Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505050098
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Landmark News Service
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop was ``reviewing everything'' late Thursday related to the incident and the conduct of Conservation Director H. Kirby Burch, according to spokeswoman Julie Overy.
Dunlop hopes to make a decision today about any possible disciplinary actions, but so far has found ``no reason to do anything drastic,'' Overy said.
The secretary talked to Burch by phone Thursday morning after it was disclosed that he stopped his car to shoot two pigs with a handgun while leading a caravan of state officials to False Cape in Virginia Beach on April 26.
Burch has explained through a spokesman that the pigs were intended to feed Virginia National Guardsmen at an upcoming barbecue in their honor.
Wild pigs, like other species at state parks, are almost always off-limits to hunting. At False Cape, limited hunts are schedule each fall to control the pig population. Only licensed hunters with a special permit may participate.
The state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which regulates hunting in Virginia, also is reviewing the case for possible violations, said Maj. Louis Brandt, the assistant chief of law enforcement.
Brandt refused to discuss his review or the hunting rules and penalties in place at False Cape.
Del. Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke, chairman of the House Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources, said he was surprised by the incident and called the game and inland fisheries director to ask for a thorough review.
``I know Kirby, and I know he loves to hunt,'' said Thomas, a longtime hunters' rights advocate in the General Assembly. ``I just assumed he would have gotten his permit for this.''
Burch was in Virginia Beach last week for a conference with state park managers. Overy said he called ahead to inquire about obtaining a pig for the barbecue.
At that time, Overy said, Burch was not thinking about killing a pig himself, but rather about a False Cape ranger's shooting one for him. When no pig had been taken when he arrived, Burch began scouting for one himself, she said.
Virginia imposes numerous controls on hunting and carrying firearms in state parks. According to a state brochure on 1994-95 hunting and trapping rules:
Loaded weapons are banned in state parks outside ``designated areas'' set aside for controlled hunts.
It is unlawful to hunt with a firearm within 100 yards of a road. Burch spokesman Gary Waugh has said the director got out of his car on a narrow dirt road when he spotted the pigs and shot them.
The penalties for hunting violations include fines, loss of a hunting license and forfeiture of the weapon used in illegal hunting, according to the brochure.
Burch maintains a concealed-weapons permit in his home county of Powhatan, according to state police.
State personnel rules bar employees from carrying a firearm or weapon on state time - unless that employee is an authorized peace officer or needs one as part of the job, such as a park ranger.
by CNB