Montana men charged with illegally killing brown bear in Alaska Peninsula refuge

Two Montana residents, one of them a commercial outfitter and guide, face federal wildlife charges accusing them of illegally killing a brown bear in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge in 2022.

Richard “Rich” McAtee, 46, and Arlon Franz, 51, were indicted by a federal grand jury last month in Anchorage. McAtee was arraigned in Montana, records show. Franz agreed to appear voluntarily in court, according to a motion to quash an arrest warrant. They are charged with conspiracy and violating the Lacey Act, a law that makes it a federal crime to break wildlife laws and then move or trade the wildlife across U.S. borders.

The men are accused of killing the bear before the hunting season opened and on the same day as at least one of them flew over the area, according to the indictment. They are also accused of hunting as nonresidents without a written guiding contract or master guide supervision.

Other charges include salvaging the illegally killed bear’s hide and then transporting the hide from a hunting lodge to Port Moller and on to Anchorage, the indictment says.

The indictment doesn’t make clear which man killed the bear or describe other circumstances including where the May 2022 hunt occurred. The lodge is not identified in the document.

Asked about the more than two years between the incident and the charges, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said the Department of Justice can’t comment on information outside the public record. Asked about any pending charges for the lodge referenced in the indictment, she said “we are unable to confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.”

McAtee, reached by phone, said he had no comment. Franz hung up when contacted at his business.

McAtee has been a longtime guide and outfitter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and previously owned a lodge near Spotted Bear, according to reporting by Hungry Horse News.

The roughly 5,500-square-mile Alaska Peninsula refuge is a remote destination where hunting bears is legal but requires the appropriate permits and guides.