Hunting regulations
Cruel practices allowed in Alaska
On July 3 the National Parks Service issued a disastrous ruling that ought to infuriate every person who cares about wilderness and its wildlife. Despite tens of thousands of comments from concerned citizens, the Biden administration has reinstated several cruel hunting practices across national preserves in Alaska, including in over 8 million acres of designated wilderness. Under these rules, the following “hunting” practices will now be allowed: killing mother bears and cubs in their dens; killing wolves and coyotes with cubs during denning season; shooting caribou from motorboats; indiscriminate trapping of many species; and using dogs to hunt bears. These practices are neither “sport hunting,” nor “subsistence hunting”; they are unconscionable barbarism!
This decision defies the sensible rules issued by the Obama administration and effectively re-instates those issued under Donald Trump. Why anyone would believe that exterminating whole wolf or bear families in their dens has any place in wildlife preserves or wilderness is utterly inexplicable.
Several environmental organizations, including Wilderness Watch and Alaska Wilderness League, together with the dedicated lawyers at Earthjustice, are considering further legal action in federal court to reverse this decision. I urge everyone who believes in both sane hunting practices as well as the ecological integrity of wild places to support this legal crusade.
Michael W. Shurgot
Seattle
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