ALERT RESEND: Wildlife in California, Northern Rockies, Canada under Assault

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Brian Vincent <brian

Brian Vincent <brian

Wed, Jan 27, 2010 9:29 am

ALERT RESEND: Wildlife in California, Northern Rockies, Canada under Assault

 

 

NOTE: Due to a technical glitch with our website, our alert on bear hunting is not working properly. We are addressing the problem and hope to have it fixed soon. We are resending this alert with complete details on how you can help stop bear hunting in California. Big Wildlife apologizes for the inconvenience.

 

Big Wildlife E-News: Issue 13, January 26, 2010

Welcome to Big Wildlife's enews, a regular email update about our work to protect and restore carnivores throughout North America. We will be providing this free communication, along with periodic action alerts, to our members, supporters, and colleagues. If you do not wish to receive these updates, please let us know and we will remove you from our distribution list. Thanks.

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

*HELP STOP BEAR HUNTING IN CALIFORNIA

*MORE THAN 500 WOLVES KILLED IN NORTHERN ROCKIES LAST YEAR

*HELP STOP GARIBALDI AT SQUAMISH SKI RESORT

 

HELP STOP BEAR HUNTING IN CALIFORNIA

Please urge the California Fish and Game Commission to ban bear hunting in the state

Deadline for public comments is February 3, 2010

 

Every year, more than 2,000 bears are legally killed by hunters across California, with the most bears killed in Siskiyou, Trinity, Humboldt, Shasta, and Tulare counties. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 black bears are legally hunted each year in the US and Canada, while an unknown number are also illegally poached. To make matters worse, it is legal for trophy hunters in California to chase bears with packs of hounds.

 

On February 3, the California Fish and Game Commission will consider changes to the state's mammal hunting regulations. In our comments to the Commission, Big Wildlife will urge the state to ban bear hunting across California. We urge you to help end bear hunting in the state.

 

Click this link to watch video of bear hunt with hounds. Warning: video is graphic and disturbing.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Urge the California Fish and Game Commission to ban bear hunting in California. See our sample letter below.

 

To contact the California Fish and Game Commission:

Email: fgc

Phone: (916) 653-4899

Fax: (916) 653-5040

 

Mailing address:

California Fish and Game Commission

1416 Ninth Street

P.O. Box 944209

Sacramento, CA 94244-2090

 

SAMPLE LETTER TO COMMISSION

DATE

 

Dear California Fish and Game Commission:

 

I understand on February 3 the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) will consider changes to the state’s mammal hunting regulations. As part of that process, I urge the Commission to adopt new regulations banning the hunting of black bears throughout California. Specifically, I urge the Commission to ban bear hunting in California because:

 

Trophy hunting puts additional pressures on bears, who face a host of increasing threats from poaching, habitat fragmentation and destruction, human encroachment into wildlife areas, aggressive government lethal control programs, and climate change.

 

State wildlife officials have failed to assess the impacts of poaching. Illegal killing of bears has increased globally, fueled by a booming international market, for bear parts, especially bear gallbladders used in traditional Asian medicine and bear paws, considered a delicacy in soup. Bear gallbladders can go for $5,000 a pound, an enticing price that has spurred bear poaching in California. Poaching of wildlife has become epidemic across the state. Violations rose from 6,538 in 2003 to 17,840 in 2007. The illegal sale of California wildlife and wildlife parts generates an estimated $100 million a year, second only to the illegal drug trade, according to California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) officials. Yet, the state has just 358 game wardens patrolling 300,000 square miles of land and water. It makes no sense to permit bear hunting when state wildlife law enforcement capabilities are so crippled.

 

Trophy hunting ignores the ecological value of bears. Apex species, such as bears, cougars, and wolves, play critical roles in maintaining ecosystems. Black bears often scavenge for food, playing an important role in recycling carrion. Bears also help transport berry seeds. Along salmon spawning streams, bear scat and the remains of fish carried into the woods contribute to the long-term nutrient cycle in old-growth forest. Even cambium feeding by bears, which sometimes kills trees, creates widely scattered snags that benefit other species of wildlife.

