Park City officials have verified that an elk shot and killed by a hunter in late December was on municipal property at the time of the killing.
Kerry Gaines, a City Hall attorney who is investigating, said the spot where the animal died was determined to be on Park City-owned open space in Round Valley. The determination was made Friday afternoon using a Global Positioning System, she said.
City Hall owns large tracts of land in Round Valley. It seemed likely last week that the investigation would find that the animal was on the municipal acreage given the amount of land under City Hall ownership in Round Valley. The land, though, is not within the Park City limits.
Gaines said she planned to forward the results of the investigation to the Summit County Attorney’s Office for screening for charges. She said Summit County laws prohibit hunting, fishing or trapping in parks, on trails and on open space in the Snyderville Basin. Gaines said Round Valley qualifies as being in the Basin under the law.
Gaines said the suspect is a man who lives in Heber. She was not immediately sure of the man’s age.
Gaines said a violation of the law is a misdemeanor, but she was not sure of the degree of the misdemeanor. The most serious misdemeanor, a class A, is punishable by one year in county jail and a $2,500 fine upon conviction.
City Hall prohibits hunting on municipal property. There are ‘No Hunting’ signs posted at trailheads leading into Round Valley, which is a sprawling expanse of open space stretching from the edge of Park Meadows toward U.S. 40.
A hiker contacted the Park City Police Department midmorning on Dec. 31 with a report that a hunter might have been in Round Valley. The police found the hunters parked on U.S. 40.