Tag: Grizzly Bears

Our public lands are not killing fields: Stop unethical hunting practices 

Posted on March 11, 2017 8:17 pm by

Opinion Editorial by Carole P. Ryan Ph.D., Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

I oppose the restoration of cruel “so-called” hunting practices on Public Wildlife Refuges in Alaska (H.J. Res. 69 & S.J. 18)

I strongly oppose the recent voting actions by five of our Wisconsin United States Representatives, who swiftly and quietly, voted in favor of H.J. Resolution 69, authored by Alaska’s Rep. Don Young (R). The intent of Resolution 69, is to rollback a federal rule that was crafted to stop some of the most appalling “so-called” hunting practices imaginable on 16 national wildlife refuges covering 76 million acres in the state of Alaska. The Wisconsin Representatives who voted to remove critical rules protecting wildlife from cruel hunting practices on Alaskan Public Lands were Duffy, Gallagher,Grothman, Kind, and Sensenbrenner. Representatives Moore and Pocan opposed! Sadly, the US House of Representatives’ Republican majority vote passed this resolution, 225 to 193.

The Humane Society of the United States video from Alaskans who are urging you to fight against S.J. RES.18 is at the bottom of this blog. Please follow instructions on how to take action to stop this resolution.

HJ 69 intends to use authority under the Congressional Review Act to repeal a Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule that prohibits certain hunting and killing methods in national preserves in Alaska. This rule prohibits particular unsportsmanlike, irresponsible practices authorized by the Alaska Board of Game for stalking and hunting down native wildlife on the state’s national wildlife refuges. Reportedly, these practices, often used but rarely publicly acknowledged, have included the shooting of swimming caribou from motorboats, using airplanes to scout then land and shoot grizzly bears, luring grizzlies with rotting meat and pet food, killing wolf, black bear, and coyote mothers and their dependent pups and cubs in their dens, and the trapping of grizzly and black bears with steel-jawed leg-hold traps and wire snares! This reprehensible resolution was strongly supported by The National Rifle Association (NRA) and Safari Club International (SCI). Supporters of this Resolution want us to believe that their motivation is rooted in the elimination of federal overreach/regulations and a return of public lands and wildlife management to state control. Opponents such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and millions of environmentalists and wildlife advocates, argue that these really are bloodthirsty practices that have no place in a “Humane Nation” such as the United States of America. Especially as many believe that a nation’s soul and compassion is often measured, in part, by how it treats its animals.

“It’s legislation at its most callous and inhumane,…” ~HSUS

I agree with the advocates that caution voters to remember that these are Public Lands! And, Public Lands are supported by our collective tax dollars! And then there is tourism! The majority of Alaskan tourist dollars are not generated by killing animals but by viewing and experiencing the beauty and grandeur of Alaska firsthand; lands, water, air, and wildlife, unspoiled by the intrusion of horrible acts! Alaskan Visitor Studies report that total direct visitor spending increased from 2.29 billion in 2011-12 to 2.56 billion in 2014-15. I don’t think that it is too far fetched to speculate that Alaskan Tourism might “nosedive” in the form of decreased tourists and tourism dollars if this absurd effort to brutally kill wildlife in the name of “the unregulated hunt” is finalized!

…killing wolf, black bear, and coyote mothers and their dependent pups and cubs in their dens, …

The U.S. Senate will eventually vote on this resolution (S.J. Res. 18). I strongly urge all voters to contact Senators Tammy Baldwin (D) and Ron Johnson (R) to oppose this terrible resolution. Only 50 senate votes will be required to pass it. Then it will proceed to President Trump for his signature. I side with wildlife advocates. I do not support turning our public lands into “killing fields” nor do I expect The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (a professional wildlife management agency) to run refuges like “game farms”. We must honor limits in the conduct of wildlife policy in the United States of America (Pacelle, HSUS)! 

Carole P. Ryan Ph.D.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

About Carole P. Ryan Ph.D. 

I am a lifelong Wisconsin resident, parent of two, and grandmother of nine. I am a retired educator/teacher. I love all things wild, especially wolves, and I have great respect for our shared environment. I believe that we all are the guardians and stewards of nature!

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The Humane Society of the United States brings you this video from Alaskans who are urging you to fight against S.J. RES.18. If passed, this resolution would overturn protections for wildlife in National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska, allowing — among other despicable cruelties — the killing of wolf pups and bear cubs in and around their dens. It’s legislation at its most callous and inhumane, and it’s a test of what could happen on wildlife refuges nationwide. We’re expecting the vote any weekday now, so please call your U.S. Senators (find them at www.humanesociety.org/leglookup) and urge a NO vote on S.J. RES.18!

