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Title: Sarah Palin Champions Barbaric Aerial Hunting of Wolves
Source:
YouTube
URL Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGPFPBmzRrQ
Published: Sep 3, 2008
Author: defendersactionfund
Post Date: 2009-02-03 17:56:11 by FormerLurker
Keywords: Barbaric, Animal slaughter, Compassionate Conservatism, Sarah Palin
Views: 8702
Comments: 460
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 234.
#234. To: FormerLurker, Rotara, farmfriend, All (#0)
Sorry, but your lie must DIE: Source: http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/jul/01/southern-alaska-peninsula- caribou-herd-recovers-af/ July 1, 2008 Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd recovers after aerial wolf control State wildlife biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game shot and killed more than two dozen wolves from a helicopter last month to help a small caribou herd struggling to survive on the Alaska Peninsula. It marked the first time since 1985 that ADF&G personnel have shot and killed wolves from the air as part of a predator control plan. Biologists killed 28 wolves on the calving grounds of the Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd near Cold Bay, located about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, to stop what has been a precipitous decline as a result of extremely poor calf survival. In the last six years, the herd has declined from 4,100 caribou to 600. Biologists have counted a total of only six surviving calves in the herd in the past two years. Wolves from three packs were shot from a helicopter while on or near the calving grounds in late May and early June, according to a press release issued by the department on Friday. So far, biologists are encouraged by the results of the air strike, which was approved by the Alaska Board of Game in March. Biologists estimate 63 percent of the approximately 450 calves born this spring survived their first two weeks of life and both pregnancy rates — 90 percent — and weights of newborn calves indicate the herd is healthy, department spokesman Bruce Bartley in Anchorage said. “That pretty much leaves predation” as the reason for the herd’s decline, he said. While it’s too early to tell how many calves will survive the summer, most caribou calf mortality occurs during the first few weeks of life, according to the department. Telemetry flights will be flown periodically throughout the summer to document further mortality. Biologists captured 65 newborn calves to be weighed and fitted with radio collars equipped with mortality sensors so biologists can track them and identify a cause of death if necessary. “If they survive the summer as we suspect they will, we’ll probably have more calves survive this year than we’ve had the last several years combined,” Bartley said. The latest figures show wolves are still the biggest killer of caribou calves, however. Of the 24 deaths documented by biologists among radio-collared calves in the first weeks after calving (36.7 percent of the total number of calves), wolves killed seven (10.8 percent) of the radio-collared calves, while bears accounted for five calf deaths (7.6 percent). Another four calves (6.1 percent) were killed by either wolves or bears, but biologists were not able to determine which one. Two calves drowned (3.1 percent) and one died of starvation (1.5 percent). The other five (7.6 percent) died of undetermined causes. Though the herd ranges primarily within the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not permit wolf control on federal lands in Alaska, its calving grounds are on state lands and both the department and game board felt the action was necessary to preserve the herd. This is the first time in about 15 years that state wildlife biologists have actively participated in a wolf control program. In the past five years, the state has relied on private pilots and gunners to kill wolves in different parts of the state where moose or caribou populations are too low to meet the needs and demands of subsistence and sport hunters. More than 800 wolves have been killed in the past five years as a result of the program. Permitted pilot/gunner teams shoot wolves from the air or land and shoot them, practices that have twice been outlawed twice by Alaska voters in state ballot initiatives but were revived by the Alaska Legislature five years ago when it gave the Alaska Board of Game authority to approve citizen-based predator control. But that program could be halted if a ballot initiative that would allow only ADF&G personnel to shoot wolves or grizzly bears from the air in the event of a “biological emergency” is passed in August. The initiative is on the Aug. 26 primary ballot. The situation with the South Alaska Peninsula herd may very well have fallen into the biological emergency category, said Joel Bennett of Juneau, one of the initiative sponsors. “It sure sounds like it would be a candidate for what we had in mind,” Bennett said. “The two key elements from our perspective is that the commissioner make the determination that it’s a biological emergency, not the Board of Game, and that it is based on adequate data, which in this case they would argue they have.” While there is no definition for exactly what a “biological emergency” is, Bennett said it is basically a situation where a population will suffer an irreversible decline if something isn’t done.
