Sam Kooiker lent his name and support to a campaign by Gov. Mike Rounds to oust federal game warden Bob Prieksat of Pierre.

But Kooiker said Tuesday that his e-mail earlier this year thanking Rounds and his chief of staff for tackling the issue wasn't aimed at removing Prieksat from his job.

"I really don't know enough about it, other than what I read in the Journal," Kooiker said. "It wouldn't be fair for me to take a position on it."

Yet Kooiker's name and comments to Chief of Staff Rob Skjonsberg ended up part of a package of petitions and complaints that took a strong position in support of firing or reassigning Prieksat from his job as three-state U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law-enforcement supervisor. Rounds and Skjonsberg allege that Prieksat uses heavy handed law-enforcement tactics that reflect poorly on South Dakota and its state conservation officers.

Skjonsberg solicited complaints about Prieksat and sent the packet to the state's congressional delegation, where it was forwarded on to the FWS law-enforcement headquarters in Arlington, Va. Kooiker's e-mail comment apparently was considered one of five dozen complaints included in the package with more than 700 petition signatures.

Kooiker confirmed the e-mail but again stopped short of supporting Prieksat's removal.

"I did mention to Rob in an e-mail that I appreciated them taking a stand," Kooiker said. "Certainly, no one should stop this agent from doing his job. But it needs to be done fairly. And based on what I had read and seen in the paper, I appreciated the fact that Rob and Gov. Rounds were questioning what was happening."

An investigation by a FWS Professional Accountability Unit exonerated Prieksat of any wrongdoing. And it turned out, in what a petition gatherer called an honest mistake, that more than 100 of the 700-plus petition signatures were taken from a sign-up sheet for a conservation banquet that had nothing to do with Prieksat.

Kooiker said he never had a personal encounter with Prieksat but got involved as "a long-time champion of the little guy."

Kooiker was particularly concerned about Prieksat's statements in a case against Kevin and Brendan Casey of Rapid City and their family-owned tourism business, Bear Country U.S.A. The Caseys pleaded guilty last year in federal court to illegally selling black-bear gall bladders and buying and transporting grizzly bears. They paid more than $50,000 in fines and restitution and each received a year of probation.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Battey also said the brothers were good citizens, not criminals, and suggested that the case would have been best left out of court.

Kooiker said he knows and respects the Caseys and was particularly upset that Prieksat compared Bear Country to a puppy farm in a Journal news story.

"I felt that the Caseys had been upstanding citizens in Rapid City and that the comments about the puppy farm were wrong," Kooiker said.

Skjonsberg confirmed receiving Kooiker's e-mail but couldn't remember if it was counted as one of the 60 or so signed complaints against Prieksat.

"I had a stack of papers five inches high. I couldn't say whether or not it was filed as a complaint with the PRU," Skjonsberg said. "It was more a statement of support."

Contacted Tuesday, state Rep. Alan Hanks, Kooiker's opponent in the June 26 runoff election for mayor, said he didn't have a position on Prieksat and wasn't aware that Kooiker had gotten involved.

"I really have no position on this case," he said. "To me, this is an issue that's outside the realm of a mayoral election."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com