Trump Repeals Ban on Wildlife Protection

[ysr_racer]

How do we feel about this?

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlife/2018/05/21/trump-administration-proposes-reversal-of-obama-era-hunting-rule-in-alaskas-national-parks/

[BigFatGuy]

I'm of SLIGHTLY mixed feelings.

I've heard from several reputable places that the Alaska fish-and-game is not well liked by residents, who feel that it is somewhat corrupt and incompetent.

However, I've never heard anyone hint that Alaskans want the federal government to come in and make any kind of hunting illegal.

I'm in favor of eliminating almost everything Obama did, even if wolf pups are adorable.

[CABilly]

None of that sounds like fair chase or ethical hunting, except perhaps the running of dogs for black bear.

[deckhandmike]

It’s their state. Let them figure out what works best for them.

[JackEllis]

None of that sounds like fair chase or ethical hunting, except perhaps the running of dogs for black bear.

Agreed, except...

IMHO using dogs to hunt bears, especially in Alaska, is inhumane...for the dogs. It's possible the natives use them but my friends up there have three or four bears in their trophy room and none of them were taken using dogs. Best I can tell, if you use dogs to hunt bears up there, what you're really doing is bringing along a snack for the bears.

[stonefly-2]

If obama did it and trump is undoing it i feel great about it.

Some things just don't need thinking about.

[JagerDog]

How do we feel about this?

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/wildlife/2018/05/21/trump-administration-proposes-reversal-of-obama-era-hunting-rule-in-alaskas-national-parks/

Alaska's express goal for managing wildlife is to artificially increase game populations by driving down carnivore numbers. Its policy would allow hunters to bait, trap and snare bears, and kill black bears and cubs and wolves and pups in their dens. The proposed regulation would also remove the current prohibition against killing defenseless caribou from boats or shore as they swim across rivers in national preserves," said Defenders of Wildlife.

The group's president, Jamie Rappaport Clark, called the move a "new low" for the Trump administration's wildlife policies.

"Allowing the killing of bear cubs and wolf pups in their dens is barbaric and inhumane. The proposed regulations cast aside the very purpose of national parks to protect wildlife and wild places," Rappaport said. "The National Park Service should not accept Alaska's extreme predator control program as a suitable method of managing wildlife and their habitat."

When I see emotional heartstring arguments like that, I know they're full of crap.

And national park is not synonymous with national preserve. Intentional misdirection.

[JagerDog]

None of that sounds like fair chase or ethical hunting, except perhaps the running of dogs for black bear.

Neither is shooting starving elk by helo

If it helps the herd, it's ethical.

It's wildlife management. And doesn't require gov't paid hunters.

[MJB]

The whimpering tells all in the article...some dogs are just stupid so you can't apply any of that logic, dogs are tools up there so it's a different can of worms

[180ls1]

You can tell by the title that the article wasn't going to accurately represent the situation.

[njineermike]

When I see emotional heartstring arguments like that, I know they're full of crap.

And national park is not synonymous with national preserve. Intentional misdirection.

It's a hit piece designed to make us all look bad.

Neither is shooting starving elk by helo

If it helps the herd, it's ethical.

It's wildlife management. And doesn't require gov't paid hunters.

I fail to see how shooting a caribou while its swimming is any different than shooting it while its grazing. But I peronally wouldn't want to have to retrieve one from water. Sounds like too much work to me. Then again, they didn't bother mentioning the wolves killing everything in their path and only eating some of the caribou calves while leaving the rest to rot, and the damage it's doing to the herds.

I hate people.

[CVShooter]

Mixed feelings, for sure. On the one hand, AK should do whatever they darned well please. On the other, I'd never use that same logic for the way that CA handles guns. Sometimes, a little Federal overreach is a big help in keeping states from caving to the whims of goofy politicians and their equally goofy voters.

It's definitely not fair chase. But these hunts would mostly be done by F&G (as explained to me by a friend who works for AK F&G). Gov't hunters don't use the same rules. Fair chase is for us recreational schmos. They're the "experts" and those rules don't apply to them.

Then there's the historical record. We eliminate the top predators to increase game populations and in the name of public safety (think of the children!). Then we justify needing to kill more and more prey animals because there aren't enough predators anymore (cue the crocodile tears). Then we pave and develop the place, expand the cities and have to hire more and more cops to patrol the new streets in the name of public safety. Ever wonder why there aren't lions in the middle east? Why there are no wolves in the UK? I certainly wouldn't say that either place is any safer than it was before the predators were killed. Our culture has a very long history of self-serving BS disguised as rational action.

**Forgive me for interjecting my own BS -- I'm not immune either**

Oh well. AK will do it eventually. There's too many incentives for them to quit fighting that battle. Seems that they have their man in Washington who will probably make it happen.

[mif_slim]

a lot of new people in the hunting forum... either that or I just been mia for a while.

[ysr_racer]

a lot of new people in the hunting forum... either that or I just been mia for a while.

I stop in once in a while to ask about tipping a fishing guide

[Eric Mayer]

I'm not against rolling back decisions made by the Obama administration that were based on emotional reactions by those who likely do not hunt/trap.