The ban now allows the hunting of bears and wolves on wildlife refuges.
Trump lifts ban on hunting hibernating bears
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Wednesday, April 5, 2017, 2:11 PM - The state of Alaska is home to 16 U.S. national wildlife refuges and a vast variety of iconic animals — two of which are now fair game for hunters.
A joint bill from the U.S. House and Senate, signed off by President Donald Trump on Monday, revokes an Obama-era rule that bans "predator control" hunting on Alaska's refuges.
The ban protected hibernating bears from being hunted, along with wolf cubs in dens. It also protected these animals from being targeted from helicopters.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spent years declining state officials' attempts to extend predator-killing practices into federal wildlife refuges. To cap the requests, the government agency put forth a rule in late 2016 protecting wildlife on all Alaskan refuges from predator control.
The ban was a part of former U.S. president Barack Obama's climate change legacy, and just one in a line-up of environmental protection laws that are on the chopping block under the incumbent.
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Alaska's sole congressperson, Republican Donald Young, said the state was promised the authority to manage game animals under the old ban, and refuge officials ignored the law.
"Some of you will say, 'Oh, we have to protect the wolf puppies,"' Young was quoted telling his colleagues. "That's not what it's about. It's about the law."
Alaska's wildlife refuges span almost 311,000 square kilometres of land.
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ThePerfectScone on April 7th, 2017 at 16:11 UTC »
Congress lifts ban, trump only approves it. Must be nice for Congress to get away with so much now that they have a hated scapegoat
pipsdontsqueak on April 7th, 2017 at 16:03 UTC »
It's a practice called denning. It's widely condemned because it completely ignores the "fair chase" rule. Alaska got in a bit of trouble because the Board of Game under Palin was allowed to kill denning wolf cubs. Since it's technically not denning if they're outside the den, they'd lure the parents out, kill them, claim they couldn't find a zoo for the cubs, then kill the cubs. This is also around when the aerial wolf hunting campaign started. Bullshit practice. Hunters I know in Alaska claimed that it leveled the playing field because by the time they got close enough to shoot, the wolf could smell them and run away. My theory was these guys just suck at hunting and love killing them with an even greater advantage. https://www.adn.com/wildlife/article/federal-government-pushes-back-state-game-board-over-predator-control/2016/01/08/?outputType=amp-type https://www.adn.com/politics/2017/02/16/u-s-house-passes-rep-don-youngs-bill-to-repeal-alaska-wildlife-management-regulation/?outputType=amp-type Edit: Worth mentioning that this really should be getting more press as this is how we keep fucking the predator-prey balance in AK and ~~making~~ [will drive] the predators [to] endangered [status].
mattreyu on April 7th, 2017 at 15:04 UTC »
barrel-fishing licenses are also now being approved