If you thought OHVs on closed roads were bad, check this out.

[SonnyDay]

As others have said, I've seen a lot more wilderness area damage from illegal wheeled vehicles than random billionaires (or maybe only multi-millionaires?) popping in for an afternoon flyfish on a sandbar. Don't agree with their choices... but the rich will always screw the poor. Always have. Always will. Remember that in 20 weeks...

 

[mtwarden]

I was hoping they would make a good example out of this d1ckhead; $500 for someone who owns a helicopter is akin to our old $5 speeding ticket

 

[SonnyDay]

I was hoping they would make a good example out of this d1ckhead; $500 for someone who owns a helicopter is akin to our old $5 speeding ticket

Actually, I kinda miss the old $5 MT speeding ticket! But yeah, seems like fines should be pro-rated based on income...

 

[Ucsdryder]

Honestly though. Think about how much we pay every year to hunt elk. At 500 bucks for the fine it might be worth it to have someone drop you in some remote area that’s hard/impossible to access on foot!

 

[mtwarden]

if it wasn't for dumba$$ folks, we'd probably still have the $5 daytime speeding ticket!

yeah $500 is not a big deterrent; scout the day before for elk via helicopter, next day (insuring it's a full 24 hours later) have the helicopter drop you off in strategic location- pay the $500 fine and kill a big bull

 

[SonnyDay]

Honestly though. Think about how much we pay every year to hunt elk. At 500 bucks for the fine it might be worth it to have someone drop you in some remote area that’s hard/impossible to access on foot!

You'd pay another $1K-$2K in "air taxi" fees/fuel... but well within tolerances of the total cost of a hunt under various scenarios (e.g. guided). Would be a shame if more folks realized this and took that approach...

 

[mwebs]

This is what I was eluding to... Pay someone $2000 to fly you into the wilderness and drop you, they keep a $500 deposit in case they get caught.. Refundable to you when they don't. I see a business opportunity for those who don't care about exploiting our wildness areas.

 

[SonnyDay]

I see a business opportunity for those who don't care about exploiting our wildness areas.

Sadly, yes...

 

[Blueduck1957]

Can't let that get started.

 

[3forks]

I wouldn’t worry about helicopters as much as people using drones to scout.

Also, as drone technology advances - imagine the day when you can put the coordinates of your camp into the navigation system of a drone and have it drop off all your gear. Also, packouts could be a thing of the past if you could have a drone carry out your kill.

I can see it now... Outfitters selling off their stock and charging for a pack in or out for you via their drones.

 

[3forks]

Also, Sweden and Finland base speeding tickets on a person’s income:

”Finland’s system for calculating fines is relatively simple: It starts with an estimate of the amount of spending money a Finn has for one day, and then divides that by two—the resulting number is considered a reasonable amount of spending money to deprive the offender of. Then, based on the severity of the crime, the system has rules for how many days the offender must go without that money. Going about 15 mph over the speed limit gets you a multiplier of 12 days, and going 25 mph over carries a 22-day multiplier.”

 

[Hoot]

Actually, I kinda miss the old $5 MT speeding ticket! But yeah, seems like fines should be pro-rated based on income...

I remember my dad joking about having a stack of $5's on the dash board to hand to troopers just in case. Although I think the last ticket I got in Montana I paid $25 or $50, super low...

As far as the fine schedule based on income...might as well just go to full blown communism...

Class warfare, Race warfare, entitlement, etc...such a shame what ideals our country is adopting...

 

[SonnyDay]

As far as the fine schedule based on income...might as well just go to full blown communism...

Well, I wasn't thinking of taking it that far! Just wondering how we'd prevent D-bags like these two from just considering the (meaningless for them) fine part of the cost of admission and continuing to violate. Or, as mwebs pointed out someone making it a business.

Maybe the fine needs to double with each violation or something...

 

[mtwarden]

they could add a ban of an appropriate length in addition to the very modest fine; I know when we caught wealthy poachers the least of their worries were the fines/restitution- getting their privileges revoked to hunt, that hurt them!

 

[Schism]

Well, I wasn't thinking of taking it that far! Just wondering how we'd prevent D-bags like these two from just considering the (meaningless for them) fine part of the cost of admission and continuing to violate. Or, as mwebs pointed out someone making it a business.

Maybe the fine needs to double with each violation or something...

I think the maximum fine allowed needs to be increased.

The helicopter pilot paid the "maximum fine" according to the article. If the maximum fine were raised to $20,000 or more, the judge could use his/her discretion when implementing the fine. In cases where it was truly accidental the levied fine could be a couple hundred dollars. In cases of blatant disregard the fine could be much, much more substantial.

As is, a $500 "maximum fine" won't deter many people these days, regardless of income or wealth.

 

[Okhotnik]

For all y’all breaking out the ropes and tying the nooses. From the “perps”, not the papers:

“We have a deep appreciation of Montana’s special places and recognize protected wilderness is one of the reasons Montana is the last best place. We have both been avid pilots for more than 20 years; we would never knowingly land a helicopter (or use any motorized vehicle) in protected wilderness under any circumstances. On May 16, we flew to Meadow Creek, a public use airstrip approximately two miles north of the Bob Marshall wilderness complex, to camp overnight with our children. On our way there, we briefly stopped just south of the airstrip in a location we believed to be outside the wilderness boundary. We made a mistake understanding our surroundings and we sincerely apologize. We own this mistake and we’re committed to working with the Forest Service and other stakeholders to try to make this right.”

Ok . What a joke apology . They are just sorry they got caught.

 

[mtwarden]

^ yeah that would work; clearly $500 is too low

I think the maximum fine allowed needs to be increased.

The helicopter pilot paid the "maximum fine" according to the article. If the maximum fine were raised to $20,000 or more, the judge could use his/her discretion when implementing the fine. In cases where it was truly accidental the levied fine could be a couple hundred dollars. In cases of blatant disregard the fine could be much, much more substantial.

As is, a $500 "maximum fine" won't deter many people these days, regardless of income or wealth.

that would work; clearly $500 is not nearly enough in a case like this

 

[Broomd]

Hell, they're probably friends with the investigators....

 

[SonnyDay]

Yeah, was gonna say: If the judge is their golfing partner then they'll still get off easy...

 

[Two Roads]

If you don't like the law, work to get it changed, get involved, spend enough of your money it hurts and commit your time.

And I agree, suspend hunting and fishing privileges for a season might sting in this case but only because the violator might care.

Otherwise, with half the morons we would just create more poachers. Actually, half the morons feel entitled to cheat already, their lot in life entitlement. Aka stealing from the rest of us. Know any of those guys?

About this jealous thing with other people who have more money, I hope you guys aren't raising kids to share the same view. What handicaps success most is believing in failure from the start. If you already gave up, fine with me, less competition. But don't pass that gene on to the herd.