Former Bob Marshall outfitter faces more federal charges for gear drops near Silvertip Mountain

A former Hungry Horse outfitter and guide faces more federal charges for allegedly guiding outside of his permitted area on multiple occasions in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, according to court documents filed last week in Missoula District Court.  

Richard McAtee, 46, the former owner of Montana Wilderness Lodge, faces four counts of unauthorized work activity on National Forest System Lands, for allegedly repeatedly guiding or providing services outside of the boundaries of his special use permit.  

McAtee already faces several federal charges for allegedly killing a grizzly bear in Alaska.  

According to charging documents and written statements from law enforcement, McAtee, who was also a former Forest Service employee prior to owning the outfitting business, allegedly did equipment drops for a caving group at Silvertip Mountain in the summer of 2017, 2018, 2022 and in 2023. The mountain is in the heart of the Bob Marshall Wilderness which McAtee was not permitted to guide or outfit in, according to charging documents. 

Doing drops is one service outfitters often offer clients who don’t want to carry their gear into the wilderness or when they physically can’t because of the weight involved.  

In 2023, McAtee allegedly did a drop of gear for the cavers after his special use permit had been suspended, in addition to being outside the area of his permit.  

The Forest Service suspended his special use permit on June 12, 2023, and notified him by certified mail, according to court documents.   

But on July 19, 2023, an employee of McAtee’s dropped off the cavers’ gear once again at a drop point near Silvertip Mountain, more than a month after his permit had been suspended.  

The cavers paid Montana Wilderness Lodge $1,415 on Aug. 2, 2023, according to court documents. In another complaint, McAtee also guided people out of Benchmark on the east side of the wilderness, another area where he was not authorized to work, according to his permit. In that case, he allegedly had set up a camp with 32 head of stock just a few miles from the trailhead.

McAtee had already faced other violations of his special use permit in Montana prior to that, most notably for stashing gear and other equipment from his camps in the wilderness, which is also a violation of federal law. In one stash, Forest Service personnel found parts of a toilet, among other things. 

In addition to the Montana charges, McAtee faces charges in Alaska for allegedly illegally killing a grizzly bear along with co-defendant Arlon Franz of Sidney, Montana.

According to court documents, between May 9 to May 12, 2022,  McAtee and Franz, 51, allegedly conspired together to possess and transport a brown bear they allegedly illegally killed in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge. 

More light has been shed on that case as well.  

“He (McAtee) certainly took someone out into the field, and there is no dispute he shot a bear on (the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge), even though he had been specifically advised on multiple occasions that he wasn’t allowed to provide guiding services there,” U.S. Attorney James Klugman argued during McAtee’s arraignment in September, according to recently released court transcripts. 

Klugman made the remarks as prosecutors argued against allowing McAtee to hunt, fish, trap, possess a firearm or drink alcohol while the Alaska case was pending, noting McAtee’s past efforts to skirt the law in Montana.  

“...In Montana, after having his permission to operate on Forest Service land terminated, he continued to advertise that he was authorized by the Forest Service to do that on his website for his hunting lodge. So again, it’s a record of, in the very most favorable sense for him, pushing the envelope on these regulations, and, in the government’s view, clearly exceeding what those regulations permit, and I think that at this point in time justifies (the no hunting restrictions). 

“As far as no hunting and fishing, our concern was also that threshold between commercial and non-commercial. There is no way to supervise that definition of what’s commercial and what’s not commercial, unless it’s he’s not going to propose that he is commercial hunting versus not, so we put that ban on for that reason. As far as the drug and alcohol, he did self-admit in the interview with pretrial services in Montana that his drinking, he classified as a problem, and that was the basis for that condition,” Klugman argued. 

McAtee’s attorney, Jane Imholte, a federal public defender, argued that McAtee, needed to hunt and fish to feed himself, so he should at least be allowed to do it individually while his case was pending. She also claimed that taking away his guns was a violation of the Second Amendment. 

But Alaska District Court Judge Matthew Scoble ruled in favor of the prosecution. 

He noted that distinguishing whether McAtee was outfitting or simply recreationally hunting or fishing would be unenforceable. He also pointed to McAtee’s past behavior. 

“The defendant is prohibited from hunting, fishing, trapping or outfitting of any kind, as well as accompanying others in the field who are engaged in hunting, fishing, trapping or outfitting,” Scoble ruled. “... Based on the proffers from the government, Mr. McAtee has repeatedly abused the privilege of hunting on public lands, and the same argument could be made that an individual just needs to be able to rob banks so he can fill his wallet ...if you’re going to do something illegal, eventually you’re going to lose the opportunity to do it.” 

Imholte filed a motion for review of McAtee’s release conditions on Oct. 2. McAtee continues to live in Montana and is released on the above-mentioned conditions as the case continues. 

The court has yet to rule on her motion. Meanwhile, hunting season is well underway in Montana.