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Featured image of Grizzly bear sow and cub by John E Marriott

Breaking news: Obama administration grounds aerial hunting, other inhumane predator-killing practices on refuges in Alaska

Posted on August 4, 2016 2:02 am by

Source: A humane Nation, Wayne Pacelle’s Blog  

This is a landmark day for some of the nation’s most majestic, recognizable, and woefully mistreated wild animals. And “landmark” barely says enough.
I’m delighted to report that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has followed the National Park Service in prohibiting some of the most wanton and misguided methods utilized to slaughter grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, and coyotes on our public lands in Alaska. The new protective regulations were promulgated this day, and cover all of Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges.
These are vast lands, in many ways among the most important wildlands remaining in the world, and they belong to all 300 million-plus Americans. Each of us holds a piece of the deed to these 76-million refuge acres.
With ownership comes responsibility. Meaning that each of us is responsible for the management—the treatment—of the animals who live on these lands.
For years, that’s been a story of unremitting barbarism—shocking comes to mind. Untold numbers of bears and countless thousands of wolves have been gunned down, shot from the air, killed over bait barrels of meat scraps and jelly donuts, clubbed or shot in their dens, hunted down with lights at night in Alaska. Slaughtered in the name of a stated government mandate of “intensive predator management.”
A glance at the biographies of the seven members of Alaska Board of Game explains the singular and obsessive vision that rules this body: A Safari Club trophy hunter, a trapper, a hunter and guide, an NRA member with a background in hunting and trapping, an “actively involved” member of the NRA, a trapper and bowhunter, and finally a hunting lodge manager.
Still though, why such an assault on these grand animals?
Famed outdoor writer Ted Williams put it this way: The Alaska government has waged war on bears and wolves in “a vain attempt to convert the state to an ever-expanding Stop-and-Shop for moose and caribou hunters.” That’s right, fewer wild predators were supposed to mean more moose and caribou for human hunters like those on the Board of Game—or so the cockeyed thinking went.
The fact that credible scientists have shot holes in that line of reasoning has not stopped the Board of Game from pressing on with its bloody war for decades. The fact that wildlife watchers bring far more money than trophy hunters into the state economy has not stopped it. Common sense and changing public values have not stopped it.
But now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has stopped it—on federal wildlife refuges. Those millions of us who take seriously our responsibilities to these animals can lift our eyes. Yes, ordinary hunting is still permitted on these “refuges” and some biologists say the regulations have a shortcoming here and there that will need fixing, but some of the most chilling abuses of these great creatures will no longer occur in our names, and Alaskans resoundingly agree.
But…
Yes, there is a “but” to this story. As regular readers here know, some die-hard reactionaries are trying to engineer a congressional coup to deprive the Fish and Wildlife Service of its responsibility to manage national lands in the national interest.
No deal. We need to uphold these regulations. Contact your federal lawmakers (you can find their contact information here). Politely state the obvious: Public lands are meant to be managed in trust for all of us, not for state boards, not exclusively for trophy hunters, not for any single interest.
Back in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Pelican Island in Florida as the inaugural national wildlife refuge. Today, there are more than 560 refuges and related wetland management districts. They encompass an area of 150 million acres.
Alaskan refuges account for just over half that total. Together, they are an endowment we share, and which we all pay to support. The animals who live there deserve better than they have been receiving. I’m happy that they’re getting a real measure of protective justice now, and I send our thanks to President Obama and his U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for adopting this new, humane, scientifically-sound, and ecologically-minded policy.

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Featured image: John E Marriott Photography

Rally this summer to: Urge federal officials to create a no-hunting and no-trapping zone for wolves and Grizzly bears around Yellowstone National Park

Posted on June 4, 2016 3:48 pm by

Please join us, Campaign for Yellowstone’s Wolves,  to help mobilize park visitors in support of Yellowstone’s wolves and grizzly bears this summer. 

Volunteers are needed to hand out fliers to visitors at Yellowstone National Park that educate the public on the urgent need to create a no- hunting buffer zone around the park to protect wolves and grizzly bears. Sign up here:

July 7-10 volunteer sign up click HERE

July 14-17 volunteer sign up click HERE

July 21-24 volunteer sign up click HERE

And, if you can donate, please click HERE

We need a few more amiable volunteers for visitor outreach in the Park, from June 30-July 4 and from July 29-August 7. Message us for details at Campaign for Yellowstone’s Wolves

  

We need a no-hunting buffer zone around Yellowstone National Park

  

Please join Campaign for Yellowstone’s Wolves in fighting for a buffer zone around Yellowstone National Park. Create a no-hunting-zone to protect wolves and grizzly bears. 

