Kirk Cordes called it the final chapter of a saga he'd like to forget.

The Rapid City rancher was informed Monday morning that he had been granted a pardon by President George Bush for a federal felony tied to a commercial deer-hunting operation that Cordes was involved in near Wall during the 1990s.

"It's kind of a bittersweet deal," Cordes said late Monday afternoon. "I'd just as soon have avoided the press coverage at this time. But the rest of it's good news."

The good news is that Cordes will no longer be considered a felon, meaning he can once again possess firearms and travel without complications to other countries. But none of that is the most important part of the pardon, Cordes said.

"Basically, it's just to have your name cleared from a federal offense," he said.

Cordes and a number of other members of the Dakota Safari big-game hunting association were investigated in 1997 by wildlife officers, including some who hunted undercover with the group. Cordes referred to the undercover agent as "a sting man in our operation."

Eventually federal prosecutors brought charges against Cordes and other Dakota Safari landowners for illegal hunting activities and violations of the Lacey Act. The act, which governs the transfer or intent to transfer illegally taken game across state lines, gives federal agents authority and carries the potential for large fines and prison time.

Cordes paid a fine and served probation but not prison time.

"I guess I had pretty well put it to rest some time ago," he said. "I didn't consider myself a criminal in any sense of the word. And I don't think the rest of the (Dakota Safari) members felt that way, either."

Cordes said he applied for a pardon in order to clear his name. He said he doesn't care to hunt personally so the firearms issue wasn't important. As for foreign travel, Cordes said trips to Canada weren't a problem, even with the felony on his record.

"They stopped me one time, and I explained it all to them, and they just kind of blew it off and said this is something that Canada wouldn't even recognize as being a criminal offense," he said. "They wiped it off my record and said, 'You can come here any time.'"

Bush on Monday granted pardons to 14 people and commuted the prison sentences of two others. In his two terms, he has granted 171 pardons and eight commutations.

Cordes said he got a phone call Monday morning from "the pardon's office in Washington" informing him that his application for a pardon had been approved.

"They congratulated me. And I was pretty happy," he said.

The pardons officials also warned him that reporters were likely to call, Cordes said.

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