Sarah Palin Sucks
I don't often post long entries without an LJ cut, but this is something important to me and I feel that it does not need to be hidden behind a link here. I will not cut this, so if you don't like how big it is, take me off your friends list.
Sarah Palin breaks laws in Alaska. What sort of laws might she break if she is the Vice President? I hate her view on wildlife. It shows no compassion, only ignorance. She favors wealthy trophy hunters instead of what Alaskan citizens have rightly voted for. Alaskans have already won the vote twice to ban illegal aerial hunting, but they keep being overturned. Examples of these "qualities" follow:
For Immediate Release
March 27, 2007
Contact(s) Tom Banks, (907) 276-9453 ext 1
Defenders of Wildlife Asks Judge to Shut Down Palin's Wolf Bounty Program
Bounty Law Repealed in 1984 - Alaska Does Not Have Regulatory Authority to Impose New Incentives
Anchorage, AK -- Today Defenders of Wildlife, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club asked the Alaska Superior Court to shut down Governor Palin's $150-per-wolf bounty program citing the fact that Alaska's bounty laws were repealed in 1984 and the State has no current legal authority to implement the bounties.
"The Governor is overstepping her legal authority by offering cash payments for each wolf killed by aerial gunners," stated Tom Banks, Defenders of Wildlife's Alaska Associate. "That's a bounty by anyone's standards regardless of what they call it."
Hoping to boost the number of wolves killed this year by permitees, Palin announced the state would pay $150 for each kill. According to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) news release, the bounty was instituted to "motivate permittees to redouble their efforts and to help offset the high cost of aviation fuel, ADF&G will offer cash payments to those who return biological specimens to the department." The state's press release, issued last Wednesday, indicates that "Permittees will be paid $150 when they bring in the left forelegs of wolves taken from any of several designated control areas."
"Governor Palin needs to take a close look at wildlife management practice in her state and restore the use of sound science," concludes Banks. "She said would heed the will of the public, but it's increasingly clear she's only listening to that segment that is willing to sacrifice Alaska's natural heritage for the benefit of a few."
The judge is expected to make a decision fairly quickly.
Defenders and the co-plaintiffs expressed an additional concern that the bounty offered by the State will encourage the illegal killing of wolves outside the control area.
Defenders of Wildlife is represented by Mike Frank of Trustees for Alaska, a public interest law firm, and Valerie Brown, an Anchorage attorney in private practice.
***********************************************
Defenders Magazine
Fall 2007
Defenders in Action: Alaska's War on Wildlife Persists
© John Hyde/Pacific Stock
In the latest battle against wildlife in Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin proposed a new bill that would make it even easier to kill wolves and bears.
Palin’s proposal would eliminate the requirement that a game-management plan be in place prior to beginning an aerial predator-control program that tracks and shoots wolves and bears from airplanes. The bill would leave all decisions about public hunting with airplanes to the discretion of the Board of Game-not to wildlife managers who would apply scientific standards to ensure there is no long-term harm to the ecosystem.
“Rather than addressing the terrible policies of the Murkowski administration, which ignored Alaskan voters who twice passed ballot measures to halt the barbaric practice of aerial gunning, Gov. Palin’s legislation would pave the way for the Alaska Board of Game to greatly expand the deadly control programs,” says Tom Banks, Defenders’ Alaska associate.
The bill, which was introduced late in the legislative session and not yet voted on, fails to acknowledge the role carnivores play in keeping ecosystems healthy. “The state needs to pass wildlife management laws that are based in science, are economically feasible, address all user groups and have widespread public support,” Banks says.
Palin also recently approved $400,000 in state funds for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop an “educational campaign” that promotes the state’s predator-control programs. “The state government’s interest in this campaign is no surprise,” adds Banks, “as it is timed to influence Alaskan’s views on predator control prior to the August 2008 ballot measure vote on aerial gunning.”
Scientists from around the country and the world are voicing their concern over the governor’s actions. A recent letter signed by more than 150 scientists called on Gov. Palin to exercise sound conservation and management of Alaska’s wildlife.
Meanwhile, for the first time in Alaska’s history, the Board of Game approved the hunting of black bear sows and cubs in an 11,000-square-mile area northwest of Anchorage where the goal is to kill 60 percent of the black bear population. Prior to this only male black bears could be hunted. The board also approved the trapping of wolverines in Chugach State Park, a popular recreation area on the doorstep of Anchorage.
***********************************************
** DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE * ALASKA WILDLIFE ALLIANCE **
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2008
Defenders of Wildlife contact: Tom Banks (907) 276-9410
Alaska Wildlife Alliance contact: John Toppenberg (907) 277-9819
SCIENCE-BASED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT FURTHER JEOPARDIZED
AS HOUSE PASSES GOVERNOR’S BILL TO IGNORE VOTERS AND EXPAND AERIAL HUNTING
Alaskans’ right to vote on this issue could be denied
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Defenders of Wildlife is condemning a move by state legislators who today passed House Bill 256 by 25-12, a bill that is intended by the governor and sponsoring legislators to deny Alaskans a vote on aerial hunting later this year.
