Posted on May 31, 2012 by The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
The Humane Society of the United States has many “fronts” that work to ban hunting while at the same time raking in money and other commodities from the unsuspecting public. One such front is The Wildlife Land Trust (HSWLT). This “trust” is actually a covert affiliate that sways landowners into thinking that their donation of land, easements, or dollars helps wildlife – that is far from the truth.
The program tries to get people to donate a conservation easement on their land to create so-called wildlife sanctuaries. These easements also happen to ban all hunting and trapping on the donated land forever. To quote their website: “All HSWLT conservation easements prohibit recreational and commercial hunting and trapping, and development within protected areas.” In reality, these conservation easements allow the landowner to keep their land while giving HSUS the authority to “police” it to make sure no one ever hunts or traps on it again.
A sad example of this misguided program is the160-acre “conservation” easement the WLT received recently near Newport, Ore. The donated land teems with deer, fox, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, black bears, bobcats, salamanders and a variety of birds, according to the HSUS. That’s 160 acres of land where wildlife management techniques like hunting and trapping can never take place again. This can and will lead to problems resulting from deer and coyote populations that cannot be managed. The local residents will likely bear the brunt of exploding wildlife populations that stray off the so-called “sanctuary.”
This is nothing short of a grave setback for wildlife populations as hunting and trapping are the most effective wildlife management and conservation tools available.
HSUS has a long track record of opposing wildlife management and conservation, and has in many cases harmed local wildlife populations through frivolous lawsuits that have wasted public funds and the valuable staff time and resources of game departments. HSUS seems to revel suing state game departments and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over public lands and wildlife management programs.
