Greetings from Tucson......

National FWOA Officer Election

Please make sure that you complete the election ballot included with this newsletter and return it to Kevin O'Brien at: FWOA, P.O. Box 2215, Concord, NH 03302-2215. Your help in returning these promptly will be greatly appreciated. Best of luck to all candidates....

Regional Representative Elections

As of July 1st, all regions (except Regions 1 and 6) need to plan on conducting elections for their FWOA regional reps. I ask that current reps take care of this over the summer and pass along the results to Kevin O'Brien at the address listed above.

Update on Pending Developments/Legislation

I've contacted the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) regarding Representative Helen Chenoweth's bill. While it does not appear that there's strong bi-partisan support for the bill, I've urged that FLOEA oppose this legislation in the strongest possible terms in the event that hearings are scheduled. I'll be happy to pursue this issue after my departure as your FWS agency representative to FLEOA, and will keep our new president informed of any developments.

Delinquent Associate Memberships

We continue to experience a growth in the number of delinquent associate memberships, with many newsletters returned for lack of forwarding addresses. Please pass along the word that all delinquent associate members who haven't paid their dues by September 30th will be dropped from the FWOA mailing list.

Final Comments

This will be my last newsletter as your president. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and support during my eight-year tenure as vice president and president. Your unfailing efforts have made this journey a truly memorable one, and I am honored in the trust you have placed in me. I extend my enthusiastic congratulations and assistance to the new FWOA national officers and ask that you do the same.

Personnel Notes

Region 5 Transfers

There have been four recent transfers from the region: * John Meehan - from Valley Stream, New York, to SRA, Newark, New Jersey * Ed Spoon - from Essex Junction, Vermont, to Madison, Wisconsin * Kevin Garlick - from Valley Stream, New York, to Guam * Kenny Kessler - from Valley Stream, New York, to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Award

Dorothy (Dee Dee) Wehrwein of Newark, New Jersey, recently received Region 5's Conservation Law Enforcement Officers Association (CLEOA) "Officer of the Year" award from ARD/LE Gene Hester. She was nominated for the award in recognition of several large scale international investigations that she recently conducted into the illegal live animal trade. Dee Dee received the award at a ceremony held at the Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Ocean City, Maryland.

Baiting Conviction

H. Ford Harris, 72, of Powhatan, Virginia, was fined a record $10,000 in late April and placed on probation for three years on federal convictions for baiting a field to lure migratory birds. He was also banned from bird hunting on his property while on probation. The penalty was the highest ever handed down on the East Coast and one of the three largest nationwide for baiting a field to lure migratory birds. Harris, a former member of the county's board of supervisors who has held opening day dove hunts on his lands for about 50 years, was charged in September.
Shortly before September 3rd, he planted wheat as a lure to doves for a party of 20 hunters. After receiving a tip, officers and Virginia game wardens began an investigation, and soon filed charges. At his trial, Harris said that he planted the wheat for erosion control and not to bait the land. The AUSA rebutted this by pointing to the damaged nature of the wheat seed and the fact that Harris planted it in August rather than the usually established time in October.

Idaho Incident

By now, you've all heard about the confrontation between agents and a local sheriff in Idaho that led to calls to disarm federal agents and otherwise eviscerate federal law enforcement. This is the story as told by Steve Magone and Paul Weyland, as it appeared in a letter to Thomas Kennan, the producer of NBC's "Dateline" (with some minor editorial - not textual - changes). Their letter also contained some informative exhibits, which we unfortunately can't reprint here. In any case, their story is an effective rebuttal to the ludicrous charges that were aimed at them.
"As you know, we are two of the three Fish and Wildlife Service officers who attempted to serve the search warrant at the Hussey ranch on Iron Creek near Elk Bend, Idaho. There have been numerous statements made by state officials, the Idaho congressional delegation, the Idaho Farm Bureau and others regarding this issue. As discussed during our interview, we are forwarding documentation regarding many of the statements made concerning the wolf investigation. "It might seem odd that we would take time to write this letter, but we believe the public must be made aware of the truth. We know that in most other states, unlike Idaho, senators, representatives, governors and other elected officials try to represent all the people, including federal employees. Hopefully they don't jump to conclusions before listening to both sides of an issue or issues. We believe that in Idaho a federal law enforcement officer has practically no representation by elected officials. It appears that some Idaho politicians are more concerned with their political agendas than the public interest.