More than 56,000 Alaskans signed a petition to put the initiative on the ballot, a vote that is threatened if HB 256 becomes law. By making changes to the same-day-hunting provision, the legislature is enabling the governor’s office to once again subvert the will of Alaskans who twice voted to restrict the aerial hunting of wolves only to see the Alaska legislature overturn the laws they enacted.
The bill, introduced in the legislature by Gov. Palin, increases the role of politics by allowing the Board of Game to move even further away from science-based wildlife management and allows the Board of Game to permit the same day airborne shooting of brown bears by private persons.
“This bill will further damage the credibility of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game by forcing it once again to implement so called “predator control plans” that are even more lacking in sound scientific backing than those now in operation,” commented Defenders of Wildlife Alaska representative, Tom Banks.
This bill thus further weakens Alaska’s Intensive Management law, making it easier for the Board of Game to approve unscientific programs to eliminate predators. It eliminates the requirement that the state develop a Game Management Plan, and it frees the Board of Game to implement programs to eliminate predators, regardless of whether wolves or bears are affecting game populations. It removes an existing requirement that the Board rely on scientific information presented by the Department. The board is currently operating five programs that have resulted in the aerial killing of 748 wolves, including at least 81 just this season. In March, the board added a sixth program in western Alaska.
“It appears that the governor and her legislative allies are sponsoring the bill specifically to deny Alaskans the opportunity to vote on an August ballot measure regarding the use of airplanes to kill wolves and bears,” said Banks. During consideration of the bill in front of legislative committees, several lawmakers attempted to get clarification from the State’s attorney as to whether the bill would negate the pending August ballot measure and he
evaded the question, declining to give a clear answer. In response, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Alaska Center for the Environment s for Wildlife, Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Defenders of Wildlife sent a letter to Gov. Palin asking her to address the question, but no response was provided prior to the vote.
“As our letter said, in her election campaign Governor Palin pledged to listen to the voices of Alaskans and promised us open government. This bill flies in the face of those promises and the majority of House representatives have simply towed the line, rather than listen to their constituents,” said John Toppenberg, Director of Alaska Wildlife Alliance. “There is a strong belief that knowing that Alaskans have twice approved restrictions on aerial hunting or wildlife, the governor and legislators are working with special interests to deny Alaskans another vote. This in spite of the fact that the initiative is already scheduled to be on the ballot. It’s time the governor made her intentions clear, before the special interests persuade the Senate to also overturn Alaskans’ right to vote on this subject.”
A Senate companion bill, SB 176, was also introduced by the Governor last spring and is still to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sarah Palin breaks laws in Alaska. What sort of laws might she break if she is the Vice President? I hate her view on wildlife. It shows no compassion, only ignorance. She favors wealthy trophy hunters instead of what Alaskan citizens have rightly voted for. Alaskans have already won the vote twice to ban illegal aerial hunting, but they keep being overturned. Examples of these "qualities" follow:
Click to viewFor Immediate Release
March 27, 2007
Contact(s) Tom Banks, (907) 276-9453 ext 1
Defenders of Wildlife Asks Judge to Shut Down Palin's Wolf Bounty Program
Bounty Law Repealed in 1984 - Alaska Does Not Have Regulatory Authority to Impose New Incentives
Anchorage, AK -- Today Defenders of Wildlife, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club asked the Alaska Superior Court to shut down Governor Palin's $150-per-wolf bounty program citing the fact that Alaska's bounty laws were repealed in 1984 and the State has no current legal authority to implement the bounties.
"The Governor is overstepping her legal authority by offering cash payments for each wolf killed by aerial gunners," stated Tom Banks, Defenders of Wildlife's Alaska Associate. "That's a bounty by anyone's standards regardless of what they call it."
Hoping to boost the number of wolves killed this year by permitees, Palin announced the state would pay $150 for each kill. According to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) news release, the bounty was instituted to "motivate permittees to redouble their efforts and to help offset the high cost of aviation fuel, ADF&G will offer cash payments to those who return biological specimens to the department." The state's press release, issued last Wednesday, indicates that "Permittees will be paid $150 when they bring in the left forelegs of wolves taken from any of several designated control areas."
"Governor Palin needs to take a close look at wildlife management practice in her state and restore the use of sound science," concludes Banks. "She said would heed the will of the public, but it's increasingly clear she's only listening to that segment that is willing to sacrifice Alaska's natural heritage for the benefit of a few."
The judge is expected to make a decision fairly quickly.
Defenders and the co-plaintiffs expressed an additional concern that the bounty offered by the State will encourage the illegal killing of wolves outside the control area.
Defenders of Wildlife is represented by Mike Frank of Trustees for Alaska, a public interest law firm, and Valerie Brown, an Anchorage attorney in private practice.
***********************************************
Defenders Magazine
Fall 2007
Defenders in Action: Alaska's War on Wildlife Persists
© John Hyde/Pacific Stock
In the latest battle against wildlife in Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin proposed a new bill that would make it even easier to kill wolves and bears.
