A Big Battle Over Bighorn Sheep : On a Cold, Windy Mountain, Activists Stalk the Hunters

A group of environmental activists stood shivering at one of several rendezvous points, a rocky shelter at the base of the Granite Mountains in the east Mojave Desert about 30 miles east of here.

There they spent Saturday night, preparing for another of their “actions” against hunters in the nearby Marble and Old Dad Mountains in San Bernardino County, engaged in the first legal bighorn sheep hunt in the state in 114 years.

The activists’ mission? To disrupt the hunt and try to save as many sheep as possible. They had been at it since arriving eight days earlier.

Nelson bighorn sheep had been protected in California since 1873, when the animals were close to extinction, but the ban expired at the end of last year. The legislature approved a limited hunt, authorizing nine hunters to kill one sheep apiece. California’s bighorn herd numbers more than 4,700, according to Dick Weaver, a bighorn specialist with the Department of Fish and Game. Of the Nelson variety, there are perhaps 250 in the Marble and Old Dad Mountains.

The money raised in an auction for the first permit and the sale of the eight other special licenses is to go into a state fund earmarked for bighorn management and research.

The DFG set the end of the special season as Dec. 20. Bob Howard, a Palm Springs rancher and director of the Bighorn Research Institute, bid and paid $70,000 for the first permit, which entitled him to begin hunting Nov. 21. He bagged an 11-year-old ram on Old Dad peak Nov. 30 without opposition.

More than 4,000 hunters applied for the eight other licenses, each worth $225. A drawing was held to determine the eight license recipients. Holders of those licenses began hunting Dec. 5.

As of Monday, seven sheep had been shot, despite the efforts of the 20 or so activists operating in the area.

Saturday, in the Old Dad Mountains, seven of the activists were cited by game wardens for disturbing the peace, one of whom, wanted on another similar charge, was held in custody.

Dr. Loren Lutz, who was acting as guide for John Moore of Vista, Calif., a permit holder attempting to fill his tag, described the confrontation:

“I went down to start a fire--everyone else (in camp) was asleep--when all of a sudden there was a rush of feet. Then a voice boomed out and there they were. I told them to leave and said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you,’ but they said they had a right to use the lands.

“Then they started to wake everyone up, and to snoop around our camp, opening our tents and using their (video) camera. I told them again, ‘Leave or you’re under arrest,’ and they refused.

Shortly thereafter, officers from the DFG, the Bureau of Land Management and the California Highway Patrol, converged on the area and picked up the nine protesting environmentalists.

Seven were issued citations for disturbing the peace by DFG warden Marion Henry at the request of Lutz, and one of them, Todd Meszaros of Santa Cruz, was taken to jail. According to Henry, no action was taken against the two others because Lutz couldn’t be sure they had actually entered his camp.

Said Rod Coronado, one of the activists who was not cited: “It (the incident) was a clear case of the DFG and BLM catering to Lutz.”

Lutz is a retired dentist from Pasadena and president of the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep. He has been guiding hunters since the hunt began and said that he had turned in other disrupters.

The hunters have been followed and harassed by the environmentalists, members of Earth First and other groups opposed to the “trophy hunt.” The protesters have been bursting out of the bushes, blowing whistles and horns to frighten the sheep away before hunters can shoot--in Lutz’s words, “perverting the hunt.”

It became apparent early in the hunt that things would not go smoothly.

Three citations were issued shortly after it began--11 have been issued so far--and Coronado, a member of Earth First, said: “We don’t consider the threat of (authorities) to be as serious as the possibility of losing these bighorns.

“We will be relentless and we will continue to interfere with the hunt. If they intend to kill the (remaining) sheep, they will have to kill us first.”

The citations--all involving Lutz’s camp--have been issued for misdemeanors ranging from interfering with lawful use of public lands to illegal use of a four-wheel drive vehicle in a restricted area.

Earth First members Lee Desseaux, Christine Bricknell and Craig Labby of Santa Cruz, Dave Labby of Ontario and Meszaros have been arrested. Desseaux, Bricknell and the Labbys said that before they were taken into official custody, they were forced to submit to a citizen’s arrest by Lutz.

Earth First member Michael Robinson of Santa Cruz, acting as spokesman for the impromptu coalition, described that incident that allegedly occurred Dec. 7:

“Lee Desseaux and Dave Labby had successfully interfered (with the shooting of a bighorn) and were walking away when (hunting guide) Dr. Loren Lutz rode down on horseback and whipped Desseaux with his lariat. His son Kenneth then got off his horse and approached Lee, punched him in the nose and the head, causing him to fall to the ground.

“The pair were walked about two miles to Lutz’s camp under ‘citizen’s arrest’ where they were subsequently kept in a horse trailer--which they said had four inches of manure on the floor--for 11 hours without food or warm clothing.

“During that time, Bricknell and Craig Labby, operating nearby, were approached by a hunter who told them about the others. They opted to join their companions and on arrival at the campsite, they, too, were forced into the trailer.”

Robinson said that the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept. was called and just before the arrival of Deputy Lt. Tom Jackson, the four were let out of the trailer. They were subsequently taken into custody on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, then were released on their own recognizance.

None of the four could be reached for comment, but their attorney, Doug Kari, said he is still assessing the case.

“From what I understand, they were falsely imprisoned, and one of them was physically abused,” he said.

As for the charges, Kari said: “I don’t think it’s a crime to blow whistles and horns.”

Lutz had a different account of that confrontation.

“I was sitting on a rock (acting as a guard against the activists) and (hunter Bob) Levett (of Thousand Oaks) had taken stock on a tremendous ram, probably the biggest Nelson I had ever seen, when Kenneth rode up the slope on horseback (and told him what was happening).

“He took off and 10 minutes later had two of (the activists) corralled. We asked them and they volunteered to come to our camp. Our wrangler then spotted the others and asked them if they wanted to join us. They were put in a stock truck, not a horse trailer, and it was very comfortable for them.”

As for their claims of physical abuse, Lutz said: “I didn’t see anything like that (punches being thrown). I imagine the guy (Desseaux) probably slipped on a rock or something like that.”

Lutz’s son could not be reached for comment.

The environmentalists said that despite the citations, they would continue to try to thwart the hunters. Coronado said Sunday night:

“We’re sending out a team early (Monday) morning and will be relentless. We’ll interfere with the hunt and won’t leave until the last sheep is taken. We will not give up until we know for sure (that the last sheep has been killed).”

Verena Gill, an activist with a British group called Hunt Saboteurs, said she expects the two available sheep to be killed before next Sunday, when the special season closes. One of the reasons the kill should be completed, she said, is a “lack of resources” on the part of the activists.

But Coronado said that the environmentalists’ efforts will not have been wasted.

“At least we have been getting the message across that there are a lot of people opposed to this kind of trophy hunting,” he said.

Said Robinson: “If nothing else, this (publicity) could help stop the hunt next year.”

Said Lutz, whose 25,000-member organization lobbies state and federal agencies to enact management and land-use policies beneficial to bighorn sheep: “I don’t need that kind of interference. . . If (the activists) want to be productive, they can work with us, and not raise trouble.”