For the record, not one senator, representative, attorney general or their aides called   Magone's office or our supervisor's office in Boise for facts concerning this issue. "We have 37 years of law enforcement experience between us. Magone, in particular, has approximately 19 years of wildlife law enforcement (experience), nine and a half as a "local" Montana game warden. We have had differences of opinions with law enforcement officers, (but) we have never experienced the treatment that we received from Sheriff Barsalou.

"On March 11, 1995, an AP article stated that the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service admitted that agents made mistakes in serving the search warrant. Director Beattie states that she did not make that statement, and we have included her March 30, 1995 testimony before the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Resource Conservation, Research, and Forestry and the Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans. We believe that you will find Director Beatties' comments remarkably different than those offered by the Idaho congressional delegation.

"The same March 11, 1995 article states that the rancher, Gene Hussey, may have been intimidated and that Sheriff Barsalou was not consulted. The fact is that Hussey was not intimidated; he's the one that threw the rocks, cursed repeatedly and stated that a federal search warrant was not valid in Lemhi county. Hussey indicated that he thought the sheriff would agree with him on this point. By the time the sheriff arrived, Hussey had completely calmed down and was rational. "When the sheriff arrived, we showed him a copy of the search warrant. He then asked for a copy of the probable cause statement for the search warrant.

We advised him that the affidavit was filed at the clerk of courts office (as is always the case once the judge signs the search warrant). After a short discussion, the sheriff said (that) if Mr. Hussey did not want us on his ranch then we could not go on it. We also notice that no one seems to want to print that the sheriff tried to physically block Magone from going into the pasture to rejoin the other two officers already there. This was after he had examined a copy of the federal search warrant. The sheriff has stated that he does not have a problem with the search warrant or our jurisdiction, but his actions certainly indicate otherwise. We stood our ground and told the sheriff we had a valid search warrant and that we were going to serve the warrant. "A few moments after this, the sheriff took Mr. Hussey by the arm and said, 'Lets go and go to plan B.'
Sheriff Barsalou was obviously very mad. There is no way to describe our amazement at this turn of events. We didn't know what plan B was and decided that obtaining the evidence was not worth someone getting hurt should the sheriff return with others. We packed up our metal detectors, with which we had intended to search for the bullets and/or shell casing(s), and left. We left to protect ourselves and others from a potentially violent confrontation. Neither we nor Senior Resident Agent Riley believes a dead wolf is more important that a live human being. It's unbelievable to us that anyone would say we thought otherwise.

"The AP article is correct when it states that Sheriff Barsalou was not consulted prior to the search. What it fails to mention is why he was not consulted. Some of things we considered were: 1) We didn't think the sheriff would be too concerned because we were looking in a cow pasture three miles from Hussey's house and had a search warrant, even though we didn't legally need one. 2) The sheriff did not return Magones' call between the time the wolf was killed and the search was to be completed. 3) The sheriff had publicly stated that he did not care who killed the wolf. 4) The sheriff had led a number of reporters and others around the crime scene prior to our arrival, thereby trampling any possible tracks or other evidence that may have been present. 5) The sheriff appeared hostile toward wolf reintroduction and our investigation. It seemed he had already made up his mind concerning any facts of this investigation. 6) The search warrant was issued for a pasture three miles from Hussey's residence and did not include the residence.

"We don't know if Sheriff Barsalou is aware that no search warrant was legally required under the 'open fields' doctrine of the Supreme Court, yet he continues to expound upon the fact that we did not consult him first. Had the search warrant commanded us to search the house as well as the pasture, we would have notified the sheriff's office and requested their assistance due to public safety concerns. We are sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We do not violate citizens' rights. We defend those rights. Though we did not need one, we obtained a search warrant. We did not want any misunderstanding regarding our authority or the perception that we had not followed legal channels. We had hoped to obtain Hussey's cooperation concerning the search, but were unable to locate him either at his house or at his employee's residence. We had planned to meet with the sheriff's office once the search in the pasture was completed; however, we were not given that opportunity.

"Sheriff Barsalou mentioned armed federal law enforcement officers a number of times during his address at Representative Chenoweth's Boise hearing. Sheriff Barsalou also stated that he doesn't understand why (officers in) state agencies like fish and game wear firearms. (He also) states that when he arrived, there were three grown, trained law enforcement officers standing around a 75-year-old man, engaged in a screaming match. This is a totally false statement. Hussey had calmed down 10 or 15 minutes before the sheriff arrived. The only screaming that was done at all was done by Hussey. Magone wasn't even on the ranch property when the sheriff arrived.

