Wolf pelt investigation leads to unrelated charges

TWISP — A Twisp rancher and his son — who last year had their homes searched and computers seized by federal agents investigating a bloody wolf pelt — have been charged with unrelated hunting violations.

Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the killing of an endangered gray wolf, which may have belonged to Twisp’s Lookout Pack, but no charges have been filed in that case.

Speaking to The Wenatchee World for the first time since his home was searched last year, Tom White, 35, said he’s been unable to get information from Okanogan County District Court about the allegations of gross misdemeanors filed March 12 against him and his father, Bill White. The charges include second-degree unlawful hunting of big game and taking or hunting black bear with the use of hounds or bait.

He said several people have told him they think the state is trying to get other game violation convictions to make it easier to convince a jury that he also poached a wolf.

“We’ve got absolutely no history,” White said, adding, “All of our history is helping the game department.”

Federal authorities declined to say whether they expect to file charges in the wolf case, but did say the case is still under investigation.

“These investigations do take quite a bit of time, and we want to be as thorough as we can before we bring any accusations,” said Joan Jewett, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland.

Tom White said he’d wait to see if federal agents file charges before talking about the wolf case.

While their homes were being searched, Tom White told authorities he shot the wolf after it got caught in a barbed wire fence, according to an affidavit filed with the search warrant. His father denied any knowledge of the incident.

The warrant included two photos of Tom White standing with a slain wolf.

“I’m not denying they might have something on me,” White said Tuesday. But, he added, if the federal government files charges, and if it’s heard by a jury of his peers, “I still think I have a pretty good chance.”

White said he and his family received all kinds of hate mail after the wolf pelt incident became public last March. People who were scheduled to have septics pumped by his business called him and canceled.

“We love game animals. That’s why we live here,” he said.

But, he said, he and his family felt much more community support than scorn. “We got through that, I think, because people in the valley stood behind us,” he said.

In addition to the black bear charges, Bill White, 60, was also charged in Okanogan County District Court Sept. 28 with taking a four-point mule deer out of season in October 2007, unlawfully transporting it by notching a harvest tag with the wrong date, and falsely reporting to the state when he harvested the deer.

E-mail images from seized computers, evidence from a local taxidermist and records filed with the state were used to build that case, according to a report filed with charges by state Department of Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Jim Brown.

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com