Idaho Wolf Hunters Protected at Expense of Public Records Law

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a law on April 8 that removes state-issued hunting permits, licenses and tags from the public record and that makes it illegal to "harass, intimidate or threaten" hunters via telephone, e-mail or website postings. The move of creating a public records exemption for a specific, small group sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to chisel away at transparency laws to where they become obsolete.

The Idaho law was prompted by the records request of a local activist who then posted the names of wolf hunters on a website.

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Idaho Committee Approves Removing Hunting and Fishing License Records from Public View

The Idaho House Resources and Conservation Committee approved a measure that would make hunting and fishing licensing records private, although if an individual provided written consent, his or her information would be public. Proponents say it would protect hunters and fishers from harassment.

Open government advocates oppose the measure, suggesting it would be better public policy to go after harassers, not shutting down whole categories of public records.

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Idaho House Committee Considers Hunter Identity Protection Bill

Idaho's House Resources and Conservation Committee is considering a bill to protect the identity of wolf hunters who kill a wolf in the state.

IdahoReporter.com says the issue arose after wolves were de-listed under the Endangered Species Act. During a wolf hunt, anyone who killed a wolf was required to report it to the state's Department of Fish and Game in order to keep an accurate quota measurement. The kill reports were obtained by public records requests, and the names of the hunters were posted on the Internet.

For more on why critics say the privacy bill is a violation of freedom of speech and information, click here.

Troopers illegally shoot deer, try to win prize

FOI at Work!

The Traverse City Record-Eagle obtained investigative reports concerning a deer shot illegally by a Michigan State Police trooper from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources via an FOI request. The records show that Jeffrey Hadley and Donald Bolen shot the buck while on duty. They later loaded it into the back of the patrol vehicle, sawed off its head and antlers and discarded the rest of the animal. They claimed the blood and hair in the back of the patrol car stemmed from them transporting a road-kill deer to a needy family. Hadley later tried to enter the deer's rack in a troopers' big-buck contest.

A Michigan State Police trooper who illegally "shined" and shot a 10-point buck while on duty in a state patrol vehicle tried to enter the ill-gotten deer's antlers in a troopers' big-buck contest.

Troopers and patrol partners Jeffrey Hadley, 45, and Donald Bolen, 41, both of Cheboygan, illegally killed a buck sometime after midnight on Nov. 13 -- two days before the firearms deer season -- along Mograin Road in Cheboygan County's Benton Township.

The poaching incident kick-started the troopers' clumsy, six-week attempt to cover their tracks, though Hadley spent part of that time boasting of his monster buck and attempted to enter its rack in a contest.

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