WASHINGTON — The National Park Service is banning hunters on some public lands in Alaska from luring black bears with donuts and using spotlights to shoot hibernating bears and cubs in their burrows. , techniques approved by the Trump administration but considered inhumane by conservationists.
A rule proposed by the National Park Service on Friday would essentially restore restrictions that existed under the Obama administration but were lifted under President Donald J. Trump.
Under the new policy, hunters in Alaskan wildlife reserves will also be unable to kill adult wolves and puppies in their dens, or use motorboats to shoot swimming reindeer.
Those and other methods, which wildlife advocates have denounced as cruel, were outlawed on federal lands in 2015 but as of 2020 they have allowed on millions of acres of Alaska’s wilderness. Agency officials said the new rule would “restore consistency” and protect the public.
“This proposal would reduce the risk that bears would associate food at bait stations with humans and become conditioned to eat human-produced food, thereby creating a public safety concern, ” The National Park Service said in a statement.
Activists call it a victory for animal rights.
“We have long argued that our government must protect our nation’s precious wildlife and not cooperate with trophy hunters to penalize certain cruel methods of killing. most target defenseless animals,” Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.
Sara Amundson, chair of the Humane Society Legislative Foundation, released a statement calling the new rule “a victory for Alaska’s iconic wildlife.”
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The Trump administration has prioritized expanding hunting rights on federal lands. Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., an avid hunter, champion trophy hunting. In 2020, the International Safari Club, which promotes big game hunting, has a week-long auction.”dream hunting” through Alaska with the president’s son as part of the annual convention.
Many hunting advocates and Alaska state leaders say they view the Obama-era restrictions as a violation of the state’s rights. Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican in Alaska, called the Biden administration’s plan “a clear violation of federal law” and said it was part of a “war” against the state.
The new rule will likely continue an already protracted legal battle.
A coalition of conservation groups sued the government over Trump administration policies in 2020, and the case is still pending. Meanwhile, hunting advocates could challenge the Biden administration’s plan once it’s finalized, possibly later this year. The International Safari Club, a hunter’s rights group that has vowed to oppose any increased restrictions on hunting access, did not respond to a request for comment.
