Film company fined for wilderness offenses
The owners of a Missoula-based film company were issued 38 state and 11 federal citations for violating bull trout regulations and filming illegally in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Zach and Travis Boughton, the owners of Montana Wild, and their associate Anthony Von Ruden were fined a total of $5,950 in a plea agreement announced Thursday by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Missoula Wild produced fishing films in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness that showed the company’s employees illegally fishing for bull trout.
State citations were issued for intentionally fishing for bull trout in closed waters; failing to immediately release bull trout; and failing to report a bull trout on a Fish, Wildlife and Parks Bull trout Catch Card.
Bull trout are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act. Limited fishing for bull trout is allowed on the main stem of the South Fork Flathead River but requires a special catch card.
The federal citations were for unlawful commercial filming activity on U.S. Forest Service lands without valid permits.
A news release from Fish, Wildlife and Parks states that investigators seized five computers, 13 hard drives and two cellphones, uncovering more than 2,200 videos of a July 2013 fishing trip along the South Fork and in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.
Additional videos showed the participants intentionally fishing for bull trout on the North Fork Blackfoot River and Spotted Bear River.
“Numerous videos showed the Boughtons and Anthony Von Ruden intentionally fishing for bull trout in tributaries, such as Youngs Creek, White River, Big Salmon, and Little Salmon Creeks,” the release states. “These streams are closed to fishing for bull trout.”
The footage included multiple instances of anglers over-handling the bull trout for up to 12 minutes after they were caught, causing potential injury to the fish.
“In one instance a bull trout was caught, netted, handled and released (with the hook still attached) only to be fished again for underwater filming, concluding with the fish being netted, handled and released again,” the release states.
Included among the video evidence was a teaser on the company’s website for an upcoming film to be introduced at the Fly Fishing Film Tour in Missoula.
The Boughtons and Von Ruden also did not obtain commercial filming permits, which are required when filming on federal lands outside the wilderness. No commercial filming is allowed in the wilderness.
There also was illegal filming on tribal, state and private lands, according to Fish, Wildlife and Parks.