ATLANTA, GA -
Released By Georgia Department Of Natural Resources:
State and federal wildlife officials in North Carolina
and Georgia announced an undercover operation today that involved about 80
wildlife violators and some 980 violations. Primary violations documented by Operation Something
Bruin stem from illegal bear hunting but include an array of state wildlife and
game law charges. Some suspects could also face federal charges.
The four-year investigation, the largest of its kind in
recent years, targeted poachers in North Carolina and Georgia, with work in
some adjacent states. Included in Georgia are eight defendants facing a total
of 136 state charges. Dan Forster, director of the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources'
Wildlife Resources Division, said Operation Something Bruin
is a great example of a multi-agency effort with a unified goal: protecting a
public trust resource that provides "tremendous natural, social and economic
benefits to citizens." "It is incumbent upon us to ensure that we have
sustainable natural resources for the public to enjoy for generations," Forster
said.
"And particularly in these economic times, it's critical
for us to work across geopolitical boundaries with other agencies to provide
the best possible protection for the resource."
Officers with Georgia DNR and the North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission infiltrated poaching circles to document violations
including bear baiting; illegal take of bears, deer and other wildlife; illegal
use of dogs; illegal operation of bear pens in North Carolina; and, guiding
hunts on national forest lands without the required permits.
Operation Something Bruin partners also included the U.S.
Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park
Service. Officers began making arrests Tuesday, Feb. 19. Totals
given for violators and violations are approximate. This investigation will help safeguard wildlife by making
poachers pay now, and making would-be violators think twice before breaking
laws that conserve natural resources.
For those who persist in wildlife theft, Something Bruin
will help agencies better train officers to catch them - an effort strongly
supported by hunters and anglers, our nation's first conservationists. Col. Eddie Henderson, chief of the Wildlife Resources Division's
Law Enforcement Section, emphasized that the effort also reinforces the
public's role in helping combat poaching and conserve wildlife.
"Conservation officers cannot be everywhere," Henderson
said.
"The public can be a great asset by reporting poaching
and suspicious activity through their state's toll-free report-a-violation
line.
"Wildlife belongs to everyone. Reporting poaching helps
us protect something the public owns."
Learn more at www.operationsomethingbruin.org
or www.georgiawildlife.com/operationsomethingbruin.
