Man fined, sentenced to probation for killing grizzlies
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
A Bigfork man who shot and killed three grizzly bears in the Ferndale area in spring 2014 has avoided maximum punishment, though a federal judge imposed a fine and probation time at sentencing on May 26.
Dan Calvert Wallen, 54, will have to pay $15,000 restitution and serve three years on probation, with 60 days spent in a pre-release center under contract with the United States Bureau of Prisons. Judge Jeremiah Lynch noted in the written judgment that Wallen could have received six months in prison, a $25,000 fine and $10,000 in restitution for each of the three counts the man was convicted of.
Lynch noted that Wallen “is a respected family man and community member” with no prior criminal record. He wrote that “the sentence serves as a necessary deterrent, both to Defendant’s future conduct and to that of the general public, and to establish that the criminal conduct at issue in this case will not be tolerated.”
Wallen was convicted in April on three counts for killing grizzly bears, which are a federally-protected and endangered species.
According to court documents, on May 27, 2014, Wallen’s neighbor reported than an injured grizzly had entered his property after Wallen shot it. The neighbor shot and killed the animal. Upon investigation Wallen told authorities that the grizzly had been killing his chickens and that he shot a .22 rifle twice toward the animal to scare it away, but that he didn’t know if he hit the animal.
By the time the bear entered the neighbor’s property, the neighbor reported that the bear could only raise its head. The neighbor killed the animal with a .300 Remington rifle. A necropsy of the animal revealed three bullets had entered the animal.
A day later a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist responded to a call for assistance from Wallen’s wife, who said that grizzlies kept attacking the family’s chickens. In a later interview Wallen said the bears had killed more than two dozen of their fowl. The coop was not electrified, and the bears smashed through barbed wire protecting it.
The biologist found a carcass of a second dead grizzly bear while setting a bear trap. When interviewed, Wallen said that before the first injured bear fled to his neighbor’s house, a trio of grizzlies had entered his chicken coop while his children were in the backyard playing baseball. Wallen used his truck to scare the bears away, but they returned 15 minutes later, by which time the family had been moved inside. When the two bears returned and attacked the chickens, Wallen said he shot at them again.
A neighbor reported the third dead bear on June 4. The neighbor returned from vacation and found the decomposing bear carcass on her property.
Necropsies of the animals determined that they all died from a weapon similar to Wallen’s .22.
Judge Lynch noted the many inconsistencies in Wallen’s account of what happened in the written judgment.
