A Bondurant outfitter who admitted to killing a bald eagle and possessing raptor parts in 2007 will no longer guide hunters on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, government officials said Tuesday.

According to Wyoming Game and Fish officers, Sammy L. Coutts killed the eagle with a rifle shot when he saw the bird eating trout in his fish pond sometime around Oct. 11, 2007. An anonymous caller reported the incident to the department’s Stop Poaching hot line, according to Game and Fish officers.

Coutts was also in possession of osprey parts.

In negotiations with Bridger-Teton officials, Coutts resigned his position at C-4 Outfitters, a company that offers hunting and fishing trips in the Bridger-Teton National Forest out of the Jackson Hole area. Coutts also gave up his shares in the company.

He is no longer a guide for any licensed outfitter on the forest.

The news comes after Coutts reached a settlement with the Wyoming State Board of Outfitters and Professional Guides last week. The agreement allows him to keep his outfitter license. As part of the agreement, Coutts will pay a fine of $5,000 before April 1. The fine will go to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming “to be solely utilized to address issues involving American bald eagles,” according to documents provided by the board.

Coutts also accepted a conditional outfitter license for five years, during which time he is not allowed to commit any violations of the Wyoming State Board of Outfitters and Professional Guides Practice Act or the Wyoming State Board of Outfitters rules and regulations.

Coutts is also not allowed to commit violations of “significant” state or federal laws regarding wildlife, game or fish. If Coutts does commit a violation, he is required to surrender his outfitter license.

In criminal court, Coutts was fined $2,560 and given 40 hours of community service, six months of probation and a 30-day suspended jail sentence.

Coutts would still be able to guide on private land and Bureau of Land Management land, officials said.

According to Matthew Fermelia, senior assistant attorney general with the Wyoming Attorney General’s office, prosecutors originally recommended that the Board of Outfitters revoke Coutts’ license.

“This is very abnormal that we would have an outfitter killing a bald eagle,” he said. “Initially, we really felt that he needed to surrender his license.

“Sam’s attorney and I spoke, and there was some negotiating as to how we could get this resolved without a hearing [in front of the board],” Fermelia continued, explaining that the board voted unanimously to accept the settlement.

Fermelia said Coutts hasn’t had any other violations since he began outfitting in the state in 1975.

“We have never had any formal investigation involving Sam or any other concerns,” he said.

Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said members of his organization “would hope that Wyoming Outfitters an Guides Association would hold themselves and their members to the highest standards.”

“Although there is certainly a penalty that he’s paying, we have to wonder if that’s really the appropriate signal to be coming from the one professional organization that represents the industry in this state,” said Camenzind.

The alleged poaching incident came just four months after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the bald eagle from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Bald eagles are still protected in Wyoming under state law and, federally, under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

At first, Coutts reportedly denied shooting the eagle but later confessed under questioning by Game and Fish officers.

Taking an eagle is considered a high misdemeanor.

In 1963, the bald eagle population in the lower 48 states dwindled to about 400 nesting pairs.

Today about 10,000 nesting pairs exist in the contiguous United States. Scientists say the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem played an important role as a “source” population for bald eagles during the recovery.