The Truth About Sarah Palin & Wildlife in Alaska
All facts about Sarah Palin are backed up by links to credible news sources.
This page was created by Alaskans and has been online since 2007- with updates.
Sarah Palin posing with what was once a beautiful wild grizzly bear
1) Palin offered a bounty of $150 for each left front leg of freshly killed wolves
2) Palin promotes aerial hunting of wolves even though Alaskans voted twice to ban it (VIDEO)
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 is suing the federal government to prevent listing the polar bear as an endangered species
8) Palin sues the federal government over listing Cook Inlet beluga whale as an endangered species
Sarah Palin showing off her kill Victims of Sarah Palin's support for aerial hunting
NEWS ALERT: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar delisted Rocky Mountain wolves from the endangered species act. Up to 1,000 wolves will be killed unless the courts overturn this lethal decision by the Obama administration. Donate to Defenders of Wildlife Wolf Legal Defense Fund to help them win in court to save the lives of wolves.
Learn more about Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's anti-wildlife agenda.
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund launches Eye on Palin campaign
"Sarah Palin isn't fading into the background, so neither are we," commented Defenders Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen. "Given her known political aspirations, the American public deserves to know what she's doing in Alaska, and about her extreme anti-conservation policies. The list is long, and we will document it all, from her continued promotion of the aerial slaughter of wolves and bears, to her lawsuit to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, even as the sea ice melts beneath it."
Eye on Palin video on aerial wolf hunting, narrated by Ashley Judd
Click here to take action against Sarah Palin's wildlife policies
Sarah Palin - Worse for the Planet Than Even Bush
Barbarians for Palin (Original unedited photo)
Sarah Palin spent $400,000 of state money to "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. This year the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game will exterminate 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?
Sarah Palin sues the federal government over listing polar bears as a threatened species. Why? Because it could restrict the oil industry that fills her pockets. This is the same reason she wants to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. Read Governor Palin's ignorant op-ed piece here. Palin believes that global warming is a myth.
Sarah Palin's voting record supports development of the Pebble Mine - the largest open pit mine in North America. Pebble mine jeopardizes the entire Bristol bay ecosystem which contains the largest sockeye salmon run in the world. The mine could pollute an unprecedented number or rivers, lakes, and bays. Although Palin claims that the mine would create jobs for Alaskans, it may effectively destroy the commercial and sport fishing industry in Bristol Bay - the main source of income for Alaskans in Bristol bay. Pebble Mine's potential for pollution makes the Exxon Valdez oil spill look like a tiny grease stain. Click here to watch the NY Times video story about the environmental destruction this mine would create.
The Alaska Board of Game makes most wildlife decisions in Alaska. The board is comprised entirely of trophy hunters, and not a single wildlife biologist or scientist is a member. Also lacking is any representation from Alaska's 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.
Are there too many wolves in Alaska?
No! Boosting the moose population is the official justification for aggressive predator control policies such as aerial shooting. However, in 2005 124 biologists contacted then Governor Murkowski expressing multiple concerns over predator control in Alaska, and that it was not based on sound science. These unscientific practices still continue under Governor Palin. There has never been a documented case of a wolf attacking a human in Alaska– ever. Alleged “large” numbers of wolves are never a threat to human safety. Read wildlife biologist Dr. Steven Stringham's articles on why predator control is junk science.
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 more than double that to charter a helicopter. Let's do the math - with over 800 wolves killed to date by aerial shooting, with an average of four hours to kill them (a very low estimate), times $500/hr. to charter a plane (another low estimate, since helicopters cost more), that's at least $1.6 MILLION dollars 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. I think 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
Sarah Palin Wants Grizzly Bears Dead
Sarah Palin's parents surrounded by all their dead animals
I think its obvious from the pictures on our website how Alaska Governor Sarah Palin feels about wildlife conservation. Palin believes that bears – and all wildlife, exist for the sole purpose of human exploitation. Sarah Palin and the Alaska Board of Game whose members make decisions about most wildlife, are actively trying to cripple the bear viewing/eco-tourism industry in Alaska. Photographs of Palin with her bear rug were published in the Anchorage Daily News amidst great controversy over the hunting of habituated bears around Katmai National Park and the McNeil River Sanctuary. Several weeks before the controversial 2007 Katmai Preserve hunt (where bears habituated to bear viewers were shot) Palin posed deliberately next to a dead bear to a make a point – that she will do everything in her power to make sure bears and other wildlife are mercilessly shot for pleasure in Alaska. Palin supports shooting habituated bears even though the majority of Alaskans (even sport hunters) are opposed to hunting them.
In the past two years, bears habituated to bear viewing have reportedly been shot at bear viewing sites around the state – as a statement to bear advocates that Alaska is about shooting animals, not understanding them. Palin supports mining and oil drilling as a way to create jobs in Alaska - yet she tries to destroy the bear viewing industry which generated $100,000,000 this year! Palin cares most about preserving an outdated way of life based on the consumption of the natural world.
Photographers from all around the world travel to Alaska to photograph wild grizzly bears
The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game plans to exterminate 1,400 bears out of a population of 2,000 in an area west of Anchorage. The Alaskan government consistently ignores decades of scientific research that has proven that predators actually keep prey populations healthy. Alaska fish and game is wiping out entire populations of predators -using cruel practices such as baiting, trapping, and aerial shooting, in the name of boosting dwindling moose populations. This is just plain ignorant, since biologists have known since the 60’s that wolves and bears do not negatively impact prey species such as moose and caribou. Anyone who has taken ecology or biology 101 knows this is established fact. What is threatening moose and other prey species is over hunting by humans, and a large number of yearly road-kill fatalities. The impact of habitat destruction, climate change, and a decrease in predation also contributes. Limiting trophy hunting of moose, however, is never considered an alternative. Alaska is also the only state that prohibits wildlife rescue and rehabilitation (which would help boost moose numbers).
The majority of people who visit Alaska do not support sport hunting and the destruction of wildlife. Most tourists come to Alaska to view wildlife, not to slaughter it. Seeing a grizzly in the wild is the highlight of every tourist's trip! The best hope for Alaskan wildlife is for the tourists who fund the economy to make their wishes known loud and clear – that they do not support archaic policies which destroy the Alaskan ecosystem.
Alaska is the last place in the U.S. where humans have not gobbled up and destroyed the natural world. This unique place on the planet needs to be protected, and not allowed to continue to be nothing but a place where animals are trapped, and shot and skinned, and stuffed, and hung on a wall, or used as a rug to wipe your dirty feet.
This year countless bears and wolves will be shot for pleasure in Alaska
Contact Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and tell her you oppose the slaughter of bears, wolves and other predators. Mention that you oppose the hunting of habituated grizzly bears in the Katmai Preserve. Tell her you support the abolishment of the Board of Game, which is comprised entirely of trophy hunters. These ignorant trophy hunters set most wildlife policies in Alaska.
Be sure and check out these other pages:
Are grizzly bears really dangerous?
Where can I safely view grizzly bears in Alaska?
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