You and I and all American taxpayers fund 16 wildlife refuges in Alaska representing 85% of our country’s federal wildlife refuges. So we all – not just Alaskans – have a vested interest in the management of these 76 million acres.
For years, Alaskan state officials have been asking the feds for permission to extend their so-called predator control tactics to these refuges – basically seeking sanction to allow for cruel and unbalanced killing of bears and wolves. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly denied these requests and last year, the denial was made permanent via a federal rule. This year, the Republican controlled Congress and President Trump have officially revoked that rule, creating an opening for kill-freaks to get their rocks off:
These [anti-predator] tactics include killing black bear cubs or mother with cubs at den sites; killing brown bears over bait; trapping and killing brown and black bears with steel-jaw leghold traps or wire snares; killing wolves and coyotes during denning season; and killing brown and black bears from aircraft.
Now sure, that all sounds horrible and revolting and vomity but have you considered the other side’s argument?
“Some of you will say, ‘Oh, we have to protect the wolf puppies,”‘ [Representative Don] Young [(R- AK)] told colleagues on the floor of the House.
“That’s not what it’s about. It’s about the law.”
Oh those uppity we-shouldn’t-shoot-animal-familes-in-their-dens people. Sheesh.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R- AK) adds that anyone who gets ill thinking about sadists running down animals in helicopters for slaughter should be comforted knowing that it’s still illegal to use “gas against wolves” in Alaskan wildlife refuges. So see, not actually worse than Hitler on the Sean Spicer scale, I guess.
And as usual with political issues, we can follow the money:
At the heart of the disagreement between state and federal wildlife managers is what each group thinks should guide its purpose. The federal government has argued that the goal on refuges and in parks should be biodiversity. The state Board of Game has an interest in ensuring maximum sustained populations for hunting.
In other words, kill the predators so there are more prey (e.g. moose and caribou) for richie rich trophy hunters who have powerful lobbying groups like the NRA behind them, supporting the revocation of this rule. And never mind about a balanced ecosystem or any of that science stuff which, as we now know, is FAKE NEWS.
But as we have seen with other flailing attempts by the Trump administration to govern, the courts may end up sorting this out:
Geoff Haskett, former Alaska regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, […] left the agency and is now acting director of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Even though President Trump signed the congressional resolution, Haskett believes it will not give the state of Alaska carte blanche to begin predator control on federal refuges.
“It doesn’t change the laws and authorities and existing regulations that the service already has,” Haskett said. “It’s really back to square one.”
Ken Marsh, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, agreed. Without a blanket rule, federal refuge managers likely will consider predator control requests on a case-by-case basis, he said, under provisions of federal environmental law.
Thankfully, common sense and decency still have defenders. And they are willing to go to court. Stay tuned.
no one is allowed to shoot animals from helicopters except Fish and Game.. Moose and caribou are important food sources for many natives living in small rural villages As one of your article cited says.. 80% of the kills of these animals are from predators not from humans who need them for food. If you have ever been to one of these villages you wold know that they are not “richy rich trophy hunters”.In fact about as far as you can get from that. Hunters will hunt. There are laws. You cannot just go into a refuge and kill a bear in den or a wolf from an airplane.
“no one is allowed to shoot animals from helicopters except Fish and Game.. ”
Um. Really? And what about small planes?
” There are laws. You cannot just go into a refuge and kill a bear in den or a wolf from an airplane.”
Well, there WERE laws. Now there are new ones. And killing a hibernating bear is not my idea of “sport”.
This just makes me sick to my stomach, in addition to what these asshats are doing to the environment in general. It’s always follow the money . . . and trump has taken that to a new low.
I cannot get my head around the fact that some folks need to kill to what? Prove they are big tough hunters? Impress their “friends”? They can kill? And the killing is no longer sport when animals are baited and trapped and killed while hibernating. This is a far cry from a culture that has respect for the animals they take and use every part of that animal for their survival. This is for the photo op of killing something and then having your photo taken to show what a big tough hunter you are.
What have we become? I only hope that clearer minds prevail here.
I used to work for a guy who, back in the day, was a hunting guide. He used to “play a trick” on the bear hunters – when they wanted to pose with their dead bear, he’d talk them into setting it up like it was sitting behind him with a paw over their shoulder. (Gruesome, yes – it gets worse.)
Well, as his partner was in front taking the picture, he was behind holding up the dead bear. Then he’d knee the body in a certain spot which would release air trapped in the lungs and the dead bear would “growl” next to the hunter’s face. The hunter would scream and urinate himself EVERY TIME. They thought it was hilarious. They stopped doing this “trick” when one of the hunters had a heart attack on them.
So, yeah. Killing is so manly.
A lion and a bear were recently rescued from a zoo in Mosul. They were apparently the last animals left alive.
“Our mission in Iraq was supported by many locals and proved that even in worst hardships there are people who care for animals,” a veterinarian with the Four Paws team, Dr. Amir Khalil, said in a statement. “I am very touched to have experienced the humanity of the civilian population as well as military. Many of the soldiers shared their food with the animals.”
https://www.thedodo.com/mosul-zoo-bear-lion-rescue-2355572756.html
Only men with micro-penis syndrome feel the need to kill.
what about the other animals????