| President's Message Greetings from Tucson...... Newsletter
Let me begin by once again encouraging each of you
to submit any and all articles directly to Bill Halainen. Bill moved up there from
Washington, D.C., over the past several months, which is one of the reasons why we didn't
have a summer issue this year. Bill says he expects to be meeting the quarterly
publication schedule regularly now that he's settled. The next edition will be out this
coming January.
Availability
Pay Update
On October 5th, FLEOA President Vic Oboyski
advised me that President Clinton had signed the FY 95 Treasury and Postal Appropriations
Bill on Friday, September 30th. As most all of you know, legislation on availability pay
(H.R. 4539) was included within that bill. With the exception of several OIG departments
that had not been receiving any AUO for their members, all FLSA exempt criminal
investigators in those agencies who were on record supporting H.R. 4539 were converted
over to availability pay, effective October 1st. Vic advised that several of the OIG
departments received a year's extension to begin payment of availability pay, since their
FY 95 budgets had been submitted and approved well before the addition of that provision.
I do not have any additional information regarding the implementation of availability pay
for Fish and Wildlife officer's, but will pass any news along through regional reps as it
becomes available.
I would like to take the opportunity to personally
thank Vic Oboyski of FLEOA and Dick Livingston of NMFS for their efforts with the joint
House- Senate committee adding specific language to include FWS officers in the
availability pay bill. Considerable FWOA ammo as expended on this issue over the summer to
insure that we were included in this important piece of legislation. I would also like to
thank John Doggett for his extremely valuable and timely assistance in coordinating
efforts with both the Service and the Department. I think you all can be justifiably proud
of your association's efforts on this important issue.
Regional Rep
Elections
Congratulations to Sam Jojola of Reno, Nevada, for
his election as Region 1 FWOA representative. Regions 2 and 7 need to conduct elections
for regional reps; results can be forwarded directly to Secretary/Treasurer Kevin O'Brien.
Conversion
to GS-1811 Series
A proposal for converting to the GS-1811 criminal
investigator series surfaced recently. I'd really like to hear from the membership on this
issue and ask that you contact your regional reps with your views, whether pro or con. I
feel that this change could have some excellent long-term benefits, provided that a series
conversion doesn't somehow affect the OPM standards currently utilized in classifying our
investigators. I'll keep you posted on details as we look further into this issue.
FLEOA Membership
I strongly encourage anyone who does not yet
belong to FLEOA to sign up. I cannot recommend any stronger advocate for criminal
investigators at the national level.
In-Service Dates
Rick Thornton advises that our FY 95 in-service
will be held during the weeks of March 13 - 17 and March 20 - 24 at Davis-Monthan AFB in
Tucson, Arizona.
Sea
Duck Poaching Conviction
USFWS agents and Massachusetts Environmental
Police recently completed a two-year-long covert investigation into the activities of a
commercial waterfowl guide and four of his associates. The guide, Michael Nee, 36, of
Quincy, Massachusetts, operated a guide service off that state's coast called "Sea
Duck Safaris". Nee catered to out-of-state waterfowl hunters who were primarily
looking to shoot large numbers of sea ducks. The investigation began when concerned
hunters reported that Nee was conducting guided hunts during which he and his clients took
numbers of eider ducks far in excess of limits and purposely failed to retrieve the dead
and crippled birds.
The officers also received information from
commercial lobstermen who reported seeing numbers of dead and crippled sea ducks floating
in the waters of outer Boston Harbor. During the covert phase of the investigation, which
was conducted by officers Rick Perry and Al Hundley, numerous violations of the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act were documented against Nee and four companions, including overbags and
wanton waste. Violations of the guiding section of the Lacey Act were also documented
against Nee. A federal search warrant was obtained for Nee's house and a seizure warrant
for his 17-foot custom offshore duck hunting boat. Among the items seized were a stolen
firearm, a mounted snowy owl, and video tapes documenting the defendant's involvement in
past MBTA violations, including the overbagging of more than 50 sea ducks on morning
hunts. Nee subsequently pled guilty to two Lacey Act counts; he was ordered to pay a
$4,000 fine and was placed on probation for three years.
