Ron Gillete

Ron Gillette is the Chairman of the anti-wolf Coalition in Stanley Idaho.and is also an Elk Hunter and has a Hatred Wolves Because he Believes that Wolves are Killing All the big game Herds and also believes that they are Invasive Species from Canada. it was just after 9 a.m. on March 25 and the well-known anti-wolf activist from Stanley claims he only wanted to scare off the two wolves he'd spotted on the nearby saddle north from Stanley city limits.

The leader of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition, Gillett said he was unaware that someone else was already parked in the single-car pullout next to the Valley Creek Bridge as he negotiated his four-wheel-drive Chevy through the quiet winter streets. But within moments, the 67-year-old spotted his nemesis, pro-wolf activist Lynne Stone, also of Stanley, standing next to her Toyota Tacoma about to walk her dog.

In a tense courtroom at the Custer County Courthouse last Friday, a jury of six—four men and two women—had to weigh the claims and counterclaims leveled by Stone and Gillett before deciding exactly what happened in those next few minutes on that snowy winter morning. Because no one else witnessed the encounter, the case came down to whom the jurors believed more.

Stone, who has spent the past several years monitoring the Basin Butte wolf pack and other wolves in the Stanley area in an effort to keep them from harm, said that after Gillett drove up next to her the situation quickly went from bad to worse. Stone, executive director of the Stanley-based environmental organization Boulder-White Clouds Council, filed a series of reports with the Custer County Sheriff's Office last spring alleging Gillett was repeatedly following and harassing her.

Stone said the March 25 situation ended with him grabbing both her right hand and left shoulder and trying to wrestle her digital camera from her hands. Moments before, she had snapped several photographs of Gillett arriving in his pickup, which she said prompted his angry outburst.

Gillett claims the altercation became physical because he felt his safety was being threatened. He said he only acted to keep Stone from attacking him with her camera.

But after deliberating for about two hours, the six-member jury returned to the courtroom just after 7 p.m. to tell Custer County Magistrate Judge Charles L. Roos they couldn't agree whether Gillett was guilty of assault and battery on Stone.

In light of the hung jury, the prosecutor of the case has indicated he is unsure whether he will seek to bring the case back to court or let it lapse.

Friday's trial seemed to turn on the testimony of Garden Valley resident Robert McIntyre, who was called by the defense to testify about an alleged altercation he had with Stone in June. McIntyre testified that he came across Stone—whom he didn't know—out in the woods northwest of Stanley. He said she verbally assaulted him, accusing him of shooting a wolf the day before.

McIntyre said Stone was "very angry" and was threatening him, a charge she denies. What weight the testimony carried with the jurors is unclear, but Jerome lawyer John Lothspeich, Gillett's defense attorney for the case, seized on the concept.

The all-day trial, attended by supporters of Stone and Gillett, provided a glimpse into the level of dislike the two activists have for one another. Although passing within feet of one another at numerous times during the trial, Stone and Gillett never once acknowledged each other. Though instructed by Judge Roos to avoid discussing the ongoing gray wolf controversy in the northern Rockies—a debate this rural mountain town of less than 100 people hasn't been immune from—both sides invariably detoured away from the March 25 events that led to the trial.

Gillett was times animated, his voice sometimes raised. He repeatedly claimed he had no idea Stone was at the bridge. Gillett said he spotted the wolves from inside his home at the Triangle C Ranch that morning while glassing the snow-covered hillsides with binoculars.

"I saw two wolves," he testified. "I made up my mind that I would take my glasses, my rifle, and move them out of there.

"I'm tired of them killing animals."

That statement led to a quick admonishment from the judge to stick to the basics of the case and refrain from discussing the politics of the wolf issue.