Airborne Murder, Already in Alaska, but in the "Lower 48"??

Alaska continues to ignore federal law against airborne hunting (They call it "predator control.") of our national treasures while gobbling as much as they can from federal grants and demanding "their share" of federal (our) tax dollars. The Bush Administration, staffed with those who hate environmentalists and predators doesn't have the necessary intestinal fortitude to enforce the law against airborne murder. So, they ignore the cries and pleas of the citizens of both Alaska and the rest of the United States. In the meantime, Alaskan politicians ignore the wishes of the majority of their own citizens and sneer at those of us who live in "the lower 48."

The Bush Administration, which has the worst environmental record of any administration in my 65 years of life, wants to open our skies and our lands to airborne hunting of wolves and other predators. This again is in violation of established federal law and against the wishes of the majority of the citizens of the United States.

The federal law to which I refer is 16 U.S. Code 742j-1; also known as The Airborne Hunting Act. This Act states, and I quote from Chapter 4 - Statute Summaries of the Federal Wildlife & Related Laws Handbook:
"Prohibitions and Exceptions.
The Act imposes fines, imprisonment for up to one year, or both on a person who: while airborne in an aircraft shoots or attempts to shoot to capture or kill any bird, fish or other animal; uses an aircraft to harass any bird, fish or other animal; knowingly participates in using an aircraft for any of these purposes.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Sounds like this law should protect our wolves and other predators from airborne hunting and harassment doesn't it?

Unfortunately, there are holes in this law that one could drive an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank through...the Act goes on to state that:
"These prohibitions do not apply (Emphasis is my own.) to state or federal employees, authorized agents, or persons acting under a license or permit, who are authorized to administer or protect land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life or crops."

Well now, isn't that an interesting kettle of fish? Particularly since only about 1 out of 1,000 domestic animals on our public lands are killed by wolves and other predators. Where's the protection for our wild predators? From the Bald Eagle to the wolf, there is none! Anyone can kill a predator and get away with it by obtaining a state permit or saying that they thought the predator was menacing them or their family or property.

The Act goes on to state that:
"Each person authorized under a license or permit must report to the issuing authority each calendar quarter the number and type of animals taken." And that, "Each state that issues permits must file with the Secretary of Interior an annual report listing permit holders, animals authorized to be taken, the animals actually taken and the reason for issuing the permits."

OK, so the Secretary of Interior or his designee has the duty to enforce the provisions of the Airborne Hunting Act (16 U.S.C. 742j-1). Who is the Secretary of Interior? None other than the former Governor of Idaho; Dirk Kempthorne. A Bush crony and one of those rabid anti-environmentalists anti-predator idiots. During his term as Governor of Idaho, Mr. Kempthorne was completely in the pockets of the anti-environmental and anti-wolf forces in Idaho. He follows Gale Norton whose anti-environment policies and practices were and are the stuff of legend.

Will he be any better than Ms. Norton? I doubt it. Will he pay attention to the wishes of the public? That's extremely doubtful. Nobody in the Bush Administration has listened to the wishes of the public and, from the Commander in Chief on down, most of them have proven to be accomplished liars.

Alaska's Governor is Mrs. Sarah Palin, wife of Todd Palin and mother of 4 fine children. You might think that she might possibly have some compassion for the wolf moms and the wolf pups that will die under Alaska's airborne murder program. Sorry, folks, not so. Apparently Ms. Palin also has decided to accept the incomplete, unscientific, irrational and incomprehensible reports of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the Alaska Board of Game (BOG). Those folks are notably anti-wolf and anti-predator and pro the big game hunter with the big bucks who wants a moose or caribou skull to hang on his "trophy" wall.

