News Release
NPS
News Release Date: February 3, 2020
Contact: Peter Christian, 907-644-3512
National Park Service special agents conduct joint investigation with Alaska Wildlife TroopersANCHORAGE, Alaska—On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Paul Silvas, 52, of Nampa, ID, was sentenced for unlawfully providing guided bear and moose hunts in Noatak National Preserve, Alaska. Silvis, who pleaded guilty in October 2019 to two felony counts of violating the Lacey Act, was sentenced to serve six months of home confinement, followed by five years of supervised release, and serve 200 hours of community service. Additionally, Silvis was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, reimburse two clients their deposits for hunts not provided, and is required to write an article in a hunting periodical about his illegal activities. Silvis has been banned from any further hunting in the state of Alaska.
The Noatak National Preserve is a six-million-acre unit of the NPS located entirely north of the Arctic Circle, and is one of the largest designated wilderness areas in the United States. Centered on the Noatak River, the Preserve is also one of North America’s largest mountain-ringed river basins, with an intact ecosystem and a wide array of Arctic flora and fauna, including free-ranging populations of grizzly bears and caribou. The Noatak is classified as a national wild and scenic river, and is popular with adventure travelers, river runners, fishermen and hunters. The Preserve is also the traditional homeland and hunting area for the Inupiaq people of Northwest Alaska.
Working from a field contact made by Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT) in 2013 and 2014, Special Agents from the National Park Service (NPS) joined the case in 2015. Their investigation revealed that from 2009 through 2014, Silvis conducted an illegal hunting guide operation for clients from Idaho, Utah, Montana, and several other states in previous years. These clients did not possess all the appropriate permits, tags, or complete the required Alaska hunt reporting requirements. Many of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) hunt records were submitted with false information by Silvis who operated under the name “Orion Outfitters.” In addition, Silvis transported these illegally taken game animals across state lines.
Repeatedly violating state and federal laws, Silvis, in 2013 and 2014, was paid well over $121,500 for illegally guided/outfitted hunts for bear and moose in the Noatak National Preserve. In order to lawfully hunt brown bears within the Preserve, a non-resident hunter is required to contract with a licensed Alaska big game guide or be within second degree of kindred to an Alaska resident per state law.
The Noatak National Preserve falls within the Alaska game management unit 23. With few exceptions, for a non-resident hunter to legally hunt brown bear and moose in unit 23, they must apply for a draw permit from ADF&G, in addition to purchasing a locking tag. Silvis would obtain the clients information prior to the hunt and purchase airfare, lodging, Alaska hunting licenses, locking tags, as well as a general season hunting tag for moose. During the execution of a search warrant at Silvis’ residence in August of 2015, several of his client’s documents were seized as evidence which were still in the envelopes from ADF&G. Silvis would complete and submit the hunt/harvest records to ADF&G with false information. Many of the moose harvested were not reported to ADF&G.
Silvis and a former colleague created a scheme to illegally obtain two Alaska brown bear tags. The scheme allowed two brown bears to be harvested, which were actually killed by clients, then falsified records were submitted to seal the brown bears with ADF&G. Silvis and his former colleague declared themselves brothers-in-law and would obtain two brown bear tags, one by the Alaska resident and one by Silvis claiming to be the brother-in-law. The investigation was never able to prove the former colleague of Silvis ever became an actual Alaska resident per hunting regulations.
Silvis accessed the Noatak Preserve by using a Jetcraft 2175 Extreme Shallow jet boat he bought new and sent from Idaho to the village of Kotzebue. Silvis used the jet boat to haul supplies and his camp equipment from storage locations in Kotzebue and the village of Noatak to his hunting camp up the Noatak River. Silvis would set-up the travel for his clients to fly commercially to the village of Noatak where he would pick them up in the jet boat and transport them to his camp. Silvis used the jet boat to transport the hunters up and down the river to different hunting locations and at times would hunt from the boat. After harvesting big game, Silvis transported the hunters and the game in the jet boat back to camp, on to Noatak, and sometimes all the way back to Kotzebue.
After completing the hunts, Silvis would cache some of his camp equipment and gear on state or federal lands and haul the rest back to Noatak. Some gear along with the bear hides and skulls and moose antlers would be transported back to Kotzebue. The brown bear rugs and skulls were taken into ADF&G in Kotzebue and sealed by Silvis and his former colleague using false information by claiming one of the two harvested the brown bear, which was harvested by a client, and then using the relative resident scheme, to seal the second brown bear. Therefore, the brown bears taken were not only harvested illegally by non-resident clients, the brown bear tags were obtained illegally by falsifying documents to ADF&G, then additional false information provided during the sealing process allowed the brown bears to be sealed by ADF&G.
Interviews of clients revealed that Silvis would hand the clients a plastic bag once in camp with their license and hunting documents. Some clients told investigators they were asked to hand over the plastic bag at the end of the hunting trip.
The complexity of the case required special agents, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and Idaho Department of Fish and Game investigators to collaborate across geographic and jurisdictional boundaries. During the investigation, troopers served one state search warrant and special agents served 3 federal search warrants, in addition to other federal process. The investigationuncovered 8 brown bears and 4 moose that were illegally taken within hunting seasons of 2012, 2013, and 2014. Information developed during the investigation revealed that other co-conspirators and clients were suspected of illegally harvesting animals prior to 2012.
“We are stewards of some of the most impressive and important protected areas left on the planet, said Joel Hard, NPS Deputy Regional Director when asked for comment. This case was successful because of the team work put forth by the Alaska Wildlife Troopers and NPS special agents along with assistance and expertise from US Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the great work of the US Attorney’s Office in Alaska and in Boise, Idaho.
“These lands were set aside by a concerned President and Congress for others to know, appreciate and experience long beyond our own time,” Mr. Hard said.
Coverage of the case can also be found at the following links:
https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/idaho-man-fined-banned-for-guiding-illegal-alaska-hunts/article_ef9bd17f-bd28-5d57-9d55-a04894a91623.html
https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/idaho-man-fined-banned-for-guiding-illegal-alaska-hunts/277-4849c14c-1ce8-4d2c-a9e1-f5e42f6b8fbc
https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/idaho-man-fined-banned-for-guiding-illegal-alaska-hunts
https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/01/24/idaho-man-banned-from-hunting-in-alaska-after-illegally-guiding-in-noatak-preserve/
Last updated: February 3, 2020