Four Illinois residents will each pay $1,500 and lose hunting privileges for one year as part of a plea agreement after being charged with illegally attempting to kill white-tailed deer on Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge in central Illinois. The case was tried in U.S. District Court by Magistrate Judge Bryan Cudmore on December 9, 2003, in Springfield.
Three of the men, Michael Selph of Cuba, Robert Harper of Lewistown, and Jody Rilea of Liverpool, also forfeited hunting equipment, including bows, arrows and hunting stands. In addition to the fines, the three, along with Dennis Pollitt of Liverpool, were sentenced to one year probation, during which time they are prohibited from hunting or applying for a hunting license.
The case began in November 2002 with an anonymous tip to the refuge that individuals were hunting deer on a portion of Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge which is open to waterfowl hunting but closed for deer hunting. The hunters were thought to be gaining access to the refuge from the Illinois River after launching a boat at Liverpool. Investigations by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agents Matt Bryant and Edward Grace, assisted by Illinois Conservation Police Officers, led to charges that Pollitt ferried Selph, Harper and Rilea across the Illinois River in Selph’s boat; the three then attempted to kill deer on the refuge.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
