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Show AUGUST (SUTTED WILDLIFE Follows LEAVITT IASG) By Hartt 1996 DIVISION Family Whirling Disease Gov. Leavitt has said he divested himself of the family’s fish business before taking office. His representatives have denied forcing DWR offi- Wi ince its inception, an always alert Utah Division of Wildlife — Resources (DWR) had never allowed whirling disease to enter the waters of the Beehive State. Quite a feat, when you consider that by 1993 the malady that deforms and kills trout had begun devastating fisheries in other western states. So when Myxobolous cerebralis, the whirling disease parasite, was discovered in a private fish hatchery in Wayne County, DWR officials took prompt action to isolate and prevent its spread. Or, at least they tried. The problem was the affliction wasn’t just found anywhere. It was found in the family business enterprise of Utah Goy. Mike Leavitt. While most Utahns would have presented a meritorious service award to these DWR employees for dutiful action on the public’s behalf, the record shows something else — they were relentlessly hunted down by the governors administration, demoted and forced from state employment. cials out of their career positions. But one who was employee pushed out following the investigation is former state fisheries chief Bruce Schmidt. Before he left Utah, Schmidt also left behind hundreds of letters and court records documenting the illegal activities of the Leavitt family in transporting fish not certified free of dis- ease. The cerned “Schmidt but papers” patient show group of a con- DWR employees attempting to do their public duty in preventing spread of the highly contagious disease from the Leavitt's private fish hatcheries into public waters. They were unsuccessful. The disease soon spread to upper Otter Creek, coincidentally very near another Leavitt fish hatchery. The disease was also found in Tooele and Summit Counties after transportation of Leavitt fish to those areas. papers reveal that The Schmidt Mark and Dane Leavitt, the governor's brothers, felt DWR over-reacted to discovery of the disease in their hatcheries. Mark Leavitt, as recently as Photo by Howie Garber Whirling disease has spread quickly through January, was quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune as saying DWR “treated it like the Bubonic Plague, when it was more like the common cold.” Hardly the common éold, the disease has killed 90 percent of the rainbow trout in Montana’s famous Madison River. And Colorado state fish Western trout populations. hatcheries are so riddled with the dis- ease that the state has few healthy fish to stock in Colorado waters. Utah state hatcheries remain free of whirling disease, for now, anyway. DWAR investigators did their work well. So well, that the Leavitt’s pleadContinued on page 11 EEO cece way aug HPL SY saqiae ayy {ews GE $07 Oi ABESY BERS dsyar oe ayy ybRasy: oan SAvH “3 & Garay BSAT aah | ne s 9 orink for $3.49 BS ony one coupon per visit. Coupon is redeemable with any other coupon or special offer (duh). No eens allowed. Cash redemption va’alue 1/20th of one cent (don’t quit your a ay job). Applicable taxes paid by bearer (that’s youl. — only at Park City Iseation 1890 Bonanza Driv (801) 645-8489 9 nsteln ; LAs Ls CTT ager h's Bagel Corp, . Park City location 1890 Bonanza Drive 21996 Einstein/Noa Bagel Corp 01996 Einstein/Noah's Expires 10/31 1/96. ® & —aa (Our wiener lawyers wouldn't let us fool with this line) PAGE 10 |