 

The state has failed to assess the impacts of annual increases in bears killed by hunters. According to CDFG data, the number of bears killed legally by hunters has steadily increased well beyond the agency's own 1,700 annual season limit. Yet, the CDFG has yet to analyze how these dramatic increases have affected state and local bear populations, behavior, social structure, reproduction, and cubs.

 

Hunting black bears is cruel, unethical, and environmentally harmful. In California, bears can be legally chased by hounds, treed, and then shot by hunters. Hounds have been known to pursue bears with cubs, increasing the risk that cubs could be separated from their mothers, then orphaned. It is not uncommon for hounds to maim bears, especially cubs, and even more common for bears to maim or kill an entire pack of dogs. In addition, hounds may pursue non-targeted animals, including imperiled species, putting additional stress on those species. Bears can also be killed with bow and arrow, which studies reveal produce an unacceptably high wounding rate.

 

Again, please end this cruel and inhumane “sport†in California. Instead of permitting bears to be shot for trophies, the state should strengthen safeguards for these magnificent animals. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

YOUR NAME

ADDRESS

PHONE

EMAIL

 

 

MORE THAN 500 WOLVES KILLED IN NORTHERN ROCKIES LAST YEAR

Last year, a record number of wolves were killed in Northern Rockies by hunters and federal and state officials. To read the full Associated Press story go to link at: http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_15116fb8-c3e2-58af-838b-0aa28a89badd.html

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP SAVE WOLVES

Please urge President Obama to restore federal endangered species protections to wolves. Such action would prohibit hunting of these majestic animals and provide much needed safeguards for wolves.

 

To contact the White House comment line call:

202-456-1111

 

To send a comment to the White House go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

 

 

HELP STOP GARIBALDI AT SQUAMISH SKI RESORT DEVELOPMENT

Project would destroy critical habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, mountain goats, peregrine falcon, steelhead, and many other species

 

A massive ski resort, Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS), is proposed for Squamish, British Columbia. The resort would include a 25-lift ski resort, two 18-hole golf courses, 500,000 square-feet of commercial space, hotels, 98km of new road, and 6,000 new homes, apartments, and condominiums. The development would fragment and destroy important habitat for wolves, grizzly and black bears, cougars, mountain goats, salmon, and steelhead.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Two people will decide whether GAS goes ahead: The BC Minister of Environment, Barry Penner, and the Minister of Tourism Culture and Arts, Kevin Krueger. Please urge them to reject the GAS development. See talking points below.

 

Barry Penner

(ph) 250-387-1161

(fx) 1-250-387-5669

env.minister

 

Kevin Krueger

(ph) 250-356-6981

(fx) 1-250-356-1195

tca.minister

 

TALKING POINTS – WHY GAS IS A BAD IDEA FOR SQUAMISH

The Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) project is a bad idea because it would:

 

Have devastating impacts to wildlife, including 16 blue-listed and endangered species, steelhead salmon, and related habitat.

 

Require Squamish residents to pick up the tab for providing services to the development. That means locals would have to pay for new services, including hospital beds, school seats, road maintenance, water, public transportation, policing, and infrastructure.

 

Undermine area outdoor recreation experiences, such as back-country sports, climbing, camping, hiking and hundreds of kilometers of trails.

 

Ignore the existing economy benefits of the area. Tens of thousand of annual visitors and locals alike enjoy the backcountry experience the area offers, generating significant income for Squamish each year.

 

Fly in the face Smart Growth principles that are in keeping with Squamish’s Official Community Plan. GAS would strain community resources, as well as directly compete with local businesses.

--

Brian Vincent, Communications Director, Big Wildlife

Phone: 604-618-1030

Email: brian

Web: www.bigwildlife.org

 

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."

-- Leonardo Da Vinci

 

"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds."

-- Aldo Leopold