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President Bush Pardons Colorado Brothers

President Bush recently granted two of his infrequent pardons to brothers in Colorado Springs. Their transgressions? Misdeanor sales of mounted owls.

Jerry and Thomas Moldenhauer sold migratory birds to an undercover Colorado Department of Wildlife officer in 1992 and 1993, court documents show, violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which prohibits the possession or sale of migratory birds, dead or alive, as well as their feathers, eggs or nests. Each man received three years of probation and a $1,000 fine.

I'm reading this article, shaking my head, thinking, well it must have been a one-time occurrence. Not quite.

[More...]

According to federal court documents, in 1992 an informant told the Department of Wildlife that Thomas Moldenhauer owned numerous mounted migratory birds and had tried to sell them. Later that year, an undercover DOW officer went to Moldenhauer's house, where Moldenhauer offered to sell him a mounted great horned owl for $65, court documents show. The officer and two other undercover officers returned a few months later and found about two dozen more mounts of migratory birds, including a scaup and a great blue heron.

....Six months later, DOW officers returned to Thomas Moldenhauer's house, and together they went to his brother Jerry's house, where Jerry showed them a mounted Canada goose in his kitchen. Officers bought it for $150, court documents show. Jerry Moldenhauer also showed officers about 40 mounted migratory birds in his basement, including a golden eagle and several owls, court documents show.

Next, I'm thinking, the brothers probably didn't know it was illegal. Wrong again. On yet another occasion,

The officers bought three birds from him for $230 - including a great horned owl and a red-tailed hawk - and Moldenhauer told them not to tell anyone where they bought the birds, court documents show.

Now, I'm even more puzzled. Are the brothers really old, about to die and in fear that they won't go to heaven with a misdemeanor on their record? That's about the only possibility I haven't discounted yet.

Moldenhauer told the officers he collected the birds before shooting them became illegal, according to court documents. Owning and selling them has been illegal since 1918, however.

Anyone shooting birds before 1918 has got to be over the age of 90 -- probably closer to 100. If dying without a criminal record, even a misdemeanor, is that important to them, it's fine with me. Good for President Bush for showing mercy. Now, can he please show the same to those who can't get jobs because of an old felony conviction with decades left to live and families to feed?

And, by the way, be careful about owls. Here's another federal misdemeanor that's still on the books:
Whoever, except as authorized under rules and regulations issued by the Secretary, knowingly and for profit manufactures, reproduces, or uses the character “Woodsy Owl”, the name “Woodsy Owl”, or the associated slogan, “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

[Cross posted at 5280.com]

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  • Display: Sort:
    Unbelievable! (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by bjorn on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:30:32 PM EST
    This must be a swipe at animal lovers and environmentalists.  Why else would he give a pardon for this kind of crime, since he hardly ever gives pardons!

    Obviously (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by squeaky on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:32:52 PM EST
    He flipping the bird to the endangered species act.

    Owls? what a hoot. But we ain't seen nuttin (none / 0) (#2)
    by PastorAgnostic on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:31:12 PM EST
    I can only imagine how many trees will be downed to provide pulp and paper for the end of term pardons for current and past members of this administration.

    Yes, I know that a pardon requires a criminal action, indictment, conviction, but since when has any legality stopped this administration?

    The last few weeks will see the President suffering from a serious case of carpal tunnel syndrome, with massive icing of his wrist between his signing of thousands of pardons.

    remember Ford's pardon of Nixon? (none / 0) (#4)
    by jeffinalabama on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:34:22 PM EST
    I don't seem to recall a prosecution or indictment or conviction there... pre-emptive strike, anyone?

    Parent
    Ford pardoned Nixon for very good reasons. (none / 0) (#6)
    by FlaDemFem on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:45:11 PM EST
    The country had already gone through endless Watergate hearings and the resignation in disgrace of the President, and the other participants were in the process of being tried and convicted. If Nixon had been prosecuted, it would have brought the government back to the slow grind it was during Watergate, all the resources of Congress concentrated on one issue. It would also have split the country even more than it was and brought the Presidency into even more disrepute. You had to be there, I guess, to understand why Ford pardoned Nixon and not mind a bit. I hated, and still do hate, Nixon with a passion, but I understood why Ford pardoned him. Enough was enough.

