Take Action for Brown Bears in Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
Dear John,
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is continuing its anti-wildlife agenda by trying to reduce protections for brown bears and eliminate federal oversight of trapping on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The agency has proposed a rule that would allow the cruel trapping of wildlife on the refuge without a federal permit, and would also allow the killing of brown bears over bait. Baiting involves intentionally using food to attract bears to a particular location where hunters, often in tree stands, gun them down at point blank range. This is widely viewed as unethical, unsporting, and unsafe, as it can acclimate bears to human food and promote human-wildlife conflict.
The use of cruel hunting methods like baiting and eliminating federal oversight of trapping are intended to satisfy the interests of Alaska government officials and a small number of hunters and trappers who use the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The USFWS should be working to ensure that the wildlife species are thriving, not making it easier for hunters and trappers to kill them.
This proposed rule comes in the wake of the National Park Service's recent reversal of a 2015 regulation that prohibited unsporting hunting practices on national preserves in Alaska. Taken together, these rules clearly demonstrate the administration's intent to weaken wildlife protections on federal lands in Alaska and to jeopardize Alaska's invaluable biodiversity to benefit a few hunters and trappers.