Poaching suspect reported bear attack
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 7:13 AM PDT
By Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleOne of the men whom state wildlife officials arrested last month on poaching allegations has a name that may be familiar to Cowlitz County residents.
Adam Steven Lee, 22, of Longview was bitten by a bear on June 8, 2005, claiming the bear attacked him when he was relieving himself. An investigation led to numerous poaching charges, including bear baiting and hunting with hounds.
"It's rare we have a black bear attack," said Bill Jarmon, deputy chief of the department's enforcement program. "From further investigation, we found the reason he was attacked is that the bear had already been shot."
Lee pleaded guilty in Cowlitz County District Court in 2006 and served five days in jail, with the rest of his yearlong sentence suspended. He also lost his hunting privileges.
On June 6, wildlife officials arrested Lee, Joseph Allen Dills, 20, Brian Phillip Hall, 39, and Micky Ray Gordon, 36, after a seven-month investigation. Although the arrests took place in Longview, the charges have been filed in Lewis and Wahkiakum counties. All the men have pleaded not guilty.
Wahkiakum County court documents reveal details about the undercover investigation by a fish and wildlife agent who posed as a dog hunter.
The agent described hunting trips into private property in Wahkiakum County to hunt cougar, bear, bobcat and lynx with dogs. The agent said Gordon used a tool to twist locks off gates to let hunting parties enter private land.
Gordon faces an animal cruelty charge Gordon stemming from an April trip. The agent said Gordon used electronic dog collars, which deliver an electric shock, to force his dogs to get away from a porcupine. The agent said Gordon became angry with one of the dogs and shocked it repeatedly. The agent said Gordon then attached a second shock collar around the dog's loins to shock its genitals. When the dog collapsed, Gordon kicked it repeatedly, the agent said.
"That should give you a better feeling for some of the individuals we're dealing with here," said Jarmon.
Jarmon, who has spent 13 years in investigative work with the wildlife department, said the men are "right up there at the top of the list" of people that wildlife wants to kick out of the woods.
"Some hound hunters, such as those who use bird dogs, they enjoy watching their dog work," he said. "Good sportsmen hunt where they can legally do it."
Hunting bear, cougar, bobcat or lynx with hounds and hunting black bear with bait was banned statewide by public initiative 655 in 1996.
In addition to the animal cruelty allegation, Gordon has been charged in Wahkiakum County Superior Court with one count of hunting black bear, cougar, bobcat or lynx with the aid of hounds; one count of unlawful big game hunting; five counts of criminal trespass onto private woodlands; and two counts of felony malicious mischief. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 14-16.
Lee has been charged in Lewis County Superior Court with two counts of unlawful hunting of big game, hunting without a license and unlawful hunting of black bear with dogs. His trial has been set for Oct. 15.
Hall, 39, has been charged in Wahkiakum County District Court with one count of hunting black bear with the aid of hounds; one count of third-degree malicious mischief; and four counts of second-degree criminal trespass onto private woodlands. His trial is set for Sept. 11.
Dills, 20, has been charged in Wahkiakum County District Court with one count of hunting black bear, cougar, bobcat or lynx with the aid of hounds; one count of unlawful big game hunting; and five counts of criminal trespass onto private woodlands. His trial is set for Aug. 30.
The investigation is continuing and more charges are possible, Jarmon said. Cowlitz County charges are pending the outcome of the investigation into explosives and other evidence agents collected in June while serving search warrants at five residences and a taxidermist's shop in the Longview-Kelso area, he said.
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