Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
The troop leader of the Navarra Boy Scout Troop located in Florida has come under scrutiny from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after demonstrating how to clean and cook two rabbits during a 36-hour wilderness survival training lesson. James Gary received a letter from PETA expressing their disapproval after he posted a photo of his scouts holding a dead rabbit on his Facebook page. Read more
Because there is no dispute that the wolf populations in the Great Lake states have met and exceeded all recovery goals, HSUS has advanced baseless legal theories that, if accepted, would make it extremely difficult to ever take any species off the lists of endangered or threatened species.
Over the last six months, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) has been hard at work defending against a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) seeking to return the recovered wolf population in the Great Lakes states to the Endangered Species List (ESA). Just last week, USSAF submitted its last brief in the case and is now awaiting the judge’s decision. Read more
Fish and Game prefers to manage wolf populations using hunters and trappers and only authorizes control actions where harvest has been insufficient to meet management goals.
Idaho Fish and Game, in cooperation with the USDA Wildlife Services, has completed another wolf control action in northern Idaho’s Lolo elk zone near the Idaho/Montana border to improve poor elk survival in the area.
In February, Wildlife Services agents killed 23 wolves from a helicopter. The action is consistent with Idaho’s predation management plan for the Lolo elk zone, where predation is the major reason elk population numbers are considerably below management objectives. Read more
This from www.HumaneWatch.org…
Several years ago the Humane Society of the United States launched “Humane Society University”—but don’t let the name fool you, it wasn’t a legitimate institute of higher education. HSU was not accredited as a degree-granting institution. And it now seems to be a nearly non-existent entity.
HSU’s website announces that classes are suspended indefinitely. HSU “is currently not accepting applications for enrollment into the College of Arts and Sciences”—we presume this is a liberal use of the word “college”—and “Online professional development programs are under review and no courses are being offered during the Winter term.” HSU president Michael Blackwell has abruptly become a senior director at HSUS, where he can be a white-coated flak. The website is lacking much of the content it had previously.
Translation: School’s out. Perhaps for good. Read more
Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Gander Mountain, Jay’s Sporting Goods, Frank’s Great Outdoors and many other great outdoor retailers in Michigan are helping us protect our hunting and fishing rights by letting us collect signatures for the Scientific Fish & Wildlife Conservation Act petition in their stores!
This is the petition that will make sure that Michigan’s fish and wildlife are managed with sound science, defeat the anti-hunters, fight Asian carp, and preserve free military hunting and fishing licenses.
All we need is volunteers like you willing to spend a few fun hours collecting signatures and talking to fellow outdoorsmen and women about protecting our hunting rights.
Our goal is to make sure someone is collecting signatures in each of these stores every day that they’re open – will you help? Sign up today!
Paid for by with regulated funds by Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management, PO Box 11082, Lansing, MI 48901
The Arizona House of Representatives voted to approve two measures that will make life more difficult for sporting dog owners and those interested in getting involved with hunting dogs. Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
Long before animals had lawyers representing a small segment of society that values the lives of animals above humans, man existed by hunting. In fact, there are millions of traditional rural Americans that, in essence, hunt to subsidize their existence today. As a sportsman, I am among them.
Predictably, the leading anti-hunting organization in the world, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), based in Washington, DC and not connected to our local shelters, has ridden its gravy train into our small town with a plea to now save Michigan’s wolves from extinction by aid of petition – even though in the history of regulated hunting, no animal species has ever been in peril, as a result.
Their leaders, Wayne Pacelle and Mike Markarian have a plan for Michigan, and it doesn’t involve our wildlife biologists and scientists; it does involve suing us, however.
These extremists have a dream inconspicuously absent in a recent Argus-Press editorial: Wolf delisting isn’t based on best available science, by Mke Markarian, of The Humane Society Legislative Fund. So, sharing their vision for America is my pleasure. Read more
PHOENIX — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) have initiated actions for the release of two Mexican wolves in Arizona to replace wolves illegally shot, as directed by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission in 2012 and to increase the genetic diversity of the wild population. Read more
In an effort to increase elk numbers, officials in Idaho want more wolves killed. Details of the proposal are here…
Pro-hunting group says lawsuit indicates that anti-hunters lack in-state support
LANSING— The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)-financed front group Keep Michigan Wolves Protected (KMWP) is suing the State of Michigan to allow out-of-state petition gatherers as the anti-hunting group tries to repeal a law that provides free hunting and fishing licences for active military members and authorizes the bipartisan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to designate game species and issue fisheries orders using sound science.
“The anti-hunters wouldn’t be suing the state to allow out-of-state circulators if they had the support of Michigan citizens,” said Drew YoungeDyke, spokesman for Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management (CPWM), which is circulating a competing petition for a citizen-initiated law that would protect free military licenses, the NRC’s ability to name game species and issue fisheries orders, and establish a $1 million rapid response fund to fight Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species. Read more