ROCKPORT — As Pamela Almli’s friends and family grieve her life cut short by a young hunter’s bullet, her story, and the Concrete shooter’s fate, are catching statewide attention. Hikers, investigators and politicians are now deciding the next steps to keep trail users safe.
On the second day of bear hunting season last weekend, Almli, 54, of Oso was shot while hiking with a friend near Rockport on Sauk Mountain Trail. The 14-year-old teenage shooter, hunting with his 16-year-old brother, told investigators that he thought Almli was a bear.
The boys’ grandfather drove them to the mountain, but was not with them at the time of the shooting.
Andrew Engelson, of the Washington Trails Association, a statewide hiker advocacy group said Wednesday his organization is “seriously looking at pushing or sponsoring legislation that would not allow young hunters to hunt unaccompanied.”
Engelson said the organization has had a large response to the Sauk Mountain shooting through e-mail as well as comments on the blog he writes.
He said the reaction has varied.
“It’s sadness. It’s tragic,” he said. “Shock that someone could get shot on such a well-used trail, and I think there is a lot of anger.”
Most of the comments, he said, focus on the age of the shooter, saying that he should have been accompanied by an adult.
Others are concerned about well-used hiking areas being used by hunters.
“We recommend (the Sauk Mountain Trail) all the time as a great hike for families,” Engelson said. “Is it appropriate to have folks firing guns on that trail area? I don’t think so.”
The shooting has also caught the eye of state Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
“I just have little sympathy for people who shoot other people,” Blake said Wednesday. “I think the young man made a grave mistake, and the prosecutors will decide if it was a crime.”
Blake said he was shocked to find out that the Legislature in 1994 removed regulations that hunters under age 14 needed to be accompanied by an adult.
“I think we need to have a discussion about that,” he said.
Although he has heard rumors about legislation drafted in response to the Saturday shooting, he said he does not know of any specific bills.
The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office will finish its investigation this week and pass it on to the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office early next week, said Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt. The prosecutor will have the final decision on whether criminal charges will be filed and what they would be.
The Sheriff’s Office makes recommendations of charges, based on investigators’ findings, such as the foggy weather on Sauk Mountain when the teen hunter pulled the trigger, Reichardt said.
“Does this weigh more toward negligence or more toward an accident?” Reichardt said, indicating some of the factors that will weigh in the question of charges.
He said that includes finding out, “What he was thinking, what he was seeing, should they have reasonably known this was a popular hiking place?”
Reichardt said the Almli was wearing a light-blue wind breaker and khaki-gray pants. She was putting her black coat into a light gray backpack when she was fatally shot. Her friend was wearing a royal blue fleece jacket, dark gray pants. The hikers were about 120 yards away from the young hunter when he took the shot.
Engelson said the shooting should not stop hikers from enjoying the wilderness. He encouraged hikers to make noise to alert hunters, so that they see that hikers are in the area, and wear bright colors.
“This is in some ways a rare, freak occurrence,” he said. “But we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .
