Road maps can be great to navigate by, but don't use them when hunting. An Oregon man discovered that the hard way when he was cited by Grand Teton National Park officials for taking an elk inside the park boundaries.
Rangers responded to two reports of possible illegal hunting in the park earlier this week on the first day of elk season on the adjoining Bridger-Teton National Forest. The first report notified rangers that a hunter on a guided trip killed an elk sometime between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. north of the Bailey Creek road, which lies within the park. Rangers, however, determined that the animal was killed legally on the Bridger-Teton National Forest and outside of the park's boundary.
Later that day, though, they cited Dane Clark, 49, of Pineville, Oregon, with a mandatory appearance for the taking of wildlife in the park. Rangers received a report at approximately 6 p.m. of the incident from a hunting guide service. They reported that a hunter was removing a dead elk from the Arizona Creek trail inside Grand Teton.
Investigating rangers encountered Mr. Clark while he was packing out the bull elk, but the man fully cooperated with rangers showing them where the elk was shot, a park release said. Rangers determined the elk was killed about one mile inside of the park boundary.
Investigating rangers discovered that the hunter was using a road map rather than a topographical map to identify the boundary line. They said Mr. Clark mistook one peak for another, incorrectly believing he was outside of the national park boundary and in a legal hunting area on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. They added that he had not visually located the boundary before hunting.
Rangers remind park users that hunting generally is prohibited in Grand Teton and only those who have been issued a permit to participate in the park's Elk Reduction Program can lawfully take wildlife in the national park. The Elk Reduction Program is a cooperative management tool used to regulate elk population numbers and was established by Congress in the 1950 enabling legislation that created Grand Teton National Park.
Rangers thank Good Samaritans for reporting alleged illegal activity in the park and often rely on such actions to assist in protecting visitors and park resources. Visitors and park users are reminded that rangers are consistently on patrol, monitoring activities to assure for the safety and well being of visitors and the park's cultural and natural resources. To report an incident, please call the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center at 307-739-3300.
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Comments
"Wrong map" my butt! I'm not buying that one for a minute!
The sad reality is that many hunters poach prime specimens inside park no-hunting
or private boundaries; they know that few rangers patrol beyond comfortable roads in their
heated SUVs. There are also park employees engaged in illegal hunting: this so--called "sport"
(what chance does any animal have against today's weaponry ?) is devoid of any professional
ethics. Many tax-payer supported State Wildlife agencies are managed by hunters least
interested in any conservation biological efforts to save threatened or endangered species
they often disrespect with pejorative terms. Even the $ penalities for illegal hunting hardly
discouraged the determined career felon with their licenses returned after a short period.
Anon, I sure don't know what rangers you're referring to. Many I know spend hours or even days on horseback -- sometimes in blizzard conditions -- riding boundary patrol.
You seem to have an axe to grind. If you have legitimate complaints that you can document, why not blow a loud whistle? Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a good place to find help.
Another reality is that mapreading - land navigation - is rarely taught or learned outside of the Scouts and the military. My guess is that - given how little we know about the particulars of this case - it's probably 50/50 between intentional poaching and can't read a map.
Dear Anon-- Please provide specific proof of your statement that"..many hunters poach prime specimens inside park no-hunting or private boundaries" Actually I suspect you are simply "Anti-hunting" and have no real basis for that statement. Your accusation about park rangers is really obnoxious and untrue.
Reference: "Your accusation about park rangers is really obnoxious and untrue."
To update your background on how The NPS has lost Key Leadership known for Integrity, please
read the story below (you will find tourism business majors in key NPS Positions who care not for
wildlife sustainable managment, threatened or endangered species or many other natural or
cultural history subjects; these newer business majors/division chiefs/superintendents are
Business School/Tourism alumni- culturally guided by GREED) and compensated with promotions
by taxpayer dollars to approx. $150,000/year plus perks/benefits.
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I work on a state park and our boundary lines on Google maps and Google Earth are wrong. Both show us having about 500 acres more than we actually have so it's possible that the map he was using was wrong.
Dear anon-- so one NPS employee did something wrong-- that makes them all crooks?? Using quite a broad brush there aren't we?? For some reason you seem to have an axe to grind??