"During this same hearing in Boise, Lieutenant Governor Otter read a statement prepared by Idaho Attorney General Alan Lance. Lance stated that there are apparent defects that reflect a lack of professionalism on the part of the service and its agents. We met or exceeded legal requirements sufficient to satisfy a federal judge, yet the state attorney general states we are not professional. We wonder how many search warrant affidavits the Idaho attorney general has completed? "Most interesting are Lance's statements. Lance says that  Weyland's statements in his application for search warrant concerning the autopsy of the calf were presented as uncontroverted.

The fact is, and it is a matter of public record, that Weyland did not even discuss the autopsy of the calf in his affidavit for search warrant. We suggest that Attorney General Lance figure out what an affidavit for search warrant is and which document he is examining before he publicly berates it or the Fish and Wildlife Service. The state attorney general spends many pages calling the affidavit sloppy. It is extremely unfortunate because he apparently relies on the wrong document. The state attorney general, in his rush to call federal agents sloppy, failed to obtain a copy of the affidavit, and apparently obtained a document other than the affidavit. It is sad when Idaho's chief legal officer is not thorough enough to obtain the correct document. His statement was in the form of sworn testimony, yet he has failed to correct this glaring error on his part.

"The March 30, 1995 article indicates that Mr. Hussey is a suspect in this investigation. Magone has personally told Mr. Hussey and Sheriff Barsalou that Hussey is not a suspect. In fact, Sheriff Barsalou is the one who told  Magone that he didn't think that Hussey shot the wolf. "The article also states that Hussey objected to the search and called Sheriff Barsalou, who angrily accused the armed agents of harassing Hussey and violating an agreement to work with local law enforcement agencies. The fact of the matter is that Hussey or his employee's wife called the sheriff before we ever talked to Hussey. We never had any agreement with the sheriff concerning any aspect of law enforcement or our investigation concerning this case.

The sheriff has no jurisdiction concerning the killing of the wolf or this investigation. We always welcome any assistance local law enforcement officers can provide and we will work with them concerning these issues. Some of our best investigations are initiated by state conservation officers. "We have nothing personal against Sheriff Barsalou. We would have and are still willing to assist Lemhi County Law Enforcement Officers or any other Law Enforcement Officers any time they should ask. We had no idea Sheriff Barsalou was so territorial and would act so insulted that he would actually escalate a situation jeopardizing public safety. Being a county sheriff, conservation officer or any other law enforcement officer is a tough job, no doubt about it. Most of them are overworked, underpaid and extremely dedicated. We know and have worked cooperatively with plenty of them. "We often cooperate with, advise and/or request assistance from the local fish and game officer and/or the sheriff's office before serving an arrest warrant or search warrant. It certainly makes both of our jobs easier. In fact, most of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigations conducted in Idaho involve two or three agencies working together.

"In this particular case, it was not possible to have one of the local Salmon, Idaho conservation officers present due to verbal instructions and a directive sent out by the Idaho Fish and Game director in Boise. We state this not to criticize, but as a matter of fact. We've heard that Montana has a similar hands-off policy when it comes to wolves. "What people need to understand is that the local Fish and Wildlife Service officers are not asked if wolves or anything else should be reintroduced. We personally are apolitical when it comes to wolves. No doubt it would have been much easier to let the wolves return to central Idaho on their own; they have been making their way south for some time. A wolf was poisoned a few years ago in Bear Valley near Stanley, Idaho. It is our job to investigate the law and not to choose which laws to enforce simply because we may personally disagree with a particular government program.

"Sheriff Barsalou stated that he doesn't understand why land management law enforcement officers must be armed. It seems coincidental that he and others, including Senator Craig, Representative Chenoweth and Idaho Attorney General Lance should bring that up now. Could it be because the wolf reintroduction issue is so controversial and the Endangered Species Act is up for reauthorization? "Please review all the news clippings that we sent you. In all of those investigations, some overt and some covert, no one seemed too concerned that officers were carrying firearms during the course of their duties. It sure seems funny that when we catch non-residents poaching elk or sheep and taking them to California or someone killing eagles that people are overjoyed. Yet try and determine the facts surrounding a dead wolf and calf and suddenly we become 'armed federal agents.' "We notice that the newspapers never said anything like 'by his actions, armed sheriff doesn't recognize federal search warrant.' We carry firearms for the same reason as Sheriff Barsalou and every other law enforcement officer - to protect ourselves or the public. We don't carry firearms because someone has poached a deer or an eagle any more than a Lemhi County deputy carries a firearm to stop speeders. Every law enforcement officer knows that you rarely need a firearm, but they also know that when you need it, you really need it.

