madison County Sheriff's Office filed charges for negligent discharge of firearm.

Most officers assisted the regional wildlife program with the annual mule deer trapping and tagging project. Trapping activities that officers assisted in took place in Mackey, Arco, Reno Point, Juniper Hills, Teton River, Heise and Tex Creek this year.

• Ice fishing picked up in the beginning of the month on Island Park Reservoir. People where doing the best by the dam for large rainbows early on. Fishing success has fallen slightly, but people are spreading out over the lake and kokanee are starting to bite.
• Officers have worked illegal trap lines in the district. One particular trap line of interest is in the Chick Creek area where SCO Josh Koontz had a reporting party who stated a trapper was waiting four days to check traps; possibly alternating three days then four days to check.
• SCO Lauren Wendt completed citation and reports on the Hog Hollow elk case that began in November. Suspects pleaded guilty on December 9 in Fremont County Magistrate Court.
  • Sergio Trejo, of Ashton, was fined $2375, with a two-year license revocation, 120 days in jail suspended, and two years unsupervised probation.
  • Hernan Labra, of Ashton, was fined $430, with a one-year license revocation, 30 days in jail suspended, two years unsupervised probation.
• SCO Wendt and SCO Shackelford interviewed a Victor resident for unlawful possession of a white-tailed deer and an ATV violation.
• SCO Andrew Sorensen hosted several BYU-I students that volunteered to go on a ride-along with him during the month.