Ky. Fish and Wildlife boss accused of retaliating against radio host for reporting on agency

A Louisville talk-radio host and outdoors journalist has filed a lawsuit against the head of Kentucky’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, alleging retribuition for reporting on the agency.

Jim Strader, a former columnist for The Courier-Journal and a host on WHAS, claims Commissioner Jonathan Gassett refused to allow Fish and Wildlife personnel on his radio program or allow department staff "to set up a booth at Strader’s fish and wildlife expo, meaning hunting licenses couldn’t be sold there," Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The agency is funded by license sales.

Strader reported on his radio show about a host of problems at the department, including "that Gassett, before he was appointed commissioner, had issued elk hunting permits even though then-Gov. Paul Patton had prohibited them, that a commission board member had pleaded guilty to hunting elk out of season, and that the department’s self-reporting system for deer harvesting was used to circumvent game limits," Musgrave writes. Strader sued Gassett as both a public official and private person, and a legislative committee recently voted not to pay Gassett's personal legal bills.

The legislature's Government Contract Review Subcommittee "voted unanimously to send the lawsuit to Attorney General Jack Conway’s office for further investigation," Musgrave reports. State Rep. Brent Yonts, a member of the committee, told Musgrave, "In reviewing the allegations, it looks like personal bad behavior. It looks like an agency out of control." Gassett, who has headed the agency since 2005, has denied all of Strader’s allegations and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. (Read more)