'Huntress' award winner faces variety of game charges

PINEDALE — If a hunter posts self-congratulatory photos on Facebook with an elk, moose, wolf, badger or deer taken in a questionable hunt, a wildlife investigator might be calling one day.

After a multiyear investigation that spanned western states and Facebook pages, Melanie M. Peterson, of Merna, west of Pinedale, is charged with 19 misdemeanor violations of hunting regulations.

Peterson and her husband Kirby own and operate Timberline Lodge and Big Country Outfitters at the edge of the Wyoming Range.

The alleged violations resulted from an investigation into nonresident hunts Peterson arran...