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Related: About this forumVictory! Court upholds Obama-era protections for Alaska's brown bears, disallows baiting, Humane Soc
https://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/victory-court-upholds-obama-era-protections-for-alaskas-brown-bears-disallows-baiting/
November 18, 2020
By Kitty Block and Sara Amundson
Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund.
Baiting brown bears luring them with rotting piles of sugary foods and then killing them is an extreme practice that biologists have raised alarms about. Photo by Erik Mandre/iStock.com33.8KSHARES
A federal court has ruled that brown bears in Alaskas Kenai National Wildlife Refuge should continue to be protected from the cruel and biologically unsound hunting practice of baitingluring these animals with piles of rotting foods like donuts and pastries and then killing them.
The Humane Society of the United States and our coalition partners, led by Trustees for Alaska, intervened in a lawsuit in 2017 to defend an Obama administration rule that, among other protections, banned the baiting of brown bears. We did so because the state of Alaska and trophy hunting groups, including Safari Club International, went to court soon after that rule was finalized in 2016 to try and overturn it.
On Friday, Judge Sharon L. Gleason of the federal court for the District of Alaska sided with us on maintaining protections for brown bears, ruling that state law does not control federal wildlife management on federal lands such as the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The judge also discussed the extreme harm that baiting does to vulnerable brown bear populations, and held that it was reasonable for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be concerned that potentially habituating bears to human food could create dangerous bear-human interactions.
The ruling sends a clear signal to the Department of the Interior, which is now in the process of overturning that rule to allow bear baiting on Kenai, that this practice is not in the best interests of Alaskas wildlife.
This is a huge victoryand a welcome onebut the work to protect Alaskas wildlife is far from over. In addition to the proposed rule attempting to overturn protections for brown bears on Kenai, the administration has given trophy hunters the green light to kill Alaskas bears, wolves and other wildlife using some of the cruelest hunting methods on 20 million acres of pristinely beautiful national preserves. We are now fighting that decision in court.
Baiting brown bears is an extreme practiceone that biologists have raised alarms about because of its ability to dangerously decimate bear populations and habituate bears to human food, and due to rotting baits toxicity to all animals in the environment.
Alaskas brown bears and other wildlife already face multiple threats, including loss of habitat, climate change and heavy persecution under the Alaska Board of Games scientifically unsupported intensive management regulations. Allowing trophy hunters to mow them down with practices that are as cruel as they are unnecessary is not something Americans want or support. Even as we celebrate this court victory, we will continue our work full-steam to ensure that lawmakers fulfill their scientific, moral and legal responsibilities to conserve and responsibly manage wildlife on federal lands.
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Victory! Court upholds Obama-era protections for Alaska's brown bears, disallows baiting, Humane Soc (Original Post)
Beringia
Nov 2020
OP
XanaDUer2
(10,631 posts)1. This is wonderful
finally, good news
CatMor
(6,212 posts)2. Good news for once!
Faux pas
(14,657 posts)3. Kickin'
CatLady78
(1,041 posts)4. K & R.nt