California ethics agency warns Fish and Game chief

Updated: Saturday, April 14, 2012 8:28 AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California's ethics agency has sent a warning letter to the president of the state Fish and Game Commission saying he broke the law by accepting an Idaho hunting trip as a gift.

Commission president Daniel Richards belatedly paid $6,800 for the January hunting expedition after a photograph of him grinning and lifting the bloody cougar carcass surfaced on the Internet.

Environmentalists were outraged and there were calls for his resignation.

The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/IMP7sK ) says the Fair Political Practices Commission issued a warning letter instead of seeking fines because Richards paid for the trip.

Commission spokesman Gary Winuk says state officials cannot accept gifts of more than $420 from certain sources, including hunting clubs.

Gifts can be repaid within 30 days. Richards wrote a check seven weeks later.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com