During the probationary period, Nee is prohibited
from hunting or guiding, being in the company of people hunting anywhere in the country,
or possessing a firearm. He also forfeited his boat and trailer, which together had a
value of about $9,000. Nee's close associate, Ed Flanagan, 57, also of Quincy, pled guilty
to two MBTA counts; he was fined $2,500 and placed on probation for two years under the
same conditions. Three other Nee associates paid a total of $1,000 in fines for MBTA
violations witnessed by Perry and Hundley. The sentence was handed down in federal
district court in Boston by District Court Judge William G. Young, who emphasized that the
punishment was not intended to be a message against hunting. "People who hunt and
fish probably have more respect in the main for wild things than do those of us who never
see them in the wild," he said. "Hunting is a perfectly lawful and appropriate
sport." "If (however) we are to enjoy the out of doors, with the birds and fish
and wildlife that exist there, which give pleasure to us all, then we're going to have to
put limits on what we do. And those limits are very significant." Young said that he
didn't "question for a moment" the undercover efforts the agents and officers.
"Those efforts are necessary in order to make a case," he said. U.S. Attorney
Donald Stern applauded the sentence, saying that wildlife protection is a serious concern,
and that the sentence would have a widespread deterrent effect in the hunting community.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadine Pelligrini of Stern's Economic
Crimes Unit. Chris Dowd wishes to thank those agents in Region 3 and Region 4 who
conducted timely last minute interviews pertaining to this case.
NAWEOA
Meeting
Frank Kuncir attended the annual meeting of the
North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers' Association in Nova Scotia this summer and
sent back the following report:
The morning of July 21st found me far from the
desert salt scrub and Sierra high country of central California and again in close
proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. It was my high pleasure to find myself in the company of
325 of our peers and some 700 family members at the 13th rendezvous of the North American
Wildlife Enforcement Officers' Association. Having attended the last five conventions,
held throughout the United States and Canada, I had looked forward to the opportunity to
again meet with friends and professionals with whom I had become acquainted through this
organization, which represents some 8,000 of our peers. The annual convention gives its'
attendees the opportunity to promote personal and professional liaisons and cooperation
among wildlife enforcement officers from throughout North American, and gives delegates
the chance to share meaningful information concerning conservation law enforcement,
natural resource management, and related matters.
The proceedings officially began at the ballroom
of the Sheraton Halifax, located on the shores of Halifax Harbour. The opening ceremony
began with the arrival of colors escorted by a bagpiper from Parks Canada. The colors were
carried by two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wearing ceremonial red tunics
and stetsons. This was followed by a proclamation by the Halifax city crier extending a
welcome from the mayor and city council to those in attendance. The group then solemnly
gave tribute to two fallen officers who made the ultimate sacrifice during the past year
in the performance of their duties - NPS ranger Robert E. Mann and an Arizona game warden.
The Association received a welcome from Daril Hitt, deputy minister of Nova Scotia's
Natural Resources Department, and Art Redden, president of NAWEOA, who extended his
welcome to his home province. Art revealed that the province had been officially involved
in game protection since 1763.
There were representatives from 47 jurisdictions
that morning, ranging from Yukon Territories to Prince Edward Island and from California
to Maine. FWS was represented by refuge officers from California, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Virginia and California (yours truly). In Dave Hall's absence, president Redden
announced a special tribute to U.S. magistrate judge Michelle Pitard Wynne for her
continuing support of conservation law enforcement from the bench. (Dave, your presence
was definitely missed; friends from all over the country sent heartfelt thoughts to you).
There were a number of excellent presentations during the week:
* A highlight of the meeting was an address by one
of our own staunch allies, Bob Anderson of the Department of Justice's Environmental and
Natural Resources Division, who spoke on "Innovative Prosecution of Major
Cases." It led to quite a discussion among attendees, who were quite surprised to at
the ways in which federal sentencing guidelines help insure appropriate prison terms for
violators of federal wildlife statutes. Bob also talked in detail about the use of grand
juries as effective investigative instruments.
* Chuck Radcliffe of the Kentucky Department of
Fish and Wildlife Resources' Enforcement Division presented a one man multi-media show on
illicit mollusk harvest and enforcement techniques. Chuck held the audience's attention
with a humorous, down-home presentation, coupled with a success story applicable to
locations where the protection of mollusks is a priority activity.
* Charles Clark of the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries spoke on boating safety for enforcement officers. Of interest to
those of you who spend a large amount of time afloat is the discovery - based on
information compiled from accidents investigated by his department - that exposure to the
elements will give a boat operator symptoms much like those resulting from alcohol intake
at a level of approximately .04% (.08% to .10% are OUI levels in most jurisdictions).
Overconfidence and/or negligence can be the end result.
