Shooting wolves from planes....

[FOTD]

http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20080923

Doonesbury presents the Sarah Palin Action Doll

[FOTD]

http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/index.php?section=comments&article_id=6065

Sarah Palin bags a big one!

[PonderInc]

I read a book about this once...

Predators are necessary to keep the population of prey species healthy.  Predators, unlike human hunters, kill the old, sick, weak and slow prey animals (basically anything easy to catch).  This allows for evolution to do its thing, and it keeps the prey populations in balance.  (Prey species typcially reproduce at a faster rate than predator species.)

In many parts of the country, prey species like deer are overpopulated, and dying of diseases and/or starvation and they're destroying their own habitat b/c of sheer numbers.

Healthy "top" predator populations allow prey populations to thrive in balance with their ecosystems.  The impact starts at the top and goes all the way down the food chain.  It's true of wolves and it's true of insects and everything in between.  

When we mess with it, we throw everything out of balance.

[pmcalk]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

quote:Originally posted by pmcalk

As I said before, unlike some people, I really don't get all up in arms about animal rights issues.  But to be clear, the reason that they shoot the wolves is to ensure there is adequate moose for the hunters.  This is according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

That's one way of interpreting that quote...

What you fail to account for are the significant segments of people groups in Alaska that depend on having enough game to survive.  There are many indiginous groups that still hunt for all of their meat supply.  It's truly about survival for them.  They don't have the luxury of going to the grocery store when they need meat.  Large cities and amenities are the exception, not the norm in many parts of Alaska.

Add on top of that the sprawl of cities which now encroach on the natural habitat of wolves, pushing them into areas where they wouldn't naturally inhabit.  This also upsets the balance.

Again, I am not an animal rights activist, and I would put the rights of indingenous people and their way of life above the rights of animals.  When I do support animal causes, it's mainly along lines similar to Ponder--mess too much with mother earth, she'll come back to scr** with you in ways you never imagined.

Still, your claim would have more validity, if it weren't for the fact that Governor Palin has done everything she can to stop subsistence hunting.  The Federal Government oversees subsistence hunting by native people, to make sure that sport hunting doesn't deprive native people of the needed game to hunt.  Governor Palin has fought to take away the rights of subsistence hunting and fishing throught the courts.

http://community.adn.com/node/130953

I would also note that the majority of area that is in the wolf reduction areas are the parts closest to Anchorage, not in the vast northern wilderness, nor in the areas with the largest native population.

Why did they need to shoot from planes, instead of use sterilization, as has been done in the past?

Why are they shooting wolves, when the main predators are black bears, according to the ADFG?

Why are they paying private citizens, instead of having trained, qualified government officials do the shooting?

[iplaw]

PMCALK:

Dear Six-Pound-Eight-Ounce-Baby-Jesus-H.-Christ are you kidding me with this sh&t?

We get it.  You don't like Palin.

If innocuous crap like this really bothers you then Obama's relationship with William Ayers should really get you going.

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

PMCALK:

Dear Six-Pound-Eight-Ounce-Baby-Jesus-H.-Christ are you kidding me with this sh&t?

We get it.  You don't like Palin.

If innocuous crap like this really bothers you then Obama's relationship with William Ayers should really get you going.

Ipsqueak pipsqueak!

[sgrizzle]

Okay so we have a presidential candidate who married a rich hot woman half his age and a VP who's also an atractive woman who endorses SHOOTING THINGS FROM MOVING VEHICLES?

If one of these two crushes a beer can on their head during a BBQ they will be the most american candidates EVAR!

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Vision 2025

quote:Originally posted by RecycleMichael

It is just hard to believe that she offered cash to hunters to shoot wolves from planes.

Hunting from a plane...man...I thought I was lazy.

Let's see a Super Cub (the predominate plane used) burns 8.5 gallons per hour x say $5.75 per gallon in Alaska = $48.88 hr for fuel plus maintenance cost of flying at perhaps  1.5 times the fuel (not including capital cost of the aircraft) so say $73.31 per hour for operational costs alone.  Not much of a money maker there, even with the fur price included.

Michael, it is not nearly as easy as it sounds nor are they lazy.  The reason aerial hunting is necessary is due to the vast size of the area involved and the daily range of the species.  I have many friends who fly in the Alaska back country for a living and from talking with them I realized that the conditions there just cannot be understood without first hand knowledge and I would challenge that the Humane Society sitting in their Washington DC offices just has no clue on the issue and is only looking to secure future federal funding from their liberal buddies.  

I wonder how much the society spent on the campaign to ban and how much of that was raised inside of Alaska (bet not much) where I understand the majority of funds that were raised to defeat the issue came from.  

Wildlife and the opportunities a sustainable population of game animals presents are a tremendous value to the entire Alaskan community, weather from tourism to view or go on the hunt of a lifetime or simply to provide valuable meat for the table, why else would Alaska have the strictest regulations against wanton waste of game meat in the US (which they strictly enforce) if they were not interested in the proper and ethical management and use of that resource.  

Lastly, many states utilize aerial predator control, although typically for coyotes.  Here in Oklahoma the Department of agriculture pays a federal department to do it in a rented jet helicopter at an estimated $700 per flight hour.  

Personal comments by,

Kirby Crowe

Kirby, thanks for taking the time to jump in.  Your take is spot-on with reality.  

Any idea what one has to do to get to ride "shotgun" (or AR-15) in a Jet Ranger?

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