    Parent
    whether justified or not, (none / 0) (#8)
    by jeffinalabama on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:56:54 PM EST
    it did set a precedent for pardoning before the fact, didn't it? That's a legal question, and IANOL. It's the first one I know about, anyway.

    Parent
    Articles of impeachment had already been (none / 0) (#20)
    by FlaDemFem on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:56:31 PM EST
    drawn up in Congress. Nixon was informed of this and decided to resign. There was nothing "before the fact" about it. The crimes he would have been tried for, and quite probably found guilty of, had already been made public and discussed for months and months. Everyone knew what he had done, and who had helped him do it. The helpers went to jail. He got off with a pardon because the cost to the country of a trial was thought to be great. We were all so tired of it all. We all knew what he had been pardoned for, we didn't need a trial and conviction to rehash the whole thing all over again.

    Parent
    No puns coming to mindm but I agree this is a (none / 0) (#5)
    by jawbone on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:38:50 PM EST
    slap in the face to environmentalists and nature lovers.  And at TR and the Progressive Republicans?

    I'm in shock.... (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 02:49:55 PM EST
    that we have undercover mercenaries out making black-market stuffed bird purchases.  Who knew?

    Just how many undercover mercenaries and government informants are out there anyway?  Good lord.

    kdog - the buying and selling of wildlife (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by scribe on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:07:13 PM EST
    both alive and dead, and particularly for its parts used in "traditional medicines", is big, and illicit, business.

    For, example, bear gall bladders are a huge item in the illicit wildlife trade.  The gall bladders and, for that matter, bear paws (a delicacy in some cultures) and claws (ornamental and medicinal uses) are sought after, bought and sold, to the detriment of the population of bears.

    And, I'm not even talking about endangered species, here.  The trade in them (like, say, some species of parrots) is even more lucrative.

    Short version - buying and selling any wildlife, alive or dead, without the requisite permits from the feds and relevant state governments, is likely (i.e., almost certainly) illegal.  

    Killing game for sale - either in traditional medicine or for the table - is called "market hunting".  That's been outlawed for over 100 years.  The game one can buy in markets or restaurants is farm-raised.

    Killing non-game animals and birds for any purpose - also illegal.  Under state laws, it's  a violation of the respective game codes.  Under federal laws, there's a lot of law on the topic, particularly as to migratory (i.e., crossing state or national boundaries) game and birds.  

    Selling that which is legally or illegally killed just compounds the offense.

    I suspect these pardonees were dealing in large quantities, were selling obviously-recently killed specimens, and/or were selling other stuff they shouldn't have been.  What they ultimately were convicted of - may have been much less than they originally did.

    As to Bushie's pardoning them, I think it's just another example of his being a pr*ck, showing off and flouting common sense and decenct just to outrage decent people.

    Parent

    Great comment, thanks. (none / 0) (#12)
    by Fabian on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:16:10 PM EST
    Wildlife is not just some resource to be harvested for a profit at any time, by anybody.

    Every animal and plant is part of an ecosystem that supports us as well.

    I come at it from the horticultural side, where illegally "harvested" native plants may be sold as "nursery grown" (slapped in a pot).  "Nursery propagated" means grown from cutting or seeds and is the ethical way to go.

    Parent

    Interesting scribe..... (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:30:46 PM EST
    needless to say I won't be wandering in the woods looking for dinner anytime soon....I might get locked up. I don't do permits:)

    I'm not trying to defend these guys...anybody who would rather admire a bird stuffed on a mantle instead of flying through the sky or perched in a tree is a piker of the first order in my book.  I just don't know if it should be criminal.

    And I got to thinking...how many narcs, undercovers, and informers are there at any given time?  More than a million?  That sh*t worries me...

    Parent

    I understand your point, kdog, but (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by scribe on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:48:38 PM EST
    the wider point is that not everyone thinks the way you do.  Without the laws in place prohibiting market hunting and the like, there would be no wildlife for anyone to enjoy.  That state of affairs - no wildlife (or at least nowhere near the historically-known-to-exist-previously numbers of it) - was the genesis of fish and game laws, game wardens (of whatever name their respective state uses), and prohibitions on market hunting.  All that took place about 100 years ago, in no small extent courtesy of Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and the early conservationists.  

