Poaching in Yellowstone keeps rangers busy

By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer

Whether it's an antelope, an elk or even a marmot, people keep killing animals in Yellowstone National Park, where all hunting is illegal.

But if they get caught, they dig deep in their wallets and sometimes go to jail.

Tom Ferguson, of Wyoming, and Jeremy Workman, of Indiana, killed a marmot near Tower Falls Aug. 12.

"It was bludgeoned with a rock, I believe," said Tim Reid, north district ranger in the park.

Bashing the toothy rodent cost each of the park concessions employees $500 in restitution.

"That was one very pricey marmot," said Don White, an assistant U.S. attorney.

Reports of poaching in the park have been frequent this year, with the most recent being two men from Three Forks who allegedly shot a six-point bull elk and were caught dragging it to their vehicle Nov. 28. That happened alongside U.S. Highway 191 north of West Yellowstone.

Charles Christensen and John Steeples made initial appearances in court this week, White said, and maintained they didn't know they were in the park.

The incident occurred five miles by road from the park boundary.

They could face restitution of $8,000, plus fines of up to $10,000 and jail time.

Earlier in November, Edward A. Johnson, of Livingston, was arrested for allegedly shooting an antelope near Gardiner. He also faces drug, alcohol and other charges. He remains in jail in Big Horn County, where federal prisoners are held, on a $5,000 bond.

Three men in a Gallatin County truck also are being sought for killing and abandoning a bull elk on the park's west side this fall.

Between eight and 10 cases have been resolved or are under investigation this year, Reid said Friday.

He said poaching doesn't appear to be on the rise, although the number of arrests is higher, mostly because rangers got lucky or somebody saw the crime and reported it.

"We have a pretty constant level of poaching," Reid said. "What vacillates is our success (in catching poachers.) Some years, we're more fortunate."

Catching a poacher is easier when offenders kill animals in broad daylight in open areas, as allegedly happened with Johnson and the Three Forks duo. Both were reported immediately by people passing by.

"We get the full spectrum of the human condition involved in poaching in the park," Reid said.

Some people, he said, claim ignorance of park boundaries.

Others know exactly where they are and what they're doing.

Park rangers patrol the boundaries during hunting season but can't be everywhere all the time, Reid said, and they depend on information from the public.

"We'll aggressively prosecute any violation in the park," he said.

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