Crazy Aunt Sarah's hunting practices will make a REAL hunter sick -- she's not a hunter -- she's a sport killer
- From: "Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names" <PopUlist349@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 02:59:30 -0700 (PDT)
The wildlife "management" practices in Alaska wiht Savage Sarah at the
helm are a disgrace, based on junk science, and were dishonestly
developed. Real sport hunters and real subsistence hunters don't
hunt from airplanes and they don't kill wild animals that are
habitually around people. Sarah does.
Predator kill quotas/bounties, according to the (pro-kill stacked)
Fish & Game board, have been increased "to re-allocate the harvestable
surplus of game animals from predators to humans." More specifically,
sport hunters.
Subsistence calculations showed that needs could be met with a moose
population of approximately 3,000. These reports demonstrated there
was no need to consider or begin predator control. Though these
results were published in a State Fish and Game Memorandum; dated Nov.
2, 2001 followed by a Press Release dated Nov. 6th, they were later
buried and ignored.
Aerial hunting: sport or management? Take your pick; either way, it's
repulsive.
Wolves are "managed" from the air, often chased to exhaustion and
collapse before being killed. The puppies of these "managed" wolves,
the lucky ones that are found, are shot. The others are left to
starve.
From the Anchorage Daily News
Biologists found the 4- to 5-week-old pups when they landed to collect
carcasses of adult wolves shot from a helicopter two months ago near
Cold Bay, about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Biologists had killed 14 adult wolves, including mothers of the pups.
"The issue then was do we leave the pups to fend for themselves and
starve or do we dispatch them," Larsen said. "Our feeling was that it
was most humane to dispatch them."
Each pup was shot in the head.
Studies pointing the finger at over-hunting of game, and surveys
showing that game populations were grossly under-reported by the
state, were suppressed. This is not a "management" justification for
the continuing the practice of aerial hunting. This is a LIE and an
abomination. The F&G's own reports show that in areas where predator
control was practiced, between 60-75% of the game taken was by urban
and non-resident hunters. Subsistence my ass.
Oh, but the wolves are not the only keystone species on the menu in
Alaska.
Habituated bears are brutally killed in Katmai NP. These bears are
accustomed to the scores of humans that visit the park all summer long
to observe and photograph them. They show no fear or aversion to
humans, and the "hunters" basically walk right up to them and blast
away. Fair chase? Hardly.
Katmai bear hunt debate rages on.
There is no cap on the total number of bears that can be harvested in
GMU-9C.
From the Anchorage Daily News
"That bear looks at us and we aren't a threat at all," Josephs said.
A golden grizzly remained within in feet of our camp and the hunters'
camp during the entire visit. Everyone kept a close eye on the bear.
Josephs predicted the bear wouldn't be around camp much longer with
hunters close by. "If she were to survive she'd have cubs next year,"
Josephs said.
[snip]
By late afternoon, the blonde grizzly continues to swim and eat
nearby. She does not know it, but these are her last moments alive.
The hunters are clearly ready and when the opportunity presents
itself, they shoot and kill the female. The blonde grizzly goes down.
Josephs said the bear was not concerned with the hunters at all.
"That bear trusted us -- it trusted the hunters -- it hung out here
the whole time we were here. It had no fear of us."
Fair or not, the hunt is legal.
In the end, the bear dies about 100 yards from the hunters' camp, 100
yards from our camp and just feet from where it roamed all day long.
Alaska residents have twice voted to ban aerial wolf hunting-- first
in 1996 and again in 2000. Both times, the Alaska Legislature
overturned the will of the people and allowed the Board of Game to re-
create the programs after the two-year initiatives expired. 671
wolves* have been shot by Alaska residents in private aircraft over
the past four years. And, what's worse, other states are looking to
Alaska to justify beginning aerial wolf hunting programs of their
own.
[* As of July, the number is over 800 and counting]
Alaska Ballot Measure Update
On August 26, 2008 Alaskans voted for a third time on the issue of
aerial wolf hunting. More than 70,000 Alaskans voted to stop private
aerial hunting of wolves and bears and to limit the practice to Alaska
Department of Fish and Game personnel only.
Unfortunately a well funded opposition coupled with a strong turnout
in conservative voters led to the defeat of the ballot measure.
On a brighter note, in the lower 48 a U.S. district judge in Montana
has just restored protection to wolves under the Endangered Species
act. Judge Donald Molloy has issued a temporary injunction that
protects wolves in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Brighter yet, Oregon
and Washington have recently reported that they now each have at least
one resident wolf pack, also now under the protection of the
injunction. But this is a temporary victory, and it remains to be
seen if the injunction will be made permanent.
Despite the attempts to suppress and downplay empirical and scientific
evidence that demonstrates the success of reintroduction of wolves to
Yellowstone, a small victory has been achieved. Small steps have been
made in the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolf in the southwest and
the unbelievably gorgeous red wolf in the southeast.
And keystone species are necessary.
The return of wolves to Yellowstone, for example, is helping restore
the diversity of life within the park. Elk, an important prey species,
have altered their grazing behavior... Changes in elk grazing behavior
have allowed streambed vegetation like willow and aspen to recover
from years of overbrowsing, and these re-established trees provide
habitat for native birds and fish, beaver, and other species.
And profitable!
Gateway communities near Yellowstone National Park have reported an
economic boon from the return of the wolf. In fact, more than 150,000
people visit Yellowstone each year specifically because of wolves,
bringing $35 million in annual tourist revenue to Idaho, Montana, and
Wyoming. The economic impact of this figure effectively doubles once
money filters through local communities.
But our intrepid VP hopeful on the Republican side appears to be Annie
Oakley incarnate. Despite vehement public opposition and volumes of
evidence contradicting the so-called "science" she often cites, Savage
Sarah seems to have made it her mission to ram through devastating
environmental and wildlife management policies in her home state of
Alaska. In addition to her "drill here, drill now" ANWR refrain
(complete with bald faced lies on the size and scope of such an
undertaking), she appears to champion everything and anything that is
anti-environment, from aerial hunting of wolves and bears, to
landscape-scarring, environmentally devastating open pit mining. Could
the old guy have found a worse ticket mate when it comes to
environmental issues? I think not.
Gordon Haber is a wildlife scientist who has studied wolves in Alaska
for 43 years. "On wildlife-related issues, whether it is polar bears
or predator controls, she has shown no inclination to be objective,"
he says of Palin. "I cannot find credible scientific data to support
their arguments," he adds about the state's rationale for gunning down
wolves. "In most cases, there is evidence to the contrary."
Last year, 172 scientists signed a letter to Palin, expressing concern
about the lack of science behind the state's wolf-killing operation.
According to the scientists, state officials set population objectives
for moose and caribou based on "unattainable, unsustainable
historically high populations."
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Prev by Date: 9.11 & thermite
- Next by Date: Lying has consequences -- unless you're a Republicon, then, you're expected to lie
- Previous by thread: 9.11 & thermite
- Next by thread: Re: Crazy Aunt Sarah's hunting practices will make a REAL hunter sick -- she's not a hunter -- she's a sport killer
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