    In the east, wild ducks and geese were almost wiped out by market hunting for NYC, especially.  Because they cross state and national boundary lines, the feds came into the picture.

    People have written books on these topics but, in short, these laws are possibly one of the most easily justified criminal laws on the books.

    Parent

    I see yours as well.... (none / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 04:00:39 PM EST
    I'm very grateful for the work of the conservationists 100 years ago, especially the national parks system.  Alotta that land would be strip-mined and deforested and gone forever if not for their foresight.

    I still can't wrap my head around why it's illegal for me to kill a duck or a goose and eat it though...that's gotta be a natural right, the right to eat.

    It might boil down to me having more faith in mother nature than most...once she shakes us off like the bad case of fleas that we are she will heal herself from our damage.

    Parent

    I Don't Think They're (none / 0) (#10)
    by The Maven on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:08:41 PM EST
    that particularly old, since both Tom and Jerry Moldenhauer seem to be fairly active members of the Pikes Peak Camera Club, and turn up regularly in the club's newsletters (one of which mentions that Jerry got married less than a year ago).

    Another item indeicates that Jerry was a national youth director for a church organization either in the 1970s or 1980s (more likely the latter, from the phrasing).

    (If it is considered objectionable to have posted this information -- which took about one minute on Google to find -- please remove this comment.)

    No wonder our president is such a (none / 0) (#11)
    by Joan in VA on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:15:38 PM EST
    poor one. He doesn't have time to read important memos because his day is filled with this kind of thing. Wonder who brought this to him? I think they should have gotten jail time, not just probation, anyway.

    Well, as Ronnie might say (none / 0) (#13)
    by kmblue on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:29:16 PM EST
    seen one owl, seen 'em all! (snark!)

    Has the Prez pardoned himself yet?

    Seems really odd (none / 0) (#14)
    by fuzzyone on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 03:30:00 PM EST
    I don't want to get all tinfoil hat here, but it seems like they must be connected with some big R donor or something.  I mean presidential pardons for 14 year old wildlife misdemeanors.



    Here's more from (none / 0) (#21)
    by facta non verba on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 06:45:59 PM EST
    The illegal trade in (none / 0) (#22)
    by facta non verba on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 08:58:31 PM EST
    animals is the world's third largest illicit trade after arms and drugs. Estimates of the market vary from a low of $20 billion USD to a high of $100 billion. This is one of my pet projects, pardon the pun.

    As a Colombian national, I have worked hard to protect Colombia's amazing bird, reptile, amphibian, and plant life. In the Amazon port of Leticia, raids continously decommission exotics destined for global markets. The aquarium hobby is destroying reefs and riverine systems worldwide. The bird trade is a problem among exotics. Still my biggest headache remains the Chinese and their diet. Every year in San Francisco, some exotic animal is discovered in Chinatown kitchens. Last year it was pangolins, a Central American tree-dwelling sloth. The East Asian affinity for shark fin soup is decimating shark populations world wide. Last year on a trip to West Africa I met with would-be migrants captured off the Canary Islands. I was surprised during my interviews that many of them were fishermen from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Ghana. In talking to them I learned that no matter where they came from they had one complaint: there were no fish left to catch. That led to asking biologists about fish stocks in the Bight of Benin and Gulf of Guinea. The problem: large fishing trawlers (really large fishing factories) from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Morocco, Malaysia, Japan and Portugal. In 1994, I went to Komodo in eastern Indonesia. After visiting the Komodo dragons, I went over to Flores, a nearby island to see this cave where at dusk thousands of bats leave to go foraging every night. It was an amazing site. But there were these young men with kites that would manuever the kites to knock down some of the bats whereby others would run and grab the bats and place them in wicker baskets. The bats' destinations were the kitchens of Taiwan and Hong Kong. I just got back from a three week trip to Africa. Almost every market I went to offered bush meat (basically monkey and chimpanzee). When we are down to eating our relatives, what's left?

    warm the presses... (none / 0) (#23)
    by white n az on Wed Apr 09, 2008 at 09:03:45 PM EST
    Time for Rove to proclaim how Bush compares to Lincoln again.