Proposed Hunting Regulations here. See also here.
Written Comments must be received by October 26, 2016. There is no electronic option for submitting comments. Mail your comments to Sharon W. Kiefer, Deputy Director of Idaho Fish & Game, 600 S Walnut, PO Box 25, Boise, ID 83707. You may also fax your comments to (208) 334-4885. Feel free to call the office with any questions at (208) 334-3771.
You can comment regardless of which state you live in. If you live in Idaho, please mention it. You can comment more than once. Please REWORD 2 or more of the following talking points. Unique comments are given more weight.
IDAHO'S PROPOSED HUNTING RULE IS OUTDATED. It is tied to a 2002 Idaho bear plan and must be updated to reflect the current science and public opinion. Had Idaho reopened the plan, it would have had to be approved by the state legislature, which would have delayed the delisting process. Due to political pressure, the state of Idaho did not take the time to prepare a new document, and, instead kept an obsolete plan in order to meet the USFWS deadline. **
IDAHO'S PROPOSE HUNTING RULE WILL MAKE CONNECTIVITY TO OTHER BEAR POPULATIONS MORE LIKELY. To insure long term viability of the Yellowstone Grizzly Bears, there should be clear plans for establishing and maintaining connectivity with other grizzly populations, reintroducing grizzlies to "suitable vacant range within dispersal distance of existing populations, or facilitating recolonization into former areas." (Outlined in the Peer Review by Peer Reviewer #4, Page 4). Unfortunately, Idaho's plans appear to strongly disfavor reintroduction or facilitating recolonization. (Id. pages 3,4) Idaho's plan "clearly states that moving grizzlies into new areas (e.g. Bitterroot area) is PROHIBITED and intentions to connect Yellowstone Grizzly Bears' populations to these unoccupied areas is vague." (Outlined in the Peer Review by Peer Reviewer #4, page 2).
INSTEAD OF A HUNTING SEASON, RELOCATE BEARS TO BIOLOGICALLY SUITABLE, TRIBAL LANDS WITHIN HISTORIC RANGE. Every tribe in the Yellowstone region opposes the delisting and hunting of Yellowstone ecosystem grizzly bears. The tribes object to trophy hunting of the bears on cultural and religious grounds, science, and economics. Therefore, if the Yellowstone population actually does need to be managed - and there remains significant debate that it does - these bears should not be killed. Rather, they should be transplanted to sovereign tribal lands. Reintroducing grizzlies to tribal land would revitalize many tribal cultures, which hold the grizzly bear as sacred.**
THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM POPULATION IS GENETICALLY ISOLATED. To ensure the long-term future of grizzlies and full recovery, isolated populations need to be connected so that bears can move freely back and forth to find food and mates. This will be particularly important in a changing climate, which means protecting and connecting large areas of intact lands. Grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region should be allowed to grow in number and distribution, so they can connect with other grizzly populations and recolonize large existing wild areas where they historically roamed such as the Salmon-Selway Ecosystem in Idaho.**
A LIVE BEAR IS WORTH MORE THAN A DEAD BEAR.
Each year visitors spend millions of dollars hoping to catch a glimpse of a grizzly bear in the wild. They are a vital piece of many local economies.**
AMERICANS OPPOSE DELISTING AND HUNTING OF GRIZZLY BEARS. Grizzly bears are an essential piece of the American West, a wildlife icon that has been integral to the Yellowstone region for centuries. Polls have found that a majority of American voters oppose delisting of grizzly bears. Even more, oppose hunting of grizzlies.**
GRIZZLIES ARE AN UMBRELLA SPECIES. As a top predator, grizzlies play an important role in keeping the whole natural system healthy. Protecting the large, wild areas they need to survive also protects habitat for many other species. And because grizzlies are at the top of the food chain, they influence a wide variety of other plants and animals throughout an ecosystem.**
THE PROPOSED RULE DOES NOT SUFFICIENTLY PROTECT MOTHERS WITH CUBS. Hunters are only supposed to shoot bears who are alone to eliminate sows from being shot. When a sow with cubs is grazing, however, she will hide her cubs and they are not visible to us humans. To allow hunting of them during the spring is wrong as a hunter will see a lone sow thinking she has no cubs, when she actuallly does. A shoot first and ask questions later attitude will no doubt prevail.**
** Thank you to the Sierra Club for input on above talking points.
Stop Trophy hunting! Its 2016, time for such barbaric behaviors to end, permanently!
ReplyDeleteHunting is all for sport nowadays. Don't let anyone fool you into believing they have to kill to eat. They are just reliving the "good old days" from eons ago with their Davy Crockett hats! (Too much television in 1950.) The good old days were never good and no one wants to literally re-live them.
DeleteTrophy Hunting cannot ever be justified because this is what you did in the old way of life! The environment is fragile, grizzlies and other wild life have experienced decades of traumatic stress from the never ending barbaric killings of mothers of cubs who are left to suffer with long term difficulties of adulthood, mothers struggling to protect their young even when injured and dying! How could human be so callous & ruthless just for a few minutes of selfish sickening euphoric high as wild life endure a life time of suffering! TO think this heinous sickening killings can be allowed when man is supposed to be educated & advanced in this modern times demonstrates just how despicable the system really is. Time to get out of the dark ages and embrace civility!
ReplyDeleteAn animal's life is as precious to them as our own lives are to us. Thinking people have hearts, heartless people don't think. If you were being hunted or you wittnessed your mother being killed trying to flee with you to keep you safe from a hunter whose only motive is the joy of killing, How would you feel? Think about it and have a heart, animals live in families, and family groups too, and most importantly have feelings and desire to live just like you and I.
ReplyDelete