‘Mooning’ Earns Mealy A Suspension Director Must Also Apologize To Idaho Citizens

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted Thursday to suspend director Steve Mealey without pay for two weeks and give him a letter of reprimand for feigning “mooning” the shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille.

The commission, meeting in a closed-door telephone conference, decided to suspend Mealey without pay from Aug. 3 through Aug. 16. He will receive a letter of reprimand and must write an apology to the citizens of Idaho.

“I accept the commission’s decision and will honor it,” Mealey said. “I want to sincerely apologize to the people of Idaho for any inappropriate action on my part that may have been offensive. I consider the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

The incident happened aboard a tour boat the commission and department officials chartered last week.

A half-dozen people were in the bow of the boat as it passed a large, brightly painted metal sculpture on the shoreline about a half-mile away, and Commissioner Jeff Siddoway of Terreton pressed Mealey for his opinion of the structure in such a bucolic setting.

“This is strictly a matter for the commission to handle,” Gov. Phil Batt said. “I accept their corrective actions as appropriate.”

Five commissioners voted for the sanctions. Siddoway abstained and Commissioner Roy Brown of Soda Springs did not participate. “We asked the staff, legal and personnel, to assess how this would be approached if, for the lack of a better term, a regular employee of the department had committed a similar thing,” said Commission Chairman John Burns of Salmon.

“We took the perspective that the director should be held to a higher standard of conduct.”

While Mealey called it just a playful action directed at no one, he admitted his job could have been on the line. The captain of the cruise boat has insisted the mooning was real and worried that people on shore would be offended.

Siddoway came to Mealey’s defense this week, saying he likely egged on the director.

“Although it was what I would call a harmless prank and directed at no person, nevertheless, I am concerned about the effect on the public image and the feelings of other people who view it very seriously,” Burns said.

He added the boat was a couple hundred yards from the sculpture and he did not see anyone on the shoreline. Burns said there were about 20 people on the boat and each one likely had a different perspective of the incident.

Don Clower, president of the Idaho Wildlife Council, called the incident “unprofessional” and also was angered by the $288 cost of the chartered boat ride when Fish and Game is facing a budget crisis.