Alaska Wildlife Troopers opened an investigation in illegal hunting and trapping on the Alaska Peninsula after receiving a tip from a concerned citizen this month.

When troopers opened the investigation after the tip, they would find that 50-year-old Naknek resident Michael James had used illegal bait at one trapping location in the King Salmon area. Further investigation would find the remains of a Brown Bear cub at another location. The bear had died in an unattended snare.

On Saturday, James was charged with using game as bait, taking a brown bear using unlawful methods, failure to salvage the bear, as well as failure to seal the bear hide and skull within thirty days of the kill.

James will be arraigned on January 7th, 2015. He will appear in Naknek court.

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