“1) Palin offered a bountyof $150 for each left front leg of freshly killed wolves
2) Palin promoted aerial hunting of wolves even though Alaskans voted twice to ban it
3) Palin used $400,000 of state money to fund a propaganda campaign in support of aerial hunting
4) Palin believes man-made global warming is a farce
5) Palin strongly supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
6) Palin is a champion for big oil and her slogan has become “Drill, baby, drill!”
7) Palin sued the federal government to prevent listing the polar bear as an endangered species
8) Palin sued the federal government over listing Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species
rah Palin spent $400,000 of state moneyto “educate” Alaskans about aerial hunting of wolves and bears. State tax money was used to directly influence the outcome of proposition 2 which would have limited aerial shooting of predators. Since Alaskans had previously voted twice to ban aerial shooting of predators, Palin used state tax money to buy support for aerial shooting. Buying votes with tax money worked – proposition two was voted down on 8/26/08.
Read more about Governor Palin’s “predator control” policies and the use of state money to slaughter bears and wolves. In 2008 the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game exterminated 1,400 bears out of a population of 2,000 in an area west of Anchorage. The Alaskan Board of Game even approved the hunting of black bear mothers and cubs with the goal of killing 60 percent of the black bear population. Although biologists have known since the 60’s that predators actually keep prey populations healthy, Alaskan wolves and bears are being exterminated (using cruel practices such as baiting, trapping, and aerial shooting) to “boost” dwindling moose populations. Do we really want a leader who doesn’t believe in science?
The Alaska Board of Game makes most wildlife decisions in Alaska. The board is comprised entirely of trophy hunters with ties to the sport hunting industry and NRA. Not a single wildlife biologist or scientist is a member. For years Alaskans have been asking for representation on the board of game from non consumptive wildlife industries such as wildlife viewing. There has never been any representation from Alaska’s huge wildlife viewing and tourism industry. The most important decisions about wildlife in Alaska are decided by ignorant sport hunters with a total disregard for science. Palin even appointed her former middle school basketball coach to the board. In 2009 Palin appointed Teresa Sager-Albaugh, 45, of Tok. “Sager-Albaugh is a former president of the Alaska Outdoors Council, a federation of outdoors’ clubs and the official state association of the National Rifle Association.” (Anchorage Daily News).
Alaskan Government Spends Millions to Shoot Wolves
Sarah Palin claims that aerial hunting is necessary to help poor Alaskans who need to hunt moose for food. But it costs $500/hr. to charter a bush plane, and double that to charter a helicopter. Let’s do the math – with over 800 wolves killed by aerial shooting, with an average of four hours to kill them (low estimate), times $500/hr. to charter a plane, that’s at least $1.6 Million spent on air travel to kill wolves! Wouldn’t it be easier to spend that money giving the poor food vouchers? Add the nearly half a million dollars that Palin spent to “educate” Alaskans about aerial hunting, and you could probably feed the whole state. It’s obvious that aerial hunting of wolves is not about helping to feed the poor.For more information about Sarah Palin and Alaska’s wildlife policies visit the Alaska Wildlife Alliance“
To read more of this article, please visit, “http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm“
The Wolf Preservation Blog 