It is imperative that we band together to defeat Senate Joint Resolution 18 (S.J. Res. 18), the Senate companion bill to House Joint Resolution 69 that passed by a narrow majority. SJR 18 would permit cruel hunting and killing practices on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.
Rep. Don Young of Alaska introduced H.J. Res 69, using the argument that the federal government has no business managing national wildlife refuges, in order to undermine commonsense rules passed last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Young argues that it is a states’ rights issue protected by the 10th Amendment.
The U.S. House of Representatives already passed H.J. Res. 69, putting hibernating black bears and their cubs, and wolves and coyotes and their pups in the den at risk from trophy hunters in Alaska. The powerful NRA combined with Safari Club International are trying to overturn the FWS’s rule that forbids trophy hunters from hunting grizzly bears over bait or using aircraft to scout grizzly bears from the air, then landing and shooting them the same day one travels.
What Young is forgetting with his states’ rights argument is that Congress is overstepping its bounds of authority. Management of national wildlife refuges in Alaska is funded by all American taxpayers. Moreover, Alaska earns approximately $2 billion each year from wildlife-watching tourism. Without these tourists, Alaska’s local economies will be harmed. If members of Congress start to manage wildlife refuges, we can bet they’ll try to do the same with 170 million acres of National Park Service lands throughout the United States.
Rep. Young’s resolution sets a dangerous precedent and now moves into the U.S. Senate. Concerned citizens must stop the resolution from becoming law by calling their representatives and telling them to oppose S.J. Res 18 by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska. More is at stake than just the lives of bears and wolves. We would be giving up federal control of our wildlife refuges and national parks enabling states to decide if the animals that roam these lands will become the target of hunters. Well-heeled trophy hunters will rapidly descend on these lands and kill off animals that attract visitors.
African nations quickly learned that live animals bring in more tourism dollars than dead ones and many of them have enacted laws to protect animals on game preserves after they realized that trophy hunters weren’t bringing in substantial revenue.
We are now faced with the same dilemma when it comes to the wildlife refuges in Alaska. This isn’t a states’ rights issue. It is a choice between protecting animals on Federal lands and declaring open season on them. Which legacy do you want to leave your children?