Idaho outfitter and guide fined for illegal bighorn sheep hunts

CHALLIS (Idaho Statesman) – One Idaho outfitter and another guide and former outfitter owe thousands in fines and are banned from leading hunting trips for several years after they committed federal wildlife crimes.

The two Challis men were sentenced in Pocatello last week for violating the Lacey Act, a federal law that prohibits the interstate transport of wildlife obtained by illegal means.

A news release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho said the men, one a licensed outfitter and guide for White Cloud outfitters and the other a former outfitter and current guide for the same business, illegally sold and led hunts for bighorn sheep in an area of the Salmon-Challis National Forest that is closed to commercial guiding.

Bighorn sheep killed on the trips were transported to Utah and Alaska, the news release said.

Each man pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of a Lacey Act violation.

Chief Idaho District Judge David C. Nye sentenced one man to two years of probation and the other to four years of probation, during which time the men are banned from hunting and participating in or profiting from any outfitting or guiding activities.

Each man was also ordered to pay $9,500 to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, which funds payments made to whistleblowers in wildlife crimes, and $15,000 in restitution to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

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