The director of the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation has been charged with 12 counts of illegal hunting related to guiding activities in the bear-rich forests on the north side of Cook Inlet across from Anchorage, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers on Thursday issued a statement saying Corey L. Rossi, 51, of Palmer took two out-of-state men on a bear hunt in the early summer of 2008 and then covered up their kills. Rossi was at the time a licensed assistant guide on the verge of joining the administration of then-Gov. Sarah Palin.
Rossi was not immediately available for comment.
A former predator control officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rossi is a longtime friend of Chuck and Sally Heath, Palin's parents. After Palin took office in 2007, Sally lobbied her daughter to have Rossi named commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The commissioner oversees all wildlife and fisheries management in the state. Sally Heath, in an email to Palin, noted that almost everyone would object to Rossi as unqualified, but added those "are the very same people who said the same thing about you."
Rossi did not get the commissioner's job, but a special job -- assistant commissioner for abundance management -- was created for him within state government. He moved into the newly created job in December 2008, just months after his alleged illegal bear hunt. Gov. Sean Parnell promoted Rossi to wildlife director in March 2010. A staunch advocate of killing predators -- wolves and bears -- to boost prey populations of moose and caribou within the state, Rossi has been unpopular with many in the agency he runs.
His qualifications have repeatedly been called into question. He lacks a college degree and his prime professional association with wildlife has involved killing rats and foxes in the Aleutian Islands. His associations with Alaska's big-game guiding industry have also raised suspicions. Rossi has continued to work as a guide while employed in the wildlife division by exploiting a loophole in a state policy that bans wildlife division employees from that business.
by Craig Medred, Alaska Dispatch | Read more:
Troopers on Thursday issued a statement saying Corey L. Rossi, 51, of Palmer took two out-of-state men on a bear hunt in the early summer of 2008 and then covered up their kills. Rossi was at the time a licensed assistant guide on the verge of joining the administration of then-Gov. Sarah Palin.
Rossi was not immediately available for comment. A former predator control officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rossi is a longtime friend of Chuck and Sally Heath, Palin's parents. After Palin took office in 2007, Sally lobbied her daughter to have Rossi named commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The commissioner oversees all wildlife and fisheries management in the state. Sally Heath, in an email to Palin, noted that almost everyone would object to Rossi as unqualified, but added those "are the very same people who said the same thing about you."
Rossi did not get the commissioner's job, but a special job -- assistant commissioner for abundance management -- was created for him within state government. He moved into the newly created job in December 2008, just months after his alleged illegal bear hunt. Gov. Sean Parnell promoted Rossi to wildlife director in March 2010. A staunch advocate of killing predators -- wolves and bears -- to boost prey populations of moose and caribou within the state, Rossi has been unpopular with many in the agency he runs.
His qualifications have repeatedly been called into question. He lacks a college degree and his prime professional association with wildlife has involved killing rats and foxes in the Aleutian Islands. His associations with Alaska's big-game guiding industry have also raised suspicions. Rossi has continued to work as a guide while employed in the wildlife division by exploiting a loophole in a state policy that bans wildlife division employees from that business.
by Craig Medred, Alaska Dispatch | Read more:
