Sadly, I did not spring from bed at 5:30 to see the Total Lunar Eclipse at the beaver dam. I can offer no excuses for my indolence save these: As cool as it might be to photograph the eclipse over the dam there is no possible place to achieve that angle. And my bed was very cozy, which (given the fact that December is turning out to be a Spare-the-Air MONTH) happens to be the only place in our entire home that IS. I imagine it was very mystical, and that the beavers did not notice it at all.
Father of local fishing guide pleads not guilty
Michael P. Duby, who has a long list of charges levied against him in Alaska, was handed a federal indictment earlier this year for unlawfully selling migratory birds and bird parts and bear hide on eBay. That case is still pending. He was also charged and sentenced this year with illegally hunting in Montana in 2008 and 2009 with his father and a friend, Jeffrey C. Fritz, 42, of Washington. A Gallatin County, Mont., district judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, after he pleaded no contest in April. The Bozeman (Mont.) Daily Chronicle reported he had been “unable to admit” that they killed 19 antelope and numerous other game animals in Gallatin County without valid licenses, since the federal charges are still pending. The judge had also sentenced him to pay $15,500 in fines and restitution, and banned him from hunting, trapping, fishing or assisting in such activities in Montana for the rest of his life. Frenzel said that bans him from such activities in Alaska as well, according to Alaska state law.
Did someone say “steward”? Mr. Duby was certainly no Steward and exercised no responsibility towards wildlife in a any way. Apparently it was a family affair with father, son and brothers all involved.
Charges against nine other people, including Michael P. Duby’s brothers, have poured out one by one since the younger Duby’s federal indictment in June of this year. Most of the charges have been levied by the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals. Implicated in the most recent string of charges were Benjamin Olson, 24, and Blake B. Coombs, 27. On Thursday, Olson entered a not guilty plea though his lawyer John Leque for killing and taking a beaver with a firearm on Admiralty Island in 2009. The charges are non-criminal, strict liability offenses that cannot result in jail time, only a fine.
(Got that? It’s not a crime to shoot a beaver, but you aren’t allowed to sell bird parts on ebay. Just so we’re clear.)
Charging documents filed by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Peterson on Oct. 2 stated Olson was hunting for brown bears on Admiralty Island near the mouth of Bear Creek in Game Management Unit 4 on April 30, 2009, with Michael P. Duby. Olson said Duby asked him to shoot a beaver they saw on the beach, and that he did. The document states Olson admitted to shooting the beaver, which photos taken by Duby confirm. Duby skinned the beaver and later sent the hide off to be tanned, the criminal information states. Peterson stated the Alaska Administrative Code regulates the methods and means of taking fur bearers and specifically prohibits the taking of beaver with a firearm on Admiralty Island. State law also prohibits possession of game that is possessed or transported by a person “who knows or should have known” the animal was taken in violation of a regulation, the charges say.
Who got that coat I wonder? Mr. Duby and his associates sound like excellent representatives of the hunting lobby. I can only say I’m very relieved he committed his atrocities against multiple species because we all know nothing happens to you for just killing beavers.
Empire records reveal the younger Duby, Michael P. Duby, pleaded no contest in 2003 to charges of taking a brown bear in a closed area, hunting for brown bear without a guide, unsworn falsification, unlawful possession of a black bear, and false statements on three license applications. In 1999, he took a black bear under a false resident license.
To be honest, this is one case where I’m not sure there’s that much difference between the criminals and the prosecution. Alaska is not known for its onerous compassion for wildlife. Case in point? This is my very favorite part of the article
Troopers also observed a whole duck being used as bait. Alaska law prohibits waterfowl from being used as bait unless breast meat is removed, Peterson wrote.
*Let it be said that the phrase “Catfish are jumpin'” is almost certainly misleading since catfish are bottom feeders and probably aren’t jumpin’ anywhere any time soon. You can find references on fishing forums to sightings of an occasional Catfish leap but it is very rare. I can only think that they are using the term ‘jumpin’ metaphorically meaning they’re getting ready to be caught….Or, less charitably, that they are big liars.