#238. To: X-15 (#234)
From Alaska Judge Upholds Aerial Wolf Killing But Limits Extent ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 18, 2008 (ENS) - A federal judge on Friday invalidated the aerial gunning of wolves in several areas of Alaska in a case brought by four conservation groups challenging the state's wolf control program. At the same time, Superior Court Judge William Morse upheld the practice of shooting wolves from planes and helicopters. The program was challenged by Friends of Animals, Defenders of Wildlife, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, and the Sierra Club, who sued the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Board of Game in 2006 after the Board extended the areas where aerial gunning was allowed. In his decision, Judge Morse examined the entire history of Alaska's wolf control programs. His ruling upholds the aerial gunning program as a whole, while banning the practice in four areas covering up to 15,000 of the total of about 60,000 square miles covered by the program. The areas where the judge banned aerial gunning are the areas into which the Game Board extended it in 2006, notably covering the entire Forty Mile caribou herd near Tok and also in an area across Cook Inlet from Anchorage. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimates there are now between 7,700 and 11,200 wolves in the state. State wildlife managers say they prey too heavily on caribou and moose and that the aerial shooting program will increase the populations of these animals needed by subsistance hunters. But the conservation groups maintain that the science on which the Game Board bases its decisions is not sufficient to justify killing more than 700 wolves since the program began in 2003. From her office in Darien, Connecticut, Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, said, "Our efforts in the lawsuit stopped aerial wolf control in 12,000 - 15,000 square miles of Alaska - that's four regions into which the state had expanded their reckless killing schemes in 2006. They've opened 60,000 square miles to aircraft and helicopter-assisted shooting as the bureaucracy is hell bent on killing wolves all across the state." "These ghastly forays must be halted by public publicy, a majority of voters on a ballot initiative in August, and through other reforms and legal challenges," said Feral. "Alaska's mean-spirited predator control programs are a blight on the continent. Friends of Animals is commited to holding the Board of Game's feet to the fire; their process is a sham." In his ruling, Judge Morse acknowledged the heated political climate surrounding the issue. "The Court cannot ignore the political war that has been raging for a decade between those who favor wolf control programs and those who oppose them," he wrote. "The public has passed two initiatives to stop certain wolf control programs; the legislature has twice reauthorized the Board to implement the programs. But the Board's recent actions have to be evaluated on a narrow stage," Judge Morse wrote, concluding that the Board did not violate the law when it adopted the aerial gunning program at issue in the case. Alaska voters will again have an opportunity to weigh in on aerial wolf control when they go to the polls in August. Commenting on the ruling, Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said, "This reinforces the need for the ballot initiative on this issue in August. Defenders will continue to work with Alaskans for Wildlife and others to ensure the people's right to vote and once again restrict the aerial hunting of wolves." But meanwhile, the Board of Game intends to reinstate the areas excluded by the judge. Board of Game chairman Cliff Judkins told the Associated Press "the problems can be corrected through emergency regulation," which could happen as early as this week. In Washington, House Democrats introduced legislation last September that would protect wolves, bears, and other wildlife from airborne hunting. The Protect America's Wildlife Act, or PAW Act, was introduced by California Congressman George Miller along with Congressman John Dingell of Michigan, the floor manager of the debate on the original Airborne Hunting Act; and Congressman Norm Dicks of Washington state, chair of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. Now before the Committee on Natural Resources, the bill, H.R. 3663, would close a loophole in federal law that Alaska officials have used to permit hunters to shoot wolves from aircraft. "It's time to ground Alaska's illegal and inhumane air assault on wolves," said Miller. "The state of Alaska has been operating an airborne hunting program that not only ignores federal law but violates Alaskans' and other Americans' wishes. The PAW Act will help to protect our nation's wildlife from the unethical and unfair practice of airborne hunting." The PAW Act provides that states can only conduct activities prohibited by the Airborne Hunting Act to respond to legitimate biological and other emergencies, not just to authorize otherwise-illegal hunting practices. The bill does not alter existing exceptions for the use of aircraft for animal control where land, livestock, water, pets, crops, or human health and safety are at risk. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.
I stand 110% against such hunting..
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Replies to Comment # 234. YOUR lying must stop
Alaska Judge Upholds Aerial Wolf Killing But Limits Extent
Hunter retrieves the body of a wolf shot from a plane. (Photo courtesy Wolf)
Alaska wolves number between 7,700 and 11,200. (Photo by John Hyde courtesy ADFG)
#270. To: X-15 (#234)
In the past five years, the state has relied on private pilots and gunners to kill wolves in different parts of the state where moose or caribou populations are too low to meet the needs and demands of subsistence and sport hunters. More than 800 wolves have been killed in the past five years as a result of the program.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 234.