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Additional Resources • Documents from Utah Public documents received from Utah agencies regarding Rulon Jones • Documents from Idaho Public documents received from Idaho agencies Photos Available There are 2 photos for this article. CLICK HERE to view.  6/30/2008 Past and current game violations and multiple warnings in Utah and Idaho, possible falsification on his application hold little bearing on IOGLB ruling. BOISE – Much maligned shooter bull operator Rulon Jones and his Broadmouth Ranch has applied for and received an outfitting and guide’s license for an area which surrounds the high fence shooter bull operation in Bingham County, Idaho. During the May meeting of the Idaho Outfitter and Guide Licensing Board (IOGLB), Jones’ second attempt to obtain an outfitting license for big game on his private land and Idaho State Department of Lands (ISDL) was successful. Despite the clear potentially damaging evidence presented to the director of the IOGLB, Jake Howard – but withheld from the Board – the Board voted 4-1 in favor of giving the license to guide outside his Idaho high fence operation. The license includes as many as 10 deer, two elk, one moose, three bear and three cougars. The information withheld from the Board includes proof of Jones falsifying the sworn notarized application that he did not have a past game violation and conviction as well as other past problems in Jones’ Utah high fence and guiding operations. The Utah records obtained by WIN included a conviction for a case involving the illegally guided take of a trophy moose on after season and outside Jones assigned CWMU (Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit). In Utah, trophy moose are a once in a lifetime hunt. Jones plead guilty to failure to post property boundaries and received a $555 fine and 30 days in jail, with 30 days suspended in a plea bargain that dropped two other charges of illegal take of a trophy outside a CWMU and illegal take of a trophy out of season. The illegal hunt took place on November 2-3, 1998. Jones’ CWMU permit clearly noted the ending date of October 31, 1998. A complete set of rules including boundries and season dates for his CWMU was given to Jones by the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources (UWDR) in August of that year. Jones was also originally charged with adding and abetting the illegal take of a protected trophy animal. All charges against the hunter were dropped. The criminal offenses investigated by the UDWR between 1998 and 2007 totaled 14 – with one conviction. The other investigated criminal offenses either lacked sufficient evidence for the Conservation Officer to feel comfortable presenting the case to the prosecutor, found the complaint to be baseless, or were not prosecuted at the will of the county or state prosecutor. Another offense warranted a written warning for dumping of a decapitated elk carcass on a neighbor’s private ground just outside the Utah high fence compound in 2003. Three years later Jones dumped more than 10 elk carcasses on ISDL property next to his new high fence shooter operation and was given a warning by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) as well. A 2001 case resulted in a verbal warning given to Jones in Utah for allowing his immediate family to apply for and receive two of the four available permits for his CWMU. Utah statue prohibits immediate family members from applying for or receiving permits within the CWMU’s owned property. The IDFG also opposed granting an outfitting and guides license to Jones based upon his checkered history in Utah and ongoing problems with his current high fence operations in Idaho. While the IDFG could not speak to, nor make reference to, specific criminal cases, specific investigations or any specific related law enforcement activity in Utah due to a confidentiality agreement needed for IDFG to obtain the Jones records, IOGLB Director was directed to the UWDR to check out possible past problems. Additionally IDFG Enforcement Bureau Chief Jon Heggen contacted IOGLB counterpart Robert Lund and advised him to do the same. Lund followed through with a rudimentary inquiry and reported the one criminal citation to Howard. When presented with the documents obtained by WIN last week, Lund said he wished he had been more thorough and did not know of the additional problems in Idaho as well. Director Howard never publicly disclosed the Utah record to the IOGLB. On page 2 of the IOGLB licensing application, Rulon Jones signed to a statement that states he has never been convicted of a game violation of any state, or federal wildlife or resource management agency. IDFG, in its two-page opposition letter cited none of the current on going problems with the Jones operation, namely that the high fence operation is – by all recorded accounts – currently in violation of state statute with regard to entrapment of wild game. More than 20 deer, six elk, and four moose have been enclosed in the high fence since Jones constructed the fence in 2006. IDFG attempted to remove the wild animals via lethal means in the spring of 2007 but was ordered to step down and allow Jones to shoot them through the use of kill permits issued by the IDFG. To date none the wild animals have been recorded as killed by Jones and only one moose was removed by ISDA personnel. Several wildlife personnel at IDFG have said that they can only assume that the captured deer, elk and moose have bred amongst themselves. In the case of the elk, the wild animals may have been bred by some of the dozens of domestic shooter bulls released each fall. As previously reported in WIN, ISDA confirms that Jones over-winters some domestic elk and attempts to feed them at that remote location, as Jones cannot collect and account for every released bull each fall. IDFG personnel also admit the animals may have starved to death over last winter as no winter range exists on the property. Additionally, WIN has learned that IDFG informed IOGLB Director Howard of a fall 2007 investigation of several possible escaped domestic tagged bull elk. At least one of these elk had been shot near the Jones Idaho high fence operation. The investigation has been turned over to the ISDA. Ear tags on the elk shot by the hunter match the color used by the Idaho Broadmouth operation. A FOIA request to the ISDA has not been returned to WIN regarding that investigation and other information on the Jones operation. Howard did not disclose that information to the Board either. As of press time, Howard was not available for comment. Other information regarding multiple problems with downed fences and dumping of elk carcasses were presented to the Board but most members felt the case by IDFG was “weak and not a reason to deny the application.” A major concern for the IDFG is that of enforcement of “location of take” of the wild game within the designated outfitting area for Jones. The letter from IDFG states that the public perception of “what is going on behind the fence” and “was that deer, elk or moose, taken inside or outside the high fence.” Mark Gamblin, IDFG Regional Supervisor of Region 5, stated, “It creates a very real enforcement issue from our standpoint. How are we to readily prove what animal was taken where, should the situation arise?” “These types of facilities are magnets for deer and elk as they try to herd up or breed each winter and fall, in addition to being a possible migration barrier,” Gamblin said. “We have seen conflicts in the past at the perimeter of these types of facilities and we feel that will continue to be a problem.” Access is another big issue for IDFG. Because much of this land is mingled with private land owned by Jones, he has no obligation to allow access through his property to ISDL lands currently open. This effectively closes off much of the outfitted area on ISDL lands. Jones’ outfitting license is contingent upon approval of the ISDL board. The field office in Idaho Falls has recommended that the application for outfitting on the described ISDL land be approved. At least two members of the IOGLB said they would have considered the application differently had they had all the information from Utah and Idaho. One board member and enforcement director Lund stated that having a bad past or even felony convictions does not necessarily preclude the ability of the applicant to obtain a license, and in fact, several outfitters and guides in Idaho are convicted felons. In those cases the Board was made aware of the criminal record and the applicant was thoroughly checked out, said Lund. One Board member said that not fully disclosing a criminal record or falsifying an application is another matter. |
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