CA Fish & Game Commission president ousted over cougar hunt

[Dave Workman]

I'll be writing about this Thursday morning

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/state&id=8767302

Daniel Richards was criticized by animal welfare groups for a photo from "Western Outdoor News" that showed a mountain lion he killed on a hunt in Idaho. Hunting mountain lions is banned in California, but it is allowed in Idaho.

[Wacenturion]

Know nothing about why he was fired, although I have to believe the PR uprising over the cougar hunt was instrumental.  One only has to read the few comments at the bottom of the article to figure out the moronic mindset in California he was dealing with.

[SemperFidelis97]

If California gets any more far left they may very well slide into the Pacific not that it would be missed, or anything.

[bearpaw]

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/06bf3947e0e844caa0c5201e11652662/US--Cougar-Killing-Flap

California Fish and Game Commission replaces president who killed mountain lion in Idaho

FRESNO, Calif. — The California Fish and Game Commission removed its president on Wednesday, months after he was criticized for killing a mountain lion in Idaho.

Real estate developer Dan Richards was stripped of his leadership role with little discussion during a meeting in Ventura.

Richards said his morning began ominously when he was listening to Nickelback during his workout and heard the song, "If Today Was Your Last Day."
"I was fully aware today would be my last day as the president, but it's not my last day on God's green earth," Richards said after the unanimous vote to replace him with member Jim Kellogg.

Richards, who was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008, has said he plans to remain on the five-member commission until his term expires in six months.

Conservationists clamored for his ouster after photos surfaced earlier this year of him holding the slain mountain lion.

Hunting mountain lions is banned in California, though it's legal in Idaho and other states.

"Californians have twice voted in a resounding fashion to protect mountain lions in our state, and his flagrant flaunting of his disagreement with the electorate put him out of sync with California," said Jennifer Fearing, state director of the Humane Society of the United States. "We're glad to see the commission take action."

Critics, including animal welfare groups, said the commission chief should uphold the values of the state he represents. Hunting groups defended Richards.

Richards also came under fire for accepting the $7,000 hunting trip without paying any of the cost. He repaid the hunting lodge after an ethics complaint was filed.

In the wake of the controversy, the commission changed rules that give the presidency to the most senior member of the commission and instead chose to have the president selected by majority vote.

He told the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/MwkOvF) during a recent interview that he broke no wildlife laws.
"There's no chance I did anything wrong," Richards said. "I did everything by the book."

[CedarPants]

I could see this happening in Washington if one of our commission members tagged a wolf in Idaho 

[Dave Workman]

Anti-hunting bigotry wins in California
 
The California Fish and Game Commission on Wednesday ousted President Daniel Richards in the wake of a controversy that involved something perfectly acceptable just about anywhere but the Golden State.
 
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-hunting-bigotry-wins-california-could-it-spread-north?cid=db_articles

[bearpaw]

I could see this happening in Washington if one of our commission members tagged a wolf in Idaho 

I don't think so, I don't think WA has degraded to that point yet.

Maybe there are no legal grounds for this, but I think the guy ought to consider a lawsuit since he was removed for doing nothing illegal in CA or ID. Hunters must stand up for their right to hunt.

[CedarPants]

Just my pessimistic side shining through.  It gets the best of me sometimes on cranky mornings without enough sleep or coffee 

[bearpaw]

Just my pessimistic side shining through.  It gets the best of me sometimes on cranky mornings without enough sleep or coffee 

You might be right.... but I hope not!

[KopperBuck]

Conservationists clamored for his ouster after photos surfaced earlier this year of him holding the slain mountain lion.

Definitely not the word I'd use to describe them

[lokidog]

Conservationists clamored for his ouster after photos surfaced earlier this year of him holding the slain mountain lion.

Definitely not the word I'd use to describe them

No kidding!  Just shows how they have managed to fool people with their choices of words....

[Curly]

I could see this happening in Washington if one of our commission members tagged a wolf in Idaho 

I don't think so, I don't think WA has degraded to that point yet.

Maybe there are no legal grounds for this, but I think the guy ought to consider a lawsuit since he was removed for doing nothing illegal in CA or ID. Hunters must stand up for their right to hunt.

I hope he does look into filing a lawsuit.  Of course he'd probably only get an I.O.U. since CA is out of money, but on principal it would be nice to win a lawsuit against the morons.

[Curly]

I bet he could have done a number of things outside of CA that are illegal there and there wouldn't be a complaint.  What about paying for sex at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada, or smoking pot in Amsterdam.............if there were pics of him at the Bunny Ranch or a pic of him smoking a joint in Amsterdam, you wouldn't hear a peep about it.  But heaven forbid he goes on a legal hunt. 

What if he went on an African safari and there were pics of him with Zebra, Elephants, and lions?  Would he have been ok because CA doesn't have laws against shooting Zebra, elephants or African lions? 

[Russ McDonald]

I have been watching this since it happened.  If I were him.  I would move to ID after his term is done with the commision.  Cut up his CA license on his last day and tell them to shove there anti-hunting anti-gun where the sun don't shine.

[dreamunelk]

While we know that many anti's were focused on the cougar hunt everyone is forgetting the free hunting trip.  That is a no no everywhere.  In Wa a State employee would have likely been fired.  If not they would have had to pay for the trip and then face serious time off with out pay, ethics training and or big fines.  So lets not put to much faith in the news.  I lean towards thinking that the reason they did not come done harder is because of the anti's.

[muzbuster]

I could see this happening in Washington if one of our commission members tagged a wolf in Idaho 

I don't think so, I don't think WA has degraded to that point yet.

Maybe there are no legal grounds for this, but I think the guy ought to consider a lawsuit since he was removed for doing nothing illegal in CA or ID. Hunters must stand up for their right to hunt.

[KopperBuck]

While we know that many anti's were focused on the cougar hunt everyone is forgetting the free hunting trip.  That is a no no everywhere.  In Wa a State employee would have likely been fired.  If not they would have had to pay for the trip and then face serious time off with out pay, ethics training and or big fines.  So lets not put to much faith in the news.  I lean towards thinking that the reason they did not come done harder is because of the anti's.

Why is accepting a free trip bad? There's no political gain for ID. I see it as a benefit to CA - educational if you will. I was a state employee, and I received free trips from my friend, who is a licensed guide, ALL the time. Is it because I wasn't public enough? Should it matter? Does it matter???

Nope.

It's really too bad, California ain't all bad. I feel for those folks in the north.

[Whitpirate]

After the ethics claim about the free trip he paid the lodge.  Non-issue.

I think his lawsuit would really only have teeth if they removed him from the Commission but they didn't and he has 6 months left.

[BOWHUNTER45]

I have been following this for awhile and this is a prime example of how politics work .. All they are doing is sending a message that it does not matter if you obey the laws you can still end up like him..This is why we have laws to keep order of what goes on but it did not matter here ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Huntbear]

If California gets any more far left they may very well slide into the Pacific not that it would be missed, or anything.

We need a huge massive earthquake along that fault line... hoping that most of everything south of Sacramento slides into the ocean...  or at least floats out to sea a mile or two..

[Special T]

The Claifornia political mindset is like a Virus, it kills and spreads until it has to repeat the process. 

[CedarPants]

The Claifornia political mindset is like a Virus, it kills and spreads until it has to repeat the process. 

And it spreads north

[Special T]

Its been here for quite some time and has spread to the major cities in MT, and some in ID, the only state that has seemingly been innoculated is WY.