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The following letter was submitted for publication to the Letters to the Editor section of the Kootenay Advertiser of Cranbrook, B.C., in response to a B.C. Ministry of Environment , Lands and Parks letter disputing the details of a column previously published in the same paper. The original article described how the largest elk antlers ever recorded were appropriated from their discoverer by the Ministry, and subsequently turned up on TV while being toured in the U.S. by an American firm. The finder of the antlers apparently received no consideration whatsoever for his find.
The letter from the Ministry spokesman suggests that the possession permit the finder was entitled to receive was not granted 'Because the Conservation Officer Service had reason to believe the elk might have been poached....'. The elk in question was reportedly found fully submerged in a local lake, with only the antlers exposed.
I decided to offer my similar experience of the previous year and in the same game management region (Region 4) with a full-curl Bighorn ram. The only difference was that the Conservation Officer Service didn't bother to give any reasons when they took my find.
Achim
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Subject: B.C. Wildlife Branch lying and thieving Cc: Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 22:51:13
Letters to the Editor:
Last week's letter from the B.C. Environment Ministry disputing details of Jan Skiber's 'huge elk' article evoked some bitter memories.
In the Fall of 1993 I found the complete skeleton of a full-curl Bighorn ram in the Stoddard Creek drainage of MU4-25, and I innocently brought the head to the Invermere C.O. office to get a possession permit. As neither of the two C.O.s was at hand, the clerk asked me to leave it there for them to inspect. I never saw it again.
The next morning, one of the C.O.s phoned to tell me that the district offices were no longer empowered to issue possession permits, and that these had now to be obtained by applying in writing to the regional office in Nelson. He also told me that the Wildlife Branch's policy regarding issuance of such permits had changed, and that the practice was now discouraged.
I pointed out that no such change was heralded in the current 93- 94 Hunting Synopsis, to which he replied that a notice had been published in the local paper. The C.O. offered no informantion on criteria for granting permits under the new 'policy', so I FAXed my request off to Nelson with nothing more than the details of my find, and my personal information.
A few days later, I got a return FAX from the Regional Manager, Wildlife Branch, saying only that my application did not meet requirements, and denying my application without any further clarification.
I was unable to follow up on the matter, because I was in the process of moving to Regina, where I stayed for the following two years. However, on my return to Invermere in 1995, I learned from neighbours and acquaintances of other locals who had applied successfully for permits to keep various game animals the same season I had been refused.
Evidently, my application was refused only because my full-curl ram would bring a good price at auction in Prince George. The officials of the Wildlife Branch had lied to me and stolen my find to supplement their budget.
I don't know what the exact circumstances of the elk find described by Jan Skriber were. But there is certainly no possibility of Wildlife
Branch having determined that my Bighorn might have been poached. I had expected the C.O.s to examine the location and condition of my find, but they expressed no interest whatsoever, and failed to even ask for its exact location. Perhaps they manufacture these grounds for refusal only as and when needed, such as when the item appropriated is the largest elk rack ever recorded.
I suspect that the same overbearing arrogance and disregard for truth and fairness caused the finder of the world's largest elk antlers to be swindled of his trophy.
Prior to my experience of 1993, I was inclined to assist Conservation Officers in their task, and had volunteered to do so on more than one occasion. Since finding them to be liars and thieves, I have no intention of ever helping them again, and view anything they say with the greatest skepticism. I would suggest your readers do the same.
Achim Lohse
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