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ODFW officials rig hunt lottery Allegedly used `insider secrets' to get rare controlled hunt tags By MARK FREEMAN Some high-ranking Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife employees allegedly used insider information to manipulate hunting tag lotteries and improve their chances of landing coveted tags for themselves, authorities say. ODFW officials allegedly parlayed their knowledge of the controlled-hunt lottery process, and hunts set for cancellation, to gain preference points that secured them hunting tags in 1998. One of those officials -- Dan Edwards, the agency's big-game program leader -- reportedly told an Oregon State Police officer that the tactic was an "insider secret," an OSP report states. In a Monday letter to ODFW Director Jim Greer, Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk called the actions "outrageous." But Schrunk declared they were not criminal because they involved no secret information -- just information not readily shared with the public. "The lottery system was designed to give all hunters a fair and equitable opportunity to get a hunting tag," Schrunk wrote. "It was your agency employees who betrayed the trust put in them by the average hunter to see that the lotteries were fair and used agency information to manipulate the system to their advantage." At least seven other top ODFW officials in the agency's Portland office and outlying district offices were in a pool of 1,600 hunters who applied for 1998 tags last May for hunts later canceled in June. Some even applied for multiple hunts that were later canceled. But whether those officials applied the same tactics detailed by Edwards was unknown Tuesday. Greer has launched an internal investigation into his employees' conduct, and has pledged to form a task force to review the agency's entire controlled-hunt program. Don Denman, a Medford lawyer who sits on the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, called the investigation results a "sad situation" that may lead to suspensions or demotions. "When you have the fox minding the chicken coop," Denman said, "it's not a good deal." No local ODFW employees show up on the 1998 list of hunters who applied for canceled hunts. "I'm embarrassed for the agency," said biologist John Thiebes of the ODFW's Central Point office. "I think it paints all of us in a bad light." Greer did not return telephone calls Tuesday for comment. His aide, Susan Adams Gunn, said the agency has taken steps to plug "flaws in the system." Reached by telephone, Edwards declined to comment about his 1998 hunting tags or the case. The investigation centered around the process by which limited hunting tags for deer, elk and antelope are parceled out to hunters who apply for them in May. For every failed tag application, hunters receive preference points that increase their chances of drawing a second or third choice. But the ODFW awards preference points to hunters who apply in May for a hunt later canceled in June, usually because of low animal populations. Agency biologists typically recommend in May -- usually just before the May 15 tag-application deadline -- which hunts should be canceled in June. Edwards reportedly told an OSP officer in January how to apply for a hunt set for cancellation. That way, the officer could secure a preference point to ensure he received the tag he really wanted. While the insider information is "technically" available to the public, only the "most sophisticated and persistent hunter" could get the information, Schrunk states in his letter to Greer. "Apparently, the employees who were taking advantage of the system had no interest in putting the public on equal footing," Schrunk wrote to Greer. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA