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Dentry: Head of guide school 'ashamed,' quits after illegal elk kill

Published May 1, 2007 at midnight

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The president of a prominent school near Victor that teaches backcountry guides has been fined more than $12,000 for illegally shooting a bull elk in September.

Gary R. Jordan, 58, resigned in January as president of the Colorado Outdoor Adventure Guide School after being charged with hunting without a valid license and illegally taking a trophy bull elk under Colorado's Samson Law during muzzleloading season.

Jordan pleaded guilty to the charges April 23 in 4th Judicial Court. He was fined $12,729 and ordered to donate $2,000 to the Division of Wildlife's Operation Game Thief Program. He also could lose his hunting and fishing privileges.

Jordan shot the elk during muzzleloading season in Teller County and claimed it on an employee's hunting license. The DOW said he also enlisted guide-school students to help pack out the elk.

DOW officer Tonya Sharp arrested Jordan in October after receiving a tip and confiscating elk meat from a processor and the antlers from a taxidermist.

Jordan told The (Colorado Springs) Gazette he was "very ashamed and remorseful" and that he resigned to avoid further negative publicity for the school.

The COAGS teaches hunting, fly-fishing, horsemanship and backcountry guiding to about 175 prospective guides a year.

NEW FISH REGS: It's May 1, which means new fishing regulations go into effect, including:

• On the Blue River from Green Mountain Dam to the Colorado River, fishing is catch- and-release only.

• On the Gunnison River through Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge, a slot limit protecting brown trout has been dropped. The flies-and-lures- only reach has been extended from the North Fork confluence downstream to within 5 miles of Austin.

• On the Cache la Poudre River, the new rule is flies-and- lures-only, catch-and-release through Gateway Park downstream to the confluence with the North Fork.

The Colorado Wildlife Commission approved the changes in March, so they aren't printed in the state's 2007 fishing brochure. Signs have been put up alerting the public, however.

CONSERVATION AWARDS: Two conservationists who've worked to minimize the impact of oil and gas development in western Colorado have received the Trout Conservation Award from Colorado Trout Unlimited.

The recipients were Dennis Buechler of the Colorado Wildlife Federation and Bob Elderkin of the Colorado Mule Deer Association. They helped develop guidelines for minimum-impact development, which include a role for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

They've also been active in efforts to protect the Roan Plateau, home to valuable wildlife habitat and native Colorado River cutthroat trout.

CTU executive director David Nickum said the pair "have led the way in educating and mobilizing hunters and anglers on these critical issues." The guidelines they helped develop have been endorsed by more than 60 sportsmen's and environmental groups and local governments.

Gov. Ritter last month appointed Buechler, of Centennial, to the state wildlife commission as a representative of sportsmen.

BANQUET: Waterfowl will not be menu items Thursday in Parker. Instead, they will be beneficiaries of a banquet and fundraiser of the Highlands Ranch chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

Prime rib will steer the event toward its goal of raising money to conserve wildlife and wetlands in Colorado. Auction items include art, equipment, a pair of Lab pups and guided hunting and fishing trips.

Admission to the event, at Wildlife Experience, 10035 S. Peoria St.,costs $70 for singles, $110 for couples. Register online at .