Posted on 08/10/2009 12:24:07 PM PDT by jazusamo
AIRBORNE: Hunts allowed with airplanes only when it's a biological emergency
WASHINGTON -- Alaska's predator control program to kill wolves, which drew renewed national scrutiny during former Gov. Sarah Palin's bid for vice president, is under attack in Congress.
Two California Democrats have introduced legislation that would all but ban the practice of shooting wolves from airplanes to control their numbers. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. George Miller, would force Alaska game officials to declare a biological emergency that shows the imminent collapse of a species without the program.
Even if the state could demonstrate such an emergency, the law would limit aerial hunting to state or federal wildlife employees, barring private contractors that are currently allowed to kill wolves from fixed-wing airplanes.
"What this bill does is essentially makes it impossible for Alaska to manage wolf populations in any sort of responsible way," said Pat Valkenburg, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "We finally have a program that works and to end it because of the emotional feelings of uninformed people is just not a good idea."
Alaska's Board of Game renewed its aerial predator-control effort seven years ago after complaints from hunters that a healthy wolf population was preventing moose and caribou populations from recovering in some areas, including parts of the state where subsistence hunters depend on game for food. Six areas of the state -- about 10 percent of the state -- have predator-control programs in place for wolves.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
The Alaskan delegation needs to introduce legislation that mandates how California conducts its affairs.
We can’t drill in the Anwar Coastal Plain because it might cause problems for the Moose and Carribou, of which there are non on the Coatal Plain. Wolves do cause problems for the Moose and Carribou, but we can’t control them.
Doesn’t anybody get the sense of stupid people being stupid?
These two are an embarrassment. FYI, George Miller is at the heart of the water war going on in California. A massive farmer protest is scheduled for his office on 8/13/09. They will be accompanied by Central Valley Tea Party Patriots.
You'll need something more convincing than a vague feeling. What, exactly, is inherently wrong? Is it that they are at a disadvantage? This isn't for sport, it's because they are predators, and their appetite is exceeding the food supplies.
And besides, fish in a barrel is not a good analogy. They have nowhere to go, and you don't shoot them. Wolves can go anywhere. It isn't like there's a fence around them that makes them an easy target. Alaska is a big place, and there aren't roads to most of it. Maybe if there were some more humane way to do it, like driving in on snowmobiles and capturing them, and taking them into wolf internment camps?
So Miller is one of them that want to put many farmers out of business because of the Delta smelt needing the water that goes in the aqueduct. Those people are absolutely nuts!
Safari Club Goes To U.S. Supreme Court Safari Club International has taken its litigation efforts to the nation's highest court with the filing of an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case U.S. v. Stevens.
SCI’s brief defends the production and distribution of hunting TV programs and videos – activities of great importance to SCI members and hunters generally. The case involves a federal law that makes it a criminal offense to produce, sell, or possess a depiction of “animal cruelty.”
But the devil is in the details. The statute's definition of "animal cruelty" could foreseeably include TV or videos that depict lawful hunting. For example, if an outdoor television program filmed a black bear hunt in Pennsylvania where bear hunting is legal, but distributed it in New Jersey where bear hunting is not currently legal, then those involved could be in violation of the law. In this example, mere possession of a bear hunting video in New Jersey with the intent to distribute could also be criminalized. In its brief, SCI argued to the Court that the law as written is unconstitutional under the First Amendment because it criminalizes legitimate speech.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation joined SCI on the amicus curiae brief, filed on July 27. Many anti-hunting groups, including the Humane Society, lined up on the other side. The Supreme Court will hear the case on October 6, 2009, the first day of its new term. View the brief HERE.
There’s something to be said for that. :)
Interesting, thanks for posting.
I do not need something more than a vague feeling, to feel that shooting animals from an aircraft is inherently wrong. That is the inherent part, it goes against my idea of the mutual respect we should have for a wild animal. I know it isn’t for sport, that is why I suggested having individuals do the culling from the ground, not from an aircraft. It would, to me, be a much more win-win situation, both for the individuals doing the culling and for PR purposes. We hunters/sportsmen/gun owners have a bad enough time as it is with the negative perception people have of us. To shoot animals from an aircraft, even for a good reason, does not sit well with the general public, and there is no way we can change people’s minds about that.
I does feel like the inmates are running the asylum...
“To shoot animals from an aircraft, even for a good reason, does not sit well with the general public, and there is no way we can change people’s minds about that.”
I suspect if you took a survey _in Alaska_ regarding this practice, you’d be in for a surprise. I suspect the majority are just fine with it - and Alaskans are the only ones who should have any say.
Also note that this practice has become common in Texas to cull out of control feral pig populations.
There aren’t enough hunters, and the animals are too numerous and elusive to control them any other way.
Have you even been to Alaska?? Outside of the metropolitan areas, that is? If so, you wouldn't make such a totally dumb a$$, bleeding heart, PETA statement.
Maybe you don't understand that there is a higher small aircraft ownership per capita in Alaska than anywhere is else in the US. Because you can't even get there in all terrain vehicles!! You don't just get in your SUV and drive down the interstate to go wolf hunting, with your fancy Cabella's camo suit and hunters vest. In fact, you don't do that just about anywhere to go wolf hunting.
Talk about stupid, dumb$hit statements. Do some research besides reading PETA and Sierra Club press releases.
And if you actually did have some knowledge about the situation, you would know that it is not "sport" hunting that Alaska is doing. This is rather serious conservation measures to insure that the elk, moose and caribou herds aren't decimated by the over abundance of the wolf as predator.
Sheesh, whadda maroon!
I hear ya!
Wolf control in Alaska is an Alaskan issue that should be dealt with in Alaska. Congress needs to butt out of something they know nothing about other than the drivel spewed forth by a small cabal of hysterical fanatical extremists.
Thank you for your answer to stuartcr.
I could not think of a polite way to say that he/she needed to do much more research on the problem before commenting.
Well said and dead on the money!
Dear Congressional A-holes,
This is our state, we know it better than you could even know. You are clueless bastards pandering to the dregs of society. But out! This is a state and local issue. In other words, shut your coffee holes!
Sincerely,
VPINTHEAK
When I read the very uninformed comments made, I was pi**ed.
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