Dear Governor Palin:
On behalf of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and the listed conservation
organizations supporting this letter, we want to publicly endorse your wolf
management policy. We believe the recent public relations blitz initiated by the Defenders of Wildlife grossly mischaracterizes you Administration’s wolf management policy.
After years of research, it is recognized by practically all state and federal wildlife officials that predator management is a prerequisite for guaranteeing stable populations of prey species. Given that many Alaska residents rely on moose, caribou, and other wildlife species for food, it becomes imperative that those species not be decimated through lack of predator management.
The Alaska wolf management program accomplishes this. It does so through a
rigorously regulated, scientifically based system targeting only those predators
in areas where wildlife populations are not able to reach adequate levels of
sustainability in the program’s absence.
As each of our organizations works within the conservation movement,
we understand the critical importance of science in wildlife management.
It is evident that the Defenders of Wildlife attacks are part and parcel of a
well orchestrated publicity stunt meant to achieve maximum exposure and
minimum discourse.
The future of effective wildlife management necessitates that emotional
pleas not substitute for reasoned analysis.
Sincerely,
Walter P. Pidgeon, Jr.
President and CEO
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
(On behalf of eight Conservation organisations)
They call themselves conservationists... the Alaska Board of Game is full of these characters!
(cartoon by Mike)
.