"As for comments made by the United States Militia regarding the Fish and Wildlife Service, we believe they should get their facts straight before they heap accolades on Lemhi County. We might be wrong, but we doubt that any sheriff wants to associate with the militia in any manner. We're not too surprised that they also sensationalized the incident and dedicated a half page article to such an unfortunate event. They are merely following the lead of some of Idaho's elected officials starring in the latest round of Fed bashing. No need to bother with what really happened or the facts concerning this incident. They just fabricate what will further their own agendas. "It would have been much easier just to sit back and allow the truth to remain hidden, especially when the truth deals with an issue that is 'politically incorrect.' We would have received the same pay whether we attempted to discover what happened or not. The truth has made our job a lot tougher these days.

The goal of a good investigation should be to determine the truth and the facts surrounding a certain set of circumstances; a good investigation does not necessarily lead to someone being charged in court. Often times a good investigation will prove innocence or show that no crime was committed. We have to consider the evidence - if the elements of the violation were met, the culpability of the defendants, and much more. It's important to know who did what, but it's also important to know why they did it. "Magone has always been proud of having come from Montana and having been a Montana game warden. We are both equally proud to be Fish and Wildlife Service officers and will continue to do our job. We currently have fifteen or twenty other on-going wildlife investigations, most of which deal with native species protected by state law. We have served numerous state and federal arrest and search warrants in the western United States, including Idaho; regardless of politics and intimidation by local officials, we will continue to do so when the investigation requires that it be done.

We have and often do cooperate with local law enforcement officials when given the chance. Senator Craig, Idaho's senior senator, seems to think this is something new or something you need federal funds for. That is simply not true. I think most of the Fish and Wildlife Service officers in the United States prefer to work with local conservation officers and other law enforcement officers. It's just that sometimes, as in the wolf case, we couldn't. It sure would have made this whole thing easier if we could have. "We really can't think of any sheriff's office that wants its deputies to spend time investigating federal conservation laws in which they have no jurisdiction or training. They usually have more than enough to do without that added responsibility. We welcome the opportunity and will give assistance and cooperation to any law enforcement agency that asks. We have in the past, and will continue to do so. Our record easily proves that.

"Concerning interagency cooperation, Senator Craig or Representative Chenoweth or Idaho Attorney General Lance could have taken the time and asked any conservation officer in Salmon or Eastern Idaho, the chief of law enforcement for Idaho Fish and Game, or any of the Shoshone-Bannock fish and game wardens. "Senator Craig and Attorney General Lance seem to have time to respond to editorials in the paper that question their credibility, but don't want to take the time to investigate accusations that directly affect our families, our safety and our credibility.

Concerning Senator Craig's idea that agreements with locals are better than armed feds, we wonder if he would have that agreement here in Idaho Falls or Boise? Magone has lived in Idaho Falls for seven years.  Weyland has lived in Idaho for 11 years (four in Boise, seven in Idaho Falls). We have both worked with numerous law enforcement agencies. Maybe that is not 'local' enough. We also notice that Senator Craig did not say that 'agreements with "armed" locals (are) better than (with) "armed feds."' "It's a shame that these prominent elected Idaho officials do not make the attempt to collect all the facts or at least talk to all the individuals concerned prior to jumping on the bandwagon and making public statements. We invite Senator Craig, Attorney General Lance, Sheriff Barsalou or any other elected official to work with us and see exactly what we do for a living. We have and will continue to work with local law enforcement agencies. "We find that comparing the attempted search of a pasture in Lemhi County with the Waco or Ruby Ridge incidents absurd, irresponsible and completely without merit. No guns were drawn or even touched on our part. No one was hurt. We know that we did nothing wrong, and in fact, withdrew rather than arrest Mr. Hussey. Had Mr. Hussey yelled, cursed and/or threw rocks at any police officer in this state, he would have been promptly arrested.

We, as officers, have been publicly commended by the federal judiciary for the restraint we exercised. Our restraint has been used against us to paint us as bad actors when proof shows it was Mr. Hussey and the sheriff who refused a lawful order of the court because they did not like the law. Will the next person who sees such a warrant, say in a drug case, also refuse because he does not like the law? There is no doubt this is one of the most unusual situations we'll see during our careers. "As a final note, it has been very difficult to discover the truth in the face of politics and media sensationalism. If the people of the United States decide to amend the Endangered Species Act, so be it. We will enforce the changes with the same zeal and professionalism that we always have. Should you have additional questions, please feel free to call anytime. Thank you."

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This page last revised 5/16/98