There is no question that poaching has been a HUGE problem in Oregon and there is still much to be investigated. We still do not know who is responsible for poaching OR25, OR33, and OR28. Could it be ranchers? Could it be a poaching ring? Someone knows something. We don’t know who is responsible for the deaths of the three federally protected gray wolves. However, we do know that all of this poaching needs to be taken far more seriously!
Oregon and Washington poaching ring: ‘They were doing it to kill’
In the early morning hours of Nov. 30, a trail camera hidden along a forest service road south of The Dalles snapped some routine images that would spark a two-state investigation that was anything but ordinary.
The pictures showed two men exit a Toyota pickup armed with rifles, a spotlight and headlamps. Deer season was over, but Oregon State Police troopers discovered a headless deer carcass in the area.
A few days later, troopers spotted the same truck in The Dalles and pulled over the two men. William J. Haynes, 24, and Erik C. Martin, 23, would later confess to killing two bucks, a silver gray squirrel and to decapitating the deer and taking their heads back to Longview, Washington, documents show.
But that was just the beginning.
The trail camera eventually unraveled what Washington Fish and Wildlife officials say is probably the largest poaching ring in that state’s history, leading to the arrests of Haynes, Martin and six others. The Oregon investigation is ongoing and it’s unclear whether all eight will face charges here, but officials in Washington estimate the case involves the illegal killing of more than 100 elk, deer, black bears, bobcats and other animals over a nearly two-year span.
And while poaching is pervasive in both states – Oregon averages about 750 violations a year — Capt. Jeff Wickersham of Washington’s wildlife enforcement office said he’s never seen a more egregious case.
“They were doing it to kill,” Wickersham said during an interview last month. “They were just killers. There’s no redeeming quality to it.”
Cases against several of the accused poachers are moving forward in Skamania County court this fall. The eight individuals charged thus far face 191 criminal counts, including 33 felony charges, The Seattle Times reported Thursday.
The illegal killings are frustrating for the general public and for the vast majority of hunters, who follow the rules and pay for tags to hunt game in specific seasons. In Oregon, hunters even pool money to help pay for tips that lead to poaching arrests.
Haynes, Martin and 30-year-old Joseph Dills were featured prominently in the hundreds of pages of investigative reports obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. None could be immediately reached for comment.
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/10/oregon_and_washington_poaching.html