Two Pennsylvania men admitted to interstate transportation of illegally hunted brown bear in Southeast Alaska and each paid $8,000 fines in May, according to Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Healy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Northeast Region. The actions violate the federal Lacey Act and carry a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
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; Andrew M. Nesevich, age 52, of New Milford, Pa., and Gregory S. Feduchak, age 38, of Kingsley, Pa., were each charged with one count of misdemeanor violation of the federal Lacey Act for interstate transportation of illegally taken brown bears.
; A year-long investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Juneau, Alaska, Field Office; Alaska State Troopers; National Marine Fisheries Service; and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives culminated with the charges.
; According to investigators, Nesevich and Feduchak paid for a guided hunt with Curtis E. Anderson, age 35, of Enumclaw, Wash., who allegedly operated an unlicensed guiding business in 2003 and 2004. In May 2004, the clients hunted with Anderson in the Tongass National Forest on Admiralty Island, some 10 miles southwest of Juneau.
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; State law requires non-resident bear hunters to be guided by a licensed, registered guide. Although they did not possess the required registration permits, each man killed a brown bear. The bears were subsequently recorded as being killed by Anderson - the unlicensed guide - and his father, now deceased.
; The Service's Northeast Region special agents assisted Alaska Region special agents with the investigation by interviewing the Pennsylvania men and obtaining admissions of guilt about the illegal hunt and guiding activity and about the subterfuge involved in submitting false paperwork.
; Anderson has been charged with violating Alaska law by operating an illegal guiding business and by claiming to be an Alaska resident to purchase resident hunting and fishing licenses. Nesevich and Feduchak have agreed to testify in Alaska State Court in the state's case against Anderson.
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; The federal Lacey Act provision applied in this case prohibits transportation across state lines of wildlife taken in violation of state law. For more information about the Lacey Act, see http://www.fws.gov/laws/laws_digest//lacey.html
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 545 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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