Fake duck-stamp enforcement notices investigated

According to Alaska Newspapers Inc. (via The Tundra Drums), the law enforcement office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating what it says are fraudulent but official-looking notices warning communities near the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge of harsh tactics being planned to enforce the new policy requiring subsistence hunters to buy federal duck stamps. "I'm flabbergasted," one official said of the fake announcements. "It had to be more than trying to pull someone's leg. A lot of time and effort went into it." The agency says that the notices did not come from its office, and a criminal investigation has begun. Officials want to assure people that the agency has no plans to change its enforcement priorities in the refuge, which means that making sure hunters observe the ban on lead shot and closures for certain waterfowl species still takes precedent. Read much more, here.