* David Oates, a wildlife forensics specialist
from the Nebraska Wildlife Department whom many of you will remember from the informative
in-service he gave several years ago, gave a program which covered a multitude of topics
in forensics pertaining to fish, fowl and big game. He was followed by Sheldon Anstey of
the Newfoundland Department of Wildlife, who gave an excellent presentation on the
commercial poaching of caribou from the Labrador-George River caribou herd. Sheldon noted
that some of the overlimit takings of caribou which his department investigated wound up
in our Chicago meat markets - another reminder of the international supply and demand
aspect of commercial big game poaching.
* Gary Westby of the Minnesota Conservation
Officers Association concluded the week with a session on their "Adopt-A-Warden
Program (JAVA)." The presentation highlighted ways in which members of our profession
have joined in the international effort to protect the Javan rhino, one of the world's
most endangered species (see the summer, 1994, issue of International Game Warden).
Minnesota wardens have joined with the managers of a local zoo to send essential equipment
to the forest guards who heretofore have not had tools to assist them in this worthwhile
endeavor. The wardens raised funds for much-needed radios and a repeater station. The
guards, however, are armed only with machetes and silver tongues, and need such basics as
boots, backpacks and handcuffs. (It would appear to me that members of this organization,
who have access to vast resources, might very well be able to fill some of these needs.
Any thoughts out there? Contact your regional reps with any ideas or offers).
The convention was not limited to meetings and
presentations. As Tim Eicher noted last year after the gathering in South Dakota, these
meetings are family affairs. The organizers arranged ox cart rides for the kids, beach
activities, baby sitters at poolside, and pizza parties to give spouses a chance to
sightsee, shop and generally relax. There was free time to visit an excellent maritime
museum, a museum of natural history, and numerous historical sites. Waterfront restaurants
offered the full gamut of table fare, ranging from A&W hamburgers to lobster
thermadore. Musical offerings ranged from jazz to string quartets to a local busker
festival. And no NAWEOA convention would be complete without warden skills competitions,
which pit teams from different jurisdictions head to head in professional skills areas -
snowshoe races over sand, hurdles and underwater; competitions to pull lobster pots from
canoes; and dory rowing races in which contestants tried to guide boats without keels with
under powered electric trolling motors mounted amidships against the tide. The
competitions, held on a non-typical 82 degree day and abetted by the local 7.9% brew, drew
roars of laughter from participants and grandstanders alike. The last evening's events
were capped with a lobster and steak feast and maritime entertainment. Several of the
folks at my table, who were from the prairie provinces of Canada, where these edible
crustaceans are few and far between, devoured a dozen of the two pound critters and left
mounds of empty shells reminiscent of Chesapeake crab dinners.
After the dinner, Jon Admanson, refuge officer at
San Francisco Bay NWR, was presented with NAWEOA's highest award, the Certificate of
Valor, for his heroic actions involving the apprehension of a pair of men in the process
of robbing a bank. Jon humorously acknowledge that, since receiving a well-deserved $5,000
reward from the Wells Fargo bank corporation, he has expanded his routine patrol sector to
insure that local ATM machines are given proper attention. A dance was held later that
evening in the ballroom of the Sheraton. I'm told that some of the wardens showed much
better form in the snowshoe races than on the dance floor, but you didn't hear that from
me....
That, in a nutshell, was the 1994 NAWEOA
convention. Our dues have been taken care of for the coming year (thanks to Dave and Chief
Doggett), and the organization has been provided with your latest addresses so that you
can receive your quarterly newsletter. I'll reiterate Dave's plea from last year - that
is, that we should fly a higher flag at these conventions. I can't stress sufficiently the
value of the continuing liaison with our brethren from near and far. The conservation
officers of Pennsylvania have taken on the task of hosting the next conference, which will
be held in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Game Commission's year-long centennial
celebration. The convention will be held from July 25-30, 1995, at the Radisson Penn
Harris Hotel and Convention Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The room rate will be $70
per night, up to quad occupancy. The site is close to Gettysburg, Hershey Gardens and
Pennsylvania Dutch country. Be there! You might want to also keep in mind the location of
the 1986 convention - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Canadians are consummate hosts, and the
location will be at a five-star hotel in a beautiful setting with a rate of about $50 per
night. Feel free to contact me for phone numbers if you've a mind to attend each of these
gatherings. Watch your NAWEOA newsletter for more details. It was a pleasure representing
you in Nova Scotia. A post script: NAWEOA and California warden Bill Peters have
graciously donated a copy of Bill's most recent print of a belted kingfisher perched atop
a pole to FWOA for its fund raising activities. This is a print which would grace any
home. Our thanks to the organization and Bill for their generosity.
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