An Idaho Fish and Game commissioner has been arrested for poaching elk. He's facing several misdemeanors.
Authorities charged Commissioner Brody Harshbarger, one of Idaho's seven commissioners. They've accused him of unlawful taking of game animals, one count of hunting without an appropriate tag, one count of hunting from a motorized vehicle, one count of shooting across a public highway, and one count of trespassing on private property to hunt.
He's facing up to three years in prison.
According to the website, "Brody is a dryland farmer and avid hunter who is involved in his community, serving on the Fremont County Farm Bureau, as well as staying involved with his church."
Commissioner Charged For Poaching Elk
Of his job, he said, "I am pleased to have this opportunity to serve Idaho. I love our wildlife and the community we live in. We have a lot of challenges, and I am excited to help continue to solve them. What an amazing place to live and work."
The commissioner will have his day in court. John Boughman served as director of Wyoming Game and Fish from 1996 to 2002. Speaking with Cowboy State Daily, he weighed in on the case.
"Wildlife agencies, historically, are so incredibly political," he said. "Everybody in the state thinks they're your constituent. Everybody's interested. When the commissions were set up in the 1930s, they kind of controlled the agency to get it out of politics. Commissioners are lay people, but they can even do some things that some lay people will do, like shoot out of car windows or hunt in the wrong areas."
According to Boughman, he would assume that Harshbarger would resign from his position.
"I would assume that he's going to resign," he said. "From everything I've read, it does sound like it was intentional. Nobody's going to get involved and pressure anyone (involved in the investigation) to stand down."
