Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Game Warden Bill Koppen estimated there was two tons of drywall, construction waste and household trash dumped on the Game Range the weekend prior to the Fourth of July.
Montana FWP Game Warden Bill Koppen said the Missoula man drove onto the Game Range about a quarter mile off Highway 83 across from Salmon Lake State Park, opened the tail gate on the dump trailer and drove off. Amidst the drywall and construction waste were receipts, mailing labels and other mail that allowed Koppen to back track and find the individual.
SEELEY LAKE – A Missoula man faces charges for criminal mischief after allegedly dumping two tons of drywall, construction and household waste on the Blackfoot/Clearwater Game Range the weekend before the Fourth of July. If found guilty he could owe a fine of up to $1,500, lose his privileges to hunt, fish and trap for up to two years and must clean-up the dump site or face restitution for clean-up.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Game Warden Bill Koppen received three calls on the illegal dumping, one being through 1-800-TIP-MONT.
Koppen started going through the garbage looking for anything that he thought would have fingerprints or DNA. However when he found names on packages, mail and receipts, he was able to back track and start asking questions. There was dry wall dust in the garbage so there was no question for him that the dry wall and garbage came from the same individual.
“All of the people with the names were innocent,” said Koppen. “I would talk to these people who were stand-offish because I’m law enforcement. After I figured out that these people probably weren’t involved and were good to go, I told them that they dumped two tons of drywall on the game range. After I told them they did this to the Game Range [they provided more names and information].”
He explained that a Missoula drywall business paid the Missoula man $200 to take a dump trailer of dry wall, construction and household waste to Republic Services in Missoula. He instead chose to pocket the money and dump it on the Game Range about a quarter mile off of Highway 83 near Salmon Lake.
The Missoula man has a mandatory appearance within the week. He has also agreed to clean up the mess. Koppen will monitor the cleanup. The drywall business also volunteered to clean up the mess because according to Koppen, they were upset by the behavior.
“Tell someone when you see something like that whether it’s poaching or garbage or vandalism in the park,” said Koppen. “People were on it and they didn’t like it.”
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