Violators Do Community Service

On a recent May weekend, twenty-five Fish and Game violators completed the court-ordered community service portion of their sentences. Fish and Game officers split the group into two and headed to either the Pahsimeroi Hatchery or the Rifle Range outside of Salmon as well as public access sites from the Cottonwood Campground downriver to North Fork. Workers picked up trash and generally spruced up the rifle range as well as the access sites. At the hatchery, workers cleaned raceways, scraped and re-painted buildings, and did grounds-keeping jobs. Community service projects have become a fairly common sentence for Fish and Game violators in Lemhi County. Magistrate Judge Jerry Meyers frequently includes community service in addition to fines, license revocations, jail sentences, and civil penalties. The violations committed by this group of workers ranged from fishing without a valid license and trespass violations to taking big game during a closed season and waste of game. According to District Conservation Officer Justin Williams, "Community Service projects provide an opportunity for these folks to give something back to the resource. It also gives them a pretty good idea of how difficult a job Fish and Game has protecting habitat when other people trash it up." Overall, this group of workers exhibited very good attitudes and felt that they had participated in worthwhile projects.