Palin’s proposal would eliminate the requirement that a game-management plan be in place prior to beginning an aerial predator-control program that tracks and shoots wolves and bears from airplanes. The bill would leave all decisions about public hunting with airplanes to the discretion of the Board of Game-not to wildlife managers who would apply scientific standards to ensure there is no long-term harm to the ecosystem.
“Rather than addressing the terrible policies of the Murkowski administration, which ignored Alaskan voters who twice passed ballot measures to halt the barbaric practice of aerial gunning, Gov. Palin’s legislation would pave the way for the Alaska Board of Game to greatly expand the deadly control programs,” says Tom Banks, Defenders’ Alaska associate.
The bill, which was introduced late in the legislative session and not yet voted on, fails to acknowledge the role carnivores play in keeping ecosystems healthy. “The state needs to pass wildlife management laws that are based in science, are economically feasible, address all user groups and have widespread public support,” Banks says.
Palin also recently approved $400,000 in state funds for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop an “educational campaign” that promotes the state’s predator-control programs. “The state government’s interest in this campaign is no surprise,” adds Banks, “as it is timed to influence Alaskan’s views on predator control prior to the August 2008 ballot measure vote on aerial gunning.”
Scientists from around the country and the world are voicing their concern over the governor’s actions. A recent letter signed by more than 150 scientists called on Gov. Palin to exercise sound conservation and management of Alaska’s wildlife.
Meanwhile, for the first time in Alaska’s history, the Board of Game approved the hunting of black bear sows and cubs in an 11,000-square-mile area northwest of Anchorage where the goal is to kill 60 percent of the black bear population. Prior to this only male black bears could be hunted. The board also approved the trapping of wolverines in Chugach State Park, a popular recreation area on the doorstep of Anchorage.
***********************************************
** DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE * ALASKA WILDLIFE ALLIANCE **
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2008
Defenders of Wildlife contact: Tom Banks (907) 276-9410
Alaska Wildlife Alliance contact: John Toppenberg (907) 277-9819
SCIENCE-BASED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT FURTHER JEOPARDIZED
AS HOUSE PASSES GOVERNOR’S BILL TO IGNORE VOTERS AND EXPAND AERIAL HUNTING
Alaskans’ right to vote on this issue could be denied
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - Defenders of Wildlife is condemning a move by state legislators who today passed House Bill 256 by 25-12, a bill that is intended by the governor and sponsoring legislators to deny Alaskans a vote on aerial hunting later this year.
More than 56,000 Alaskans signed a petition to put the initiative on the ballot, a vote that is threatened if HB 256 becomes law. By making changes to the same-day-hunting provision, the legislature is enabling the governor’s office to once again subvert the will of Alaskans who twice voted to restrict the aerial hunting of wolves only to see the Alaska legislature overturn the laws they enacted.
The bill, introduced in the legislature by Gov. Palin, increases the role of politics by allowing the Board of Game to move even further away from science-based wildlife management and allows the Board of Game to permit the same day airborne shooting of brown bears by private persons.
“This bill will further damage the credibility of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game by forcing it once again to implement so called “predator control plans” that are even more lacking in sound scientific backing than those now in operation,” commented Defenders of Wildlife Alaska representative, Tom Banks.
This bill thus further weakens Alaska’s Intensive Management law, making it easier for the Board of Game to approve unscientific programs to eliminate predators. It eliminates the requirement that the state develop a Game Management Plan, and it frees the Board of Game to implement programs to eliminate predators, regardless of whether wolves or bears are affecting game populations. It removes an existing requirement that the Board rely on scientific information presented by the Department. The board is currently operating five programs that have resulted in the aerial killing of 748 wolves, including at least 81 just this season. In March, the board added a sixth program in western Alaska.
“It appears that the governor and her legislative allies are sponsoring the bill specifically to deny Alaskans the opportunity to vote on an August ballot measure regarding the use of airplanes to kill wolves and bears,” said Banks. During consideration of the bill in front of legislative committees, several lawmakers attempted to get clarification from the State’s attorney as to whether the bill would negate the pending August ballot measure and he
evaded the question, declining to give a clear answer. In response, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Alaska Center for the Environment s for Wildlife, Alaska Public Interest Research Group and Defenders of Wildlife sent a letter to Gov. Palin asking her to address the question, but no response was provided prior to the vote.
“As our letter said, in her election campaign Governor Palin pledged to listen to the voices of Alaskans and promised us open government. This bill flies in the face of those promises and the majority of House representatives have simply towed the line, rather than listen to their constituents,” said John Toppenberg, Director of Alaska Wildlife Alliance. “There is a strong belief that knowing that Alaskans have twice approved restrictions on aerial hunting or wildlife, the governor and legislators are working with special interests to deny Alaskans another vote. This in spite of the fact that the initiative is already scheduled to be on the ballot. It’s time the governor made her intentions clear, before the special interests persuade the Senate to also overturn Alaskans’ right to vote on this subject.”
A Senate companion bill, SB 176, was also introduced by the Governor last spring and is still to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.