Bob Jackson lives near Promise City, Iowa and raises bison.  For 24 years,
he worked in Yellowstone as a backcountry ranger.  He is a graduate of Iowa
State.

April 10, 2003--FAMED BACKCOUNTRY RANGER BARRED FROM YELLOWSTONE; Park
Slashing Law Enforcement by Three Quarters, Ending Wilderness Patrols
Bob "Action" Jackson, the Yellowstone National Park backcountry ranger known
for high profile poaching arrests and exposing the problem of salt-baiting
for elk, will not be invited back for his final season, according to a
whistleblower complaint filed today by PEER. In addition, Yellowstone
National Park is dramatically cutting back its law enforcement force despite
an overall budget increase.
http://www.peer.org/press/329.html

PRESS:
WATCHDOG SUES ON RANGER'S BEHALF
By Julie Cart, The Los Angeles Times, as printed by The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Apr/04102003/nation_w/46649.asp

Watchdog Sues on Ranger's Behalf
By Julie Cart
Los Angeles Times

    A Yellowstone National Park ranger who brought national attention to
illegal hunting practices charged in a whistle-blower complaint Wednesday
that park management declined to rehire him in retaliation for his criticism
that lax law enforcement endangered wildlife.

 The action was taken on behalf of Bob "Action" Jackson, a 24-season veteran
of the park, by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a
watchdog group that supports federal employees. The complaint -- filed with
the Office of Special Counsel in Washington -- alleges that Jackson was
singled out in park staff cutbacks.

    Jackson gained national notoriety for exposing the practice of "salting"
by commercial hunting outfitters -- placing salt licks just outside park
borders to attract Yellowstone's trophy elk. Jackson, who worked in the
southeastern corner of the park, accused federal and state game wardens of
turning a blind eye to the salting, which, he said, also led to the shooting
of federally protected grizzly bears when they were drawn to elk carcasses.
Elk hunting is forbidden in the park, but permitted in adjacent
Bridger-Teton National Forest. The use of salt to bait game is illegal in
Wyoming and in federal wilderness areas.

    Since 1978, Jackson has worked a portion of every year as a law
enforcement ranger in the remote Thorofare district, which is accessible
only by foot or on horseback. The park's longest-serving seasonal ranger, he
lived in a cabin without electricity or running water.

    In 2001, he was abruptly removed from his post before the hunting
season, then reinstated in December after PEER charged that he was being
punished for disobeying an illegal order not to air his concerns about
hunting excesses. Jackson had begun talking with reporters and environmental
activists in 1998.

    Park officials have disputed the charge of retaliation, saying Jackson
wasn't rehired because of staffing reductions.

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