Wildlife Management

In less than two weeks the Department of the Interior (DOI) made three significant changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The first alters the definition of harm. A week later, the second and third changes were announced, which removes blanket protections from threatened species and determines...

Earlier this week, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission made two votes that will seriously impact fur trapping in the state. The actions are at the center of ongoing, contentious debates between consumptive users and animal rights activists. Unscientific Bag Limits On July 16, the commission...

On July 14, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a revised proposal to increase management flexibility for grizzly bears in areas where the species has met or exceeded federal recovery benchmarks. “The science is more than clear: grizzly bears have recovered and far exceeded every federal...

Maggie Bassett and Shonna Dehl were camping on Sunday, July 5, in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming when a black bear attacked their tent. "It wanted in the tents," Dehl told KTVQ News. "That's all it wanted. It didn't matter what we did." Bassett and Dehl yelled, screamed, and even fired gunshots...

Montana’s Hunting District 380 is one of the most difficult units to draw a bull elk tag. The success rate in 2023 was well under one percent. According to court records, multiple people bypassed the draw system entirely, illegally killing multiple bulls as well as several deer over a two-month...

On June 28, Brittany Clark was fatally attacked by an alligator in Florida. The incident occurred when the 31-year-old woman went for a swim in the Econlockhatchee River with her boyfriend and best friend after hiking in the Little Big Eco State Forest, Grant Eller, a lieutenant with the Florida...

A lot of poaching investigations seem to end with wrist slaps, but that’s hardly the case for former corrections officer, Christopher Matson (48) of Umatilla, Oregon. After pleading guilty to numerous wildlife and firearm-related felonies, Matson was sentenced to 24 months probation, a lifetime...

The California Fish and Game Commission issued an emergency action that is causing controversy in the Golden State angling community. On June 25, the commission essentially banned shore- and pier-based shark fishing throughout a large swath of its coast to “prevent white shark take and reduce...

Anybody who’s ever dreamed of an Alaska moose hunt knows those kinds of trips don’t come cheap. Some hunters spend years saving up enough money for a bucket list hunt in the Last Frontier. But prosecutors say nearly 40 hunters who thought they were booking the adventure of a lifetime lost almost $6...

State and local wildlife officers do their best to monitor and enforce game and fish laws, but inadequate resources and manpower complicate those efforts. They often rely on anonymous tips from locals, which is what led to the arrest of Woodrow Snyder, 28, a southern Indiana man, who has been...

A well-known hunter is in hot water over a controversial video showing him stab a wounded coyote with a knife. The graphic video, which was originally leaked to Cowboy State Daily by a private investigator, depicts Aaron Snyder approach a wounded coyote, pull it from a bush, kick it to the ground...

On June 2, Joelseph “Joe” Frank Jenkins, 48, of Pocatello, Idaho, was sentenced to two years behind bars and received a lifetime hunting ban after he pleaded guilty to two felonies and two misdemeanors. The felony charges included possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and unlawfully killing or...