OUTDOOR BRIEFS

LINCOLN COUNTY MEETING

Elk damage arbitration panel convenes

Nevada's first Elk Damage Arbitration Panel convened in Lincoln County in May to settle a farmer's claim regarding elk damage to his alfalfa and potato fields. The panel met twice to settle the landowner claim for $57,000 in damages, which was reduced to $10,000.

"The challenge in this case is that it is difficult to assess damage you can't see to the potato crop -- unlike alfalfa -- and there was no history of crop yield for comparison," explained Russ Mason, Game Division Chief with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Elk damage on private lands has been an issue in Lincoln County since the first complaint in the fall of 1989. Over the past 18 years, NDOW has spent $116,281 for elk damage on private lands and spent $117,000 for installation of elk-proof fencing in various locations in Lincoln County.

The panel also recommended an increase in the number of elk incentive tags from 36 to 40 total cow elk tags. The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners approved this increase at their May commission meeting.

204 ENTRIES

Pupil wins Free Fishing Day poster contest

A Las Vegas fifth-grader is the winner of the 2007 Free Fishing Day poster contest sponsored by the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Alexandra Dumitru, a student at Hoggard Elementary School, took the top honors with her entry portraying a family having fun while fishing together.

Judges selected Dumitru's artwork from among 204 entries submitted by fourth- and fifth-grade students from across state. Contestants were asked to portray the theme "Fishing is Fantastic." Dumitru's artwork is the centerpiece of the 2007 Nevada Free Fishing Day poster and will thus be distributed statewide. A panel of six NDOW employees evaluated the entries on their use of color and originality.

For her winning efforts, Dumitru received a framed copy of the 2007 poster, and a fishing rod and reel. In addition, she and her family will be taken on a Lake Mead fishing trip courtesy of the Nevada BASS Federation. These awards were presented to Dumitru during Mabel Hoggard's annual awards assembly on June 6.

Runners-up in the 2007 contest were fourth grader Jezalea Segura, from Capital Christian School in Carson City, and Abigail Franklin, a fourth-grader from the Henderson International School in Henderson.

LACEY ACT VIOLATION

Utah man sentenced for taking bobcats

A Utah man was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Reno for illegally taking 124 Nevada bobcats and violating the Lacey Act, a Federal law that prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold.

Cole Steele, 34, of Santaquin, Utah, pled guilty to the misdemeanor violation on March 5. He was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine and forfeited 106 bobcat pelts valued at approximately $38,000.

According to the guilty plea memorandum, during the 2004 Nevada trapping season, Steele claimed to be a resident of Nevada and obtained a trapping license. Trapping licenses for bobcats are only issued to Nevada residents per state law. Steele had purchased a house in Nevada, which he used as his address, but he actually maintained his residence in Utah, thus disqualifying him for a Nevada trapping license. Steele did comply with the law by having the pelts properly sealed by state officials prior to removing them from Nevada. The defendant's father, Alan Steele, operates a legitimate fur trading business in Utah and was buying from his son.

According to investigators, the bobcat pelts were seized as they were in the process of being shipped to lucrative fur markets across Europe.

Report poaching to Operation Game Thief at (800) 992-3030. Sportsmen can learn more about the program at www.stoppoaching.org.