The ADF&G is also adamantly opposed to any worthwhile recording of present or future wolf populations as well as "tag" reporting for ungulates (deer, moose or caribou) as we do here in "the lower 48." Therefore, any report, such as ADF&G Division of Wildlife Conservation Editor Carole Healy's 'Wolf Management Report', published in December, 2003 and covering the period 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2002 is, as Ms. Healy states, an estimate. Ms. Healy's report covers Unit 18 of the 26 Management Units in Alaska. Her report freely states under 'Population Composition' "We have no survey data to determine the wolf population in Unit 18." Instead, they relied on observation of wolves and wolf tracks during aerial and boat supported surveys for other species. Ms. Healy's report concludes that "Excessive human harvest is the principal factor limiting ungulate growth in Unit 18." The report further states that "For these ungulate (moose, deer, caribou and musk oxen) populations to grow and become established, residents must be willing to accept hunting restrictions." Needless to say, the residents pointed to the wolf as being one of the main reasons the ungulate population has not increased as they wished.

However, there are no and have never, to my knowledge, been any studies determining how many of a particular species are taken by the wolf and how many are taken by humans. This is a primary reason for my belief that Alaska urgently needs a "tag and record" program such as we have for ungulate (deer, moose, elk, etc.) hunts here in the "lower 48." Unfortunately both the Alaska BOG and the ADF&G fight this program tooth and nail every time it comes up.

In discussion of these matters with my friends, co-workers and student residents in the resident facilities at the University of Louisville, one comment invariably comes up: "It's all about money, 'big bucks talk'." OK, let's accept that as a given, now, who's going to spend more? The "big game hunter" who spends $5,000.00 for a moose/caribou head to hang on his wall or 6 tourists who want to hunt with cameras and pay say $1,000.00 each for a tour guide who can take them out to get pictures of wildlife?

Defenders of Wildlife, a 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving wildlife has stated, and I quote:
"Over the past 3 years, Alaska has engaged in a barbaric annual aerial wolf kill whereby wolves are tracked and gunned down by aircraft. More than 550 wolves have been killed in this manner since 2003. The Federal Airborne Hunting Act was passed in 1971 specifically to prevent this sort of aerial wolf kill."

"However, the Bush/Cheney Administration is unwilling to enforce this law and the state of Alaska claims that its actions are technically legal, because it doesn't allow "hunting" of wolves, but rather the "control" of wolves to artificially boost game populations for the benefit of urban and out-of-state big game hunters."

"Alaska continues with this program, even after a 1997 National Academy of Science study found that many of the biological relationships assumed in Alaska's predator control programs are not well understood and concluded that insufficient information exists to conclude that such programs increase prey or game populations."

"Twice in the past, Alaskans have voted to restrict the practice of aerial gunning. However, the Alaska Board of Game continues to promote aerial wolf killing and has liberalized other hunting methods in order to increase the number of wolves and bears killed."

"Now, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Administration has announced plans to ignore public opinion and expand Alaska's controversial aerial gunning program, which threatens to kill hundreds of wolves before the end of April 2007. Moreover, this practice could soon become a model for other states to follow as they consider their post-Endangered Species Act plans."

While researching this article, I contacted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and asked for the financial figures for the re-introduction of the wolf to Yellowstone National Park. USFWS responded that between 1973 and 2006 a total cost to the taxpayers was about $24,199,000.00. The cost of the re-introduction was about $735,000.00 in 1995 and about $267,000.00 in 1996, the first 2 years of the program. The program has been in existence for 33 years so, average spending has been $733.303.03 per year.

This amount of money is what you and I have spent in paying taxes and is what Bush and his cronys on his administration want to throw away and ignore. So, do we let them? I say NO!!

Take a really good look at the picture of the wolf tied to the airplane's struts, it's a female, apparently pregnant and was shot in the rear end. NOT a clean kill. This wolf probably died in agony while the pilot and shooter landed to pick up her carcass.

This is NOT an Alaska that I will ever visit, not while this sort of Airborne Murder continues. Nor is this an America that I want to see. The states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming would like to see this type of "control" enacted. If you feel as I do, its long since time that we took action and told our elected officials that we won't tolerate Airborne Murder!

Yes, the wolf is a predator and sometimes lethal control will be necessary, but, NOT like this!

Thanks for reading.

Wolf~Walker