# Rex Rammell/ Idaho Elk Ranch Escape



## Dick Monson (Aug 12, 2002)

Rammell is set to lock horns with state
The former elk rancher filed a lawsuit against the government and will go on trial Thursday for a misdemeanor charge

By MATTHEW EVANS
[email protected]

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Get ready for Round 2 of the brawl between former elk rancher Rex Rammell and the state.

Rammell on Tuesday filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against the state for the

way government employees handled the escape of more than 100 domesticated elk from his Fremont County hunting preserve in the fall. Named in the tort claim are the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the state Department of Agriculture and the governor's office, whose actions it said were "negligent, unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious and malicious."

The state has 20 days to respond. Government officials declined to comment Tuesday.

The lawsuit stems from an executive order that former Gov. Jim Risch issued in early September -- about a month after the animals escaped through a hole in a fence at Rammell's 168-acre shooting pen -- calling for the animals to be killed. State law calls for domestic elk to be slaughtered if they've been on the lam for more than six days to prevent the potential for spreading disease and polluting the genetic purity of the wild elk herds that roam the region.

Risch's order resulted in the deaths of 89 elk and 20 calves, Rammell said; it also forced him to get out of the elk ranching business after more than a decade.

Rammell, a retired veterinarian who lives in Rexburg, said his Boise-based attorney, John Runft, came up with the $1.3 million sum. Rammell said the figure includes about $250,000 in lost elk and "business losses."

"It's pretty hard to continue to operate an elk ranch without elk," he said.

Rammell sold his ranch in late September to a Californian, who said he has no immediate plans for the land. Rammell made a decent living by offering private hunting excursions -- clients paid as much as $12,000 for the chance to stalk a prized bull elk.

That changed in the fall.

Though Rammell over the years has tangled with state regulators about a host of issues related to his pen -- at one time, he faced tens of thousands of dollars in fines -- nothing prepared him for what happened in mid-August, when as many as 120 elk fled from his preserve in the biggest escape of domesticated elk recorded in state history.

Rammell was recovering from back surgery at the time and did not realize the animals had escaped until a neighbor had reported the incident to the state Department of Agriculture, which governs the 78 elk farms in Idaho.

Once he found out about the escape, Rammell said, he, his son and some friends worked feverishly to retrieve them. They would have rescued them all if Risch hadn't issued his order, Rammell said.

That riled up Rammell, who allegedly assaulted a young hunter for killing an escaped bull elk and was cited Sept. 29 for obstruction of justice after sitting on the carcass of a bull elk and refusing to get up when asked by conservation officers with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

His jury trial on the misdemeanor charge is set to start at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Fremont County Courthouse. Rammell, who's pleaded not guilty, said he is mystified that the case appears headed for court.

"All I did was sit on my own elk," he said. "It can't be that big of a crime. Our defense is that the governor's order is illegal. He has no right to kill or take my elk. Therefore, the Fish and Game operated without authority. We plan to prove the order was illegal."

Jimmy Barrett, Fremont County's deputy prosecutor, said he couldn't discuss the case until the trial ends.

Meanwhile, now that his ranching career is kaput, Rammell is pondering his options. Politics is one, he said, but another option arose Tuesday when The John Birch Society invited him to join its speakers circuit.

The staunchly conservative group, which describes itself as "strict Constitutionalists," would like Rammell to speak about property rights and civil rights, he said. The group will post his biography on its Web site, www.jbs.org, cover his expenses and pay him $500 per speech.

"I'm pretty interested in it now that I don't have a job," Rammell said. "I have a unique story. I doubt anyone else has anything like this."


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## 4590 (Jun 27, 2004)

It took an Idaho jury 30 minutes to acquit Rex Rammell of an obstruction of justice charge filed against him last year. The charge stemmed from an event in which Fish and Game officials or authorized personnel, were shooting and killing Rammell's elk just outside his fencing as he was attempting to lure them back into his ranch. Rammell sat down on one dead elk that he owned in order to prevent officials from taking what he considered his private property. He was arrested and charged with obstruction.

Some argue that once the elk had left Rammell's property, it is no longer considered his property. Isn't that flawed thinking? If this were true everything we own would no longer be rightfully our once it is removed from our personal property. What if you don't own land or a home? You rightfully own nothing?

Rammell has filed a $1.3 million torte claim against the state of Idaho for damages.

Tom Remington

Reprint from Black Bear Blog


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

> Rammell made a decent living by offering private hunting excursions -- clients paid as much as $12,000 for the chance to stalk a prized bull elk.


kind of reminds me of Elmer Fudd " be very very quiet, we are wabbit hunting."

I dont know if I should laugh or cry when I see what some people will do to be "mighty hunters"


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

Isn't this the rancher that refused to comply with state mandated inspection of his herd for CWD?


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

this guy refused several times to comply with regulations. the regulations are set forth to protect the wild elk population. if he would have been more careful, and complied with the mandated testing, and inspections, the state wouldnt have come down so hard. if something is threatening to possibly destroy the some of the natural resources in my state, you bet your *** it should be destroyed.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

He should have been convicted of obstruction of justice, but he must have had a good lawyer and people on the jury who love money over justice. There should be mandatory prison time for guys like this, because fines just are not enough. Fine them and they just raise prices for the customers. Throw their disgusting low life rear end behind bars and they will think twice before violating regulations.


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## neb_bo (Feb 3, 2007)

well put plainsman. i couldnt agree more. if that guy gave a **** about the local wildlife, he would have been out there destroying those animals as quickly as possible, not trying to coax them back after three days of possible cross breeding, and disease spreading.


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