The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously for Jim Kellogg as president, thus ousting previous commission head and controversial cougar-hunter Dan Richards. Richards was gracious after the vote, expressing his appreciation to the commission and immediately turning over his gavel. Richards had said previously that if he was removed as president, he'd stay on the commission until his term ends in January. At that point it would be up to Jerry Brown to reappoint him, which Richards himself said is unlikely.
At today's meeting, just one citizen spoke in favor of Richards, who caused a stir in February when he shot and killed a cougar in Idaho. The small turnout is in marked contrast to a Fish and Game Commission meeting in March, when 60 people expressed their support for Richards during the two-and-a-half hour public comment period.
Richards became notorious to some after posing with the mountain lion's dead carcass for an outdoors magazine. That caused an uproar as animal-rights organizations and a slew of Democrats in the legislature sought to remove him from office, though the effort petered out. Cougar hunting is legal in Idaho but not in California.
Here's the photo, which appeared in Western Outdoor News....