Click HERE to donate to this rally We’ll rally this summer to reach thousands of visitors to Yellowstone National Park, drawing their attention to threats facing the park’s Wolves and Grizzly Bears from nearby trophy hunting, poaching and unnecessary lethal “controls”. Donations are needed to allow us to print the materials we need for successful public outreach: color brochures, petitions, action flyers, signs and banners, campaign t-shirts, and articles on Yellowstone’s Wolves and Grizzly Bears.

The founders of Campaign for Yellowstone’s Wolves are the husband and wife team of Drs. Tony Povilitis and Dusti Becker. They are both wildlife biologists who began the campaign three years ago because of their outrage at the horrific trophy killing of Yellowstone Park’s famous alpha female called “Oh-six” and a dozen other wolves that happened to cross the park boundary that year.

Since then, they have pushed for a no-hunt, safety zone for Wolves around the park through direct meetings with policy makers, letters and phone calls to political leaders, written articles, online and hand-written petitions, public outreach in Yellowstone Park and more. Please check out the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WolfYellowstone/

Since 2011, at least 22 wolves that lived mainly in the park and 34 other Yellowstone area wolves have been killed in state-approved wolf hunts. Those numbers would have been higher if legal action had not prevented wolf hunts in Wyoming for three of the last five years.

Now it’s become apparent that Yellowstone Grizzly Bears also need help. This iconic species for which hundreds of thousands of visitors annually come to Yellowstone National Park to see has come under attack as the federal government proposes to remove their protected status as well.

Our summer outreach rallies will heighten awareness among park visitors and mobilize their support in a broader campaign to put an end to government policies harmful to Wolves and Grizzly Bears. Please give these incredible animals a powerful “citizens voice” by supporting this campaign. Don’t let them down! 

A century ago, Wolves were hunted and trapped to extermination from the park and surrounding areas as part of very misguided government policy. They were absent from Yellowstone’s ecosystem for the better part of the 20th century to the significant detriment of the park’s biological diversity. Since their re-introduction in the mid-1990s, the park has shown demonstrable ecological healing and rejuvenation. It is our duty as responsible stewards of our precious wild lands to insure that Yellowstone Wolves and Bears are now FULLY protected and NEVER exploited.

Any donation (Click HERE to donate) is most appreciated. Nothing is too small. Let’s make this campaign a huge success! Your kind support will help us reach many thousands of park visitors this summer, the 100th anniversary of our National Park Service. If you’d like to join us in Yellowstone, please contact us through our Facebook page.

Each of us, working together, can make a huge difference for Yellowstone Wolves and Grizzly Bears – their very lives and the majesty of Yellowstone depend on it!

For more information click HERE


John E Marriott – EXPOSED Ep. 5: Killing Grizzlies – The Truth Behind the B.C. Trophy Hunt

Posted on May 27, 2016 11:38 am by

John returns for an in-depth second look to expose the truths behind the trophy grizzly bear hunt in British Columbia, Canada. Why is there still a hunt? Is it the sport, the public demand, the politics, the science, or the economics? John delves into the issue with some hard-hitting facts that will make you want to get involved in the fight against the grizzly bear hunt by visiting http://www.exposedwithjohnemarriott.com/take-action/

Humane Society of the U.S. Alert Protect Grizzly Bears in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming

Posted on April 9, 2016 1:08 pm by

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is planning to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from grizzly bears who live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This would turn management of this iconic species over to the states and subject these animals to trophy hunting seasons in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.Contrary to what the USFWS claims, grizzly bears are far from recovered and human-caused mortality is the single-largest contributor to bear deaths. Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have benefited greatly from ESA protections but are not yet recovered. Removing federal protections from this one small, isolated population and subjecting them to trophy hunting will not advance the conservation of this species. 

The American public wants grizzly bears protected for future generations, not killed by a few trophy hunters so they can mount and stuff them.

Please take a moment to send the USFWS a letter, urging them to not remove federal protections from Yellowstone grizzly bears.

Take Action Click HERE

This action alert is for U.S. residents only. International advocates, please visit Humane Society International  for ways you can take action for animals.

  

Image: John E Marriott Photography