H.J.Res.69 - Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Department of the Interior relating to "Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska".
On February 16,
2017, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 225 to 193, and passed H.J. Res.
69. This bill proposes to allow hunters to harvest wolf pups in dens, bears in
dens during hibernation, and to shoot bears from aircrafts in Alaska's wildlife
refuges. H.J. Res. 69 has now moved to the Senate, and is waiting further
review. This bill would overrule the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services ban on
these hunting practices, and if passed would make Congress the only the only
ones capable of changing this legislation (HSUS1 2017).
[1]
H.J. Res. 69 was
authored by Don Young, Alaska’s representative, and received the majority vote
from republican lawmakers. It has been claimed republicans did this for the
National Rifle Association (NRA), the Safari Club, and hunting guides and
outfitters. Thankfully 10 republicans in the House of Representatives had the
courage to vote against H.J. Res. 69. Now it is in the hands of the Senate and
President Trump to decide what happens now to H.J. Res. 69. I personally hope
the Senate and President have enough intelligence to leave wildlife management
in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) and state wildlife agencies,
and to see that these are unethical methods of hunting (HSUS2 , NBC 2017).
[2]
[3]
Currently,
Alaska has two bear seasons in the spring and fall for both black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown/grizzly
bears (Ursus arctos); a hunter is
currently allowed to use bait as long as they are following the regulations of
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). Both of these bear species hibernate in
winter dens during the winter months in high alpine areas. Black bears
typically have 1-2 cubs (averaging 2), and females do not sexually mature until
about 3-6 years of age. Grizzly/brown bears have 1-4 cubs (averaging 2) every
three years, and females do not sexually mature until 5 years of age. Also,
during the winter months male of both species do not enter hibernation as early
as the sows that are pregnant, and if conditions are not that harsh males can
be active off and on or even the entire winter. ADFG has different seasons and
permit hunts for bears, including subsistence hunting (hunting for food); they
are responsible for managing wildlife species and dictating hunting seasons and
regulations in the state of Alaska (ADFG 2017).
[4]
Now, on federal
wildlife refuges USFWS is responsible for managing wildlife species, but the
state agencies dictate hunting seasons and regulations for each state. So in
theory but ADFG and USFW should be working together, since the majority of
Alaska’s public lands are federally owned.
Mr. Young and
his supporters claim the USFWS is being dictated on what to do by the ADFG on
what to do, and that they are practicing “intense management” on their predator
species. There argument in support of H.J. Res. 69 is that the federal government
should dictate what happens on federal land. The supporters of this also claim
that the majority of Alaskans support this piece of legislation, when every
source I have found states otherwise. Most sources state that the Alaskan
residents are concerned about this legislation because they are afraid it will
affect tourism; most people come to Alaska to view the wildlife, and if the
populations of bears and wolves decrease, they are concerned tourism will
decrease due to this. Tourism is a huge part in the Alaskan economy so I can
see how this would be a huge concern for the Alaskan residents
[5]
Besides the
concerns of tourism and ethical hunting practices, there has been no mention on
how this will be implemented, and what the impact would be to the bear and wolf
populations. Mr. Young has failed to provide any scientifically evidence to
support his claim on this issue. As I stated earlier black bears do not
sexually mature until 3-6 years of age and average 2 cubs every 2-3 years,
while brown/grizzly bears sexually mature around 5 years of age and average 2
cubs every 2-3 years (ADFG 2017). Knowing this I would like to know if anyone has looked at
how H.J. Res. 69 would affect black bear and brown/grizzly bear populations,
since this would allow hunters to harvest bears in hibernation dens, shoot
bears from aircrafts, and trap and kill bears in steel leg-hold traps.
Since it takes
such a long time for these bear species to sexually mature and they have a low
reproductive rate compared to other bear populations, I am very concerned that
this legislation would be detrimental to the black bear and brown/grizzly bear
populations. If the Senate and President Trump for some reason pass H.J.
Res.69, I am interested to see how this is implemented. Since, if pregnant sows
and sows with cubs get harvested heavily then their will not be a high
recruitment rate of the populations. Also, bears would have to survive at least
3 years to have the chance to reproduce. Knowing this I’m concerned that this
would be the downfall to the Alaskan black bear and brown/grizzly bear
populations.
[6]
I would like to
leave you all with this “do you classify this as ethical hunting, and do you think
Alaska Department of Fish and Game or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services should
dictate hunting seasons and regulations?” If you agree with me that H.J. Res.
69 is unethical and lacks scientifical evidence to support it I encourage you
to contact your local senator to express your concerns and view(s). I guess we
will have to wait and see what the Senate and President Trump have to say about
H.J. Res. 69 to see what is in store for Alaska’s black bear and grizzly bear populations.
Shankar, D. NBC News [NBC]. 2017. House overturns obama-era law to protect alaskan bears and wolves.< http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/house-overturns-obama-era-law-protect-alaskan-bears-wolves-n722481 >. Accessed on 1 March 2017.
The Humane Society of The United States [HSUS2]. 2017. THSTUS: A Humane Nation - Urgent: Your help is needed to help stop congress from sanctioning cruelty to wolves and grizzly bears on refuges in Alaska .<http://blog.humanesociety.org/wayne/2017/02/help-stop-congress-cruelty-wolves-grizzlies-alaska.html?credit=blog_post_021617_id8790>. Accessed 1 March 2017.
[1]: Alec Baker
[2]: https://youtu.be/rfyu3wDLVhk
[3]: Alec Baker
[4]: Alec Baker
[5]: Alec Baker
[6]: Alec Baker
I agree that this law should not be passed, as it is unethical. Before current game laws were in place you could harvest bears in hibernation, or wolf pups while they were still in the den. The laws made it so you could not harvest these animals under such condition because it is unethical, and for shooting bears from helicopters, not only is it unethical there is also nothing even remotely close to a sport in that concept. Now personally I don’t hunt, but isn’t a big part of the hunting experience the challenge of finding your quarry? Shooting an animal from a helicopter, that is most likely stressed out and terrified by the very presence of the helicopter, is incredibly unethical as it is causing unnecessary stress to the animal. If this law is passed in will not only be a setback in the ethical treatment of wild animals, it could also be detrimental to the species.
ReplyDeleteAbbie exactly, and after watching the video I don't understand Mr. Young's argument stating it's the state of Alaska's right to manage its wildlife life, when most of Alaska's public land is federally owned? Also, wildlife is held in the public trust so whether Mr. Young likes it or not people from other parts of the country have just as much right as Alaskans to have a say on what goes on with wildlife management on federal ground. I just hope enough people can see that this bill is unethical and lacks scientific evidence to support it.
DeleteAlec, this bill just sounds like a terrible idea. It sounds to me like they just want to pass the bill so that they have more control over stuff they really don’t know anything about, which sounds like our government. Allowing the killing of these wolves and bears along with their cubs in their dens is just a joke. Bears typically have their cubs when they are in their dens over the wintering period and they don’t usually leave which makes them extremely easy targets and at this time the cubs usually can’t even open their eyes yet. To me this whole thing sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteCould not of said it better myself Nick, I just hope the Senate and Trump have enough common sense to see how big of a disaster this would be.
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ReplyDeleteAlec, I really like your choice of article. Lately in the government, mostly republicans, have made bills that only benefit a small group of people or have no credible evidence. U.S. Representative Young obvious did not have any credible scientific evidence but for some reason people vote for it. Many times when representatives make bills like this, they are paid off by some company or organization. I am glad that some republicans are smart enough to challenge this bill. Hopefully the Senate will be smart enough to let this bill die.
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