Field reports: Poaching charges suspend hunting show

A cable television network suspended a hunting show after the program’s host and nine others involved in the production were charged in a federal poaching investigation at a national preserve in remote northwest Alaska.

The Sportsman Channel suspended “The Syndicate” from airing on the network and launched its own internal investigation, said Jim Liberatore, CEO and president of Outdoor Sportsman Group Networks.

“We take this situation very seriously and have acted swiftly to suspend the show, its producers and talent,” Liberatore said in a statement. “If true, what has been alleged is clearly unacceptable, unethical and against everything our networks stand for.”

Prosecutors said more than two dozen grizzly bears, moose, caribou and Dall sheep were illegally killed in the Noatak National Preserve, which is north of the Arctic Circle and near Alaska’s northwestern coast. The illegal kills ended up on the show, authorities alleged.

There were at least four hunts conducted in Alaska for the show over the last five years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Skrocki, the lead prosecutor, said all the Alaska hunts for the show were conducted illegally but were edited to appear that they were legal.

The show’s host, Clark W. Dixon, 41, of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, was charged in U.S. District Court in Fairbanks with two felony violations of the Lacey Act. Court hearings were scheduled for this month.

Dixon is accused of taking a grizzly bear for a fee in 2010 without being a licensed and registered big game hunting guide. He’s also charged with conducting an illegal outfitting operation since 2009.

Nine other people, who are from Alaska, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Nevada, and two production companies face related misdemeanors or tickets.

“The Syndicate” is independently produced and purchases air time on the Sportsman Channel, Liberatore said.

An apology to viewers was posted on The Syndicate’s Facebook page along with an explanation that the offenders were immediately purged from the show’s contributors.

Conservation sponsorships

offered to educators

WILDLIFE – Educators are being offered sponsorships for week-long conservation camp where they can earn two-four graduate credit hours.

Applications are out for the 2016 American Wilderness Leadership School at a facility near Jackson, Wyoming, organized by Safari Club International. Six different week-long sessions are scheduled June-August.

The school offers a wide range of course topics including wildlife conservation, land management issues, endangered species and sportsmen in conservation.

Teachers can earn National Archery in the Schools instructor certification, check out shooting sports, learn how to teach outdoor survival to youths, join federal wildlife managers on field trips, visit natural gas fields to explore energy and conservation issues and learn stream ecology.

Teachers can apply for sponsorships to cover the $900 cost of the school including room and board at safariclubfoundation.org.