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Thread: Boom. $250,000 fine...

  1. #1
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    Default Boom. $250,000 fine...

    Three Lowcountry hunting preserve workers are being fined and put on probation for their involvement in killing federally protected hawks and owls as part of a scheme that authorities say sparked one of the biggest wildlife investigations in South Carolina history.

    The federal case centered on the targeted killing of raptors to improve hunting habitat for quail on the 8,000-acre Mackay Plantation preserve in Jasper County. Hawks and owls prey on quail, a dwindling species long prized by hunters.

    According to federal authorities, plantation workers illegally trapped and shot more than 30 red-tailed hawks, Cooper’s hawks and great horned owls during quail hunting season the past two years. Charged in the case were Mackay Point general manager William Martin, a 59-year-old Yemassee resident; and employees Keith Gebhardt, 54, of Yemassee and Mark Argetsinger, 63, of Beaufort.

    On Friday, the three men pleaded guilty to unlawfully trapping and killing migratory birds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. Magistrate Bristow Marchant sentenced them to six months’ probation, community service, a one-year ban on trapping and fines of $500 to $1,000, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

    In addition, Mackay Point Plantation LLC also must pay a $250,000 fine as restitution, an amount considered one of the largest financial penalties of its kind.

    The “federal government has a strong interest in protecting our nation’s natural resources, including wildlife,’’ U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said in a news release Friday. “Today's sentence sends a strong message to unscrupulous hunters and landowners who think they are above the law.”

    An attempt to reach lawyers for Martin, Gebhardt and Argetsinger was unsuccessful after the guilty pleas were announced Friday afternoon.

    When asked about the fine, Bart Daniel, an attorney representing Mackay Point Plantation LLC, said his client is community minded, "embarrassed that this happened,'' and wanted to make things right. Daniel declined further comment.

    According to Nettles office, undercover surveillance cameras captured two plantation employees trapping and shooting hawks and owls during quail hunting season.

    The birds often were lured into traps with live chickens, then left in the cage-like traps for several days before they were shot, assistant federal prosecutor Rhett DeHart said. The raptors that died are protected under the federal migratory bird treaty act, which bars killing them without a permit.

    DeHart declined to say whether others would be charged in the case but the U.S. Attorney’s office said killing hawks and owls to improve quail hunting habitat is a growing problem in the Southeast.

    “This is one of the largest wildlife cases in state history and we hope it has a deterrent effect’’ on illegal actions, DeHart said.

    Quail, known for their familiar “Bob White” calls, are hard to find these days in South Carolina and often are hunted only after they are grown in captivity and stocked on game lands. Habitat loss is believed to be the prime reason quail are disappearing from the landscape.

    But hawks and owls are meat-eating predators that hunt quail, which can affect efforts to stock the game birds on hunting lands. At Mackay Point, employees release some 6,000 quail each year for hunting, authorities said.

    Money from the $250,000 fine against Mackay Point LLC will be provided to local animal charities, such as the Center for Birds of Prey and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

    Agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources investigated. The owners of Mackay point, businessmen from Florida, were not implicated in the killing of hawks and owls, DeHart said.

    Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/08/29/3...#storylink=cpy

  2. #2
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    That'n will sting

  3. #3
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    Dang!!

  4. #4
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    Its a good start, but theres more landowners doing the same stuff around here.

  5. #5
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    Tamie quail

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by TRASHDUCK View Post
    Its a good start, but theres more landowners doing the same stuff around here.

    Just on a smaller scale

  7. #7
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    Albeit not in SC, I've had a quail hunt master (leader? owner? whatever.) say "We sometimes mistake hawks for pheasant out here don't be shy about shooting your gun."

  8. #8
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    OUCH 250k

  9. #9
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    Hawks love tamie quail for sure

  10. #10
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    They're not the only ones. A look across the creek would reveal more of the same.... All over a pen raised quail.

  11. #11
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    Mere pocket change to the LO's....
    You gotta stop illegal activities after you fire a disgruntled employee.... Damn
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  12. #12
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    Saw this story as well this week. http://sclowcountryoutdoors.blogspot...nitiative.html
    Ten years of predator management is in the books at Mt. Pleasant and Nat Ruth relays that this job is never really done. “Land managers need to complete a predator index for their property to begin with, to document what animals are present,” said Ruth. “Most properties utilize the early release of pen-raised quail to supplement any wild birds present, and something like 40-percent of released birds are predated before hunting season begins."

  13. #13
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    Why in the hell is part of the money going to the SPCA?
    Molon Labe
    HRCH Coal's Sparkleberry Cache MH

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by duckhunt4fun View Post
    Saw this story as well this week. http://sclowcountryoutdoors.blogspot...nitiative.html
    Ten years of predator management is in the books at Mt. Pleasant and Nat Ruth relays that this job is never really done. “Land managers need to complete a predator index for their property to begin with, to document what animals are present,” said Ruth. “Most properties utilize the early release of pen-raised quail to supplement any wild birds present, and something like 40-percent of released birds are predated before hunting season begins."
    That quote in very subjective to the property in question.
    All things are not created equally and nat ruth is not an authority....
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Calibogue View Post
    nat ruth is not an authority....
    Do what? Don't tell him that...
    A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by skrimp View Post
    Why in the hell is part of the money going to the SPCA?

    That's a good question. I'm certain it could
    Be better served going somewhere else

  17. #17
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    I reckon someone forgot one of the Ss in SSS
    We gave you Corn,you gave us clap,bad trade.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by HARV View Post
    I reckon someone forgot one of the Ss in SSS
    Forgetting the third S will get you every time.

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