Ken Borton says he wants the law changed to be more precise, so people don't have to go through what he did
OTSEGO CO., MI -- One Northern Michigan man said it has been a nightmare, but it's nice to know that it's finally over.
7&4 first told you about Ken Borton, the man who was in the middle of a deer feeding controversy, when he said he was just feeding the birds.
He says he's glad the charges have been dismissed.
“It looks like it's finally over," said relieved Borton.
Ken Borton can't be any happier. A controversy that goes back to 2007 made it to court, went to court again, and was going to go to court for a third time, but was finally dismissed by the Prosecutor. Ken Borton was initially charged with baiting deer when people alerted the DNRE of this, what they saw on his streaming live camera he has outside of his house, known as SnowManCam.com. Here, they saw deer gathering and eating. Borton said he was just feeding birds. DNRE felt different.
"I felt that he's taking the proper steps from preventing the future feeding of deer by feeding the birds, so I felt comfortable just dismissing the case at that time," said Otsego County Prosecutor Kyle Legel.
"There was a lot of misinformation, a lot of misunderstanding, about what the DNRE was alleging Borton of doing verses what he was really doing," said Paul Slough, Borton’s lawyer.
Borton says the initial ticket for baiting cost $200, but he felt it wasn't warranted. So he fought it, and thousands of dollars and months later, he thinks it's mission accomplished.
“Basically, I wanted to make sure the people of the State of Michigan were able to feed their birds without fearing DNR coming after them and ticketing them," said Borton.
Borton says he's testified to the legislature and hopes the next move will be for the state to make the law concise, rather than allow the DNRE to interpret. But the baiting ban that was once deemed unconstitutional by the district judge, well, that's still in place.
“It's unfortunate that the prosecutor decided to drop the charges, but again, it doesn't affect the baiting ban that's in place in the Lower Peninsula, which is a permanent ban at this point," said Mary Detloff, communications for the DNRE.
Both the prosecutor and Borton's attorney say this type of case won't go away unless the legislature makes it clear what is feeding birds and what is in violation of the deer feeding ban.
Right now, they say the line isn't precise enough.
