Former outfitter and Forest Service employee pleads not guilty to Alaska grizzly killing

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

A former Hungry Horse guide and outfitter pleaded not guilty on all three counts of an indictment that charged him with illegally killing and transporting a brown bear in Alaska.

According to court documents, between May 9 to May 12, 2022, Richard McAtee, 46, and Arlon Franz, 51, of Sidney allegedly conspired together to possess and transport a brown bear that they  illegally killed in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge.

The indictment alleges that one of the men was a nonresident hunting without a contract with a master guide, and that the bear was shot and killed before the legal season to hunt brown bear had opened and the same day the hunter had been airborne, in violation of state and federal laws. 

It also alleges the defendants salvaged the hide of the illegally taken brown bear in the field and transported it from the Alaska Peninsula to a local hunting lodge, and from there to Port Moller and then to Anchorage, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska.

The indictment does not say which person killed the bear. Franz had pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this year.

Brown bear hunting is allowed on the 3.7 million-acre refuge, but only with a proper permit and guide for non-residents. 

Both Franz and McAtee were charged with one count conspiracy in violation of federal conspiracy law and two counts of violating the Lacey Act.

  McAtee previously owned Montana Wilderness Lodge near Spotted Bear. He  was also a former Forest Service employee. He resigned as a firefighting engine boss for the Flathead National Forest in 2015.

McAtee sold Wilderness Lodge business and his license to outfit was terminated on June 13, 2024, the same day the license was granted to the new lodge owners, according to Forest Service records.

So McAtee would have been licensed to guide in Spotted Bear the same time he and Franz allegedly took the bear in Alaska.

But McAtee had previous problems with the law in Montana as well.

Scot Snelson, the former Spotted Bear District Ranger, said he started having issues with McAtee’s outfitting business shortly after Snelson took the post in 2017.

He found that McAtee had allegedly violated the terms of his special use permit as an outfitter. Snelson said he initially raised concerns internally and said he was asked by other staff to give McAtee another chance, Snelson said in an interview Monday.

Snelson agreed to, but McAtee didn’t improve and continued to have violations, which ultimately ended up in citations being filed against him.

According to Missoula federal court documents, McAtee was found guilty of violating his conditional use permit, storing equipment on federal lands and having more than 35 head of stock in a party or group in 2020. The violations happened in 2019.

McAtee ultimately paid $750 in penalties and was sentenced to a year of unsupervised probation.

According to federal court documents, the Forest Service investigated camps left by McAtee in 2019. Photos show litter and gear he left behind at a camp in Pentagon, including toilet seats.

He also cached rafts and other gear downstream of Big Prairie in a large pile that included three rafts, raft frames, seats, life jackets and pumps, all of which was in violation of his special use permit as an outfitter.

He also guided a party in July of 2019 that had 16 people, which is above the number allowed (15 are allowed) and it took a 38 head of stock to haul in the gear, which was also a violation of regulations. A maximum of 35 stock are allowed.

Snelson believes that bringing up the violations against McAtee were part of what ultimately led to his ouster as the Spotted Bear District Ranger, as he was quietly transferred to a desk job in April 2023, where Snelson finished his career as a staff officer of recreation, engineering, heritage and land.

Snelson said he received no support from then Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele and even the regional offices concerning McAtee.

“There was continued lack of regional and supervisor support for me to take appropriate action,” Snelson said Monday. “To get McAtee to comply with the conditions of the special use permit.”

Snelson has noted previously that he had a good relationship with other outfitters during his tenure.

Snelson and Steele disagreed on other matters as well, including how the Comprehensive River Management Plan for the three forks of the Flathead River might be implemented in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and other personnel issues.

Steele is no longer Forest Supervisor, either. He stepped down in June, 2023 and took up a deputy directorship position in ecosystem planning with the regional offices.

But even after Snelson and Steele were gone, McAtee was still getting citations. According to federal court records, in February of this year, he paid $240 in penalties for using snow removal equipment on a Forest Service road without authorization.

In the Alaska case, McAtee is being represented by a federal public defendant. A trial scheduling date is set for Oct. 29.

Neither man has had to post bail, but they do have to adhere to conditions of their release, such as surrendering their passports.