DF&G chief let off with warning

Daniel Richards, president of the California Fish and Game Commission, will not be punished for shooting a mountain lion out of a tree during a guided hunt in Idaho in January.

While it is illegal for elected officials and members of state boards and commissions to accept free gifts of more than $420 a year, unless they are paid back within 30 days, the California Fair Political Practices Commission opted to issue a warning to Richards, who reimbursed Idaho’s Flying B Ranch the gifted $6,800 fee for guided hunts of big cats after the 30-day limit, according to SFGate.com. A photo of Richards holding the cougar, which he shot and ate after a tracker and dogs chased it up a tree, caused environmentalists and Democratic leaders to call for his resignation.

While hunting mountain lions has been prohibited in California since 1971, it is legal in Idaho.