Wilds agents play Dirty Harry?

When Utahns run across wildlife law enforcement in the wilds, they may expect a kindly but firm officer, someone like Sheriff Andy Taylor in the old television serial.

Instead, all too often officers "were playing Dirty Harry," said Patrick Shea, one of the co-chairmen of the committee preparing recommendations for Jon Huntsman Jr. as he prepared to become Utah's governor.

An example is offered by the state's rural affairs coordinator, Gayle McKeachnie, the other co-chairman. Say a DWR officer stops drivers on the freeway and tickets them for speeding. "And they ask, 'By what authority does a fish cop give me a ticket?' And the officer points to his gun and says, 'By that authority.' "

Widespread resentment of a perceived overbearing attitude by wildlife officers was cited by the transition team that made recommendations about the future of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

"It has a culture that often clashes with other divisions within the department and with the farming/ranching community as well as rural county government leaders," said the team's report.

Members of the transition group found so much concern about the division they considered recommending that it be broken out of its current home, the Department of Natural Resources, and placed in the Department of Agriculture, which they thought might be able to keep better tabs on wildlife officers. In the end, they concluded that such a change would cost Huntsman too much political capital and didn't recommend it.

Team members discussed the conflicts frankly, as reflected in a 2-inch-thick "transition book" of reports from their December meetings. Huntsman's office has released the book to the media.

The report characterized Wildlife Resources as the largest division in Natural Resources and called it the "most difficult to manage" of any in the department.

Its funding comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses, and from federal money derived from a sales tax on hunting and fishing gear, the report noted. These sources "give it a status of independence from the department and the Legislature."

The committee heard comments that DWR law enforcers were insensitive to the public, which causes the division to lose public support, added the report.

A copy of the document was given to Mike Styler, appointed Natural Resources director in April. Styler said he believes Wildlife Resources is making "great progress."