On September 26th 2013, just in time for “National Hunting and Fishing Day,” Sally Jewell, our new (and allegedly improved) Secretary of the Interior announced a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to expand hunting opportunities throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System. The plan would open up hunting on six refuges currently free from armed ambush and expand existing hunting and fishing on another 20 “refuges.” The new rule would also modify existing regulations for over 75 additional refuges and wetland “management” districts.
The proposal is yet another nod to the “hunter’s rights” movement that has been sweeping the nation.
But what about the wildlife’s right to a true refuge, free from human hunting? Oh that’s right, animals don’t have rights, only humans—even including hunters—do. It is such an arrogant and absurd notion that sport hunters—arguably the lowest creatures to ever crawl out of the primordial ooze—have rights, while all other species of life do not, that I sometimes forget it’s the currently accepted law of the land.
In 1997, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) pushed for changes in wildlife laws to ensure that hunting and fishing were priority public uses on “refuge” lands. Thanks in part to USSA’s self-serving effort, the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act was signed into law. As they openly boast, “The language of the Refuge Improvement Act has been essential in opening new Refuge lands to sportsmen.”
Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Jewell recently stated, “Sportsmen and women were a major driving force behind the creation and expansion of the National Wildlife Refuge System more than a century ago…” Of course they were, Sally, they were the ones who nearly hunted most of America’s wild species—including bison, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, swans, sandhill cranes and too many others to mention here—to extinction. Jewell also suggested that, “Keeping our hunting and angling heritage strong” would “help raise up a new generation of conservationists.” Well, that depends on your definition of “conservation.”
There is so little land left in today’s world where wildlife can breathe easy, free from the constant fear that every human they see might be intent upon shooting them or taking the lives of their herd, pack or flock-mates. Studies have shown that animals suffer from the stress of hunting season in the same way that people during wartime suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Yet, hunting is permitted on over 330 wildlife “refuges.”
According to the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, published every five years by the USFWS, more than 90 million Americans, or 41 percent of the United States’ population age 16 and older, pursued wildlife-related recreation in 2011. Nearly 72 million people observed wildlife, 33 million fished, while 13 million hunted. In other words, while 80% of the total number of Americans who pursue “wildlife-related recreation” do so in a peaceful, non-consumptive, appreciative and respectful manner, only 14% hunt. And yet the rules are made—and everyone else is effected—by those who feel compelled to hunt down and kill our wildlife.
Hunting is not compatible with the quiet enjoyment of our nation wildlife refuges. It’s hard to watch birds while someone’s busily blasting at them. As a wildlife photographer, I can always tell by an animal’s nervous and elusive behavior that they are living in an area open to hunting. This was made abundantly clear on a photo tour of Alaska. In Denali National Park, which is closed to hunting, people are regularly rewarded with quality, up-close wildlife viewing. Conversely, wildlife sightings of any kind are extremely rare in national parks such as Wrangle-Saint Elias, where hunting is permitted.
Encarta defines the word “refuge” as “a sheltered or protected place, safe from something threatening, harmful, or unpleasant.” Given that hunting is indeed threatening, harmful and unpleasant, how can the blood sport be considered compatible with our national wildlife refuges?
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Your written comments about the 2013-2014 proposed Refuge-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations can be submitted by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal Follow the instructions for submitting comments to Docket No. [FWS-HQ-NWRS-2013-0074]; or
U.S. mail or hand-delivery: Public Comments Processing, Attn: [FWS-HQ-NWRS-2013-0074]; Division of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042–PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
Comments must be received within 30 days, on or before October 24, 2013. The Service will post all comments on regulations.gov. The Service is not able to accept email or faxes.
Comments and materials, as well as supporting documentation, will also be available for public inspection at regulations.gov under the above docket number. In addition, more details on the kinds of information the Service is seeking is available in the notice.
Here are some of the refuges which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes opening to hunting for the first time ever:
New York:
Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge: Open to big game hunting.
Oregon:
Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge: Open to migratory bird hunting.
Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge: Open to migratory bird hunting.
Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge: Open to migratory bird hunting.
Pennsylvania:
Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge: Open to migratory bird, upland game and big game hunting.
Wyoming:
Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge: Open to migratory bird, upland game and big game hunting.
Meanwhile, under the proposal, the Service would expand hunting and sport fishing on the following refuges:
California:
Colusa National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird and upland game hunting.
Florida:
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge: Add big game hunting. The refuge is already open to migratory bird hunting.
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Idaho:
Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge: Expand upland game hunting. The refuge is already open to migratory bird hunting and big game hunting.
Illinois:
Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Indiana:
Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Management Area: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Iowa:
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting and sport fishing.
Maine:
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Missouri:
Mingo National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
New Mexico:
San Andres National Wildlife Refuge: Expand big game hunting.
Oregon:
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, OR and WA: Expand migratory bird hunting. The refuge is also already open to sport fishing.
Julia Butler Hanson Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer, OR and WA: Expand migratory bird hunting. The refuge is already open to big game hunting.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting and sport fishing. The refuge is already open to upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Texas:
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge: Add migratory bird hunting. The refuge is already open to big game hunting.
Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Expand hunting for migratory birds, upland game and big game.
Vermont:
Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting and big game hunting.
Washington:
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge: Expand migratory bird hunting and big game hunting. The refuge is already open to upland game hunting.
Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2013. All Rights Reserved
Exposing the Big Game 
Jim, I had a similar experience to yours in the Serengeti, which is mostly closed to hunting. The opportunities to observe wildlife up close and personal (from the required vehicle) were phenomenal. There’s a reason most of the wildlife documentaries we see on TV are of African wildlife – it’s because they are easy to film. When I pondered why the viewing was so much better there, they only reason I could come up with was the high level of hunting in the US. With the exception of the large parks like Yellowstone and Denali, its very difficult to see wildlife. It’s time to let the non-consumptive users have more wildlife experiences, and give wildlife a break from the hunters.
High time!
What on earth is happening to humans?
Jewell is a useless tool.
Jewell is flushworthy stool.
Thank you for giving us the information about where to comment
I am posting a letter I wrote against the sportsman heritage act, it could easily be adapted for expansion of hunting activities in the wildlife refuge system, Please feel free to adapt but please write
we all need to speak out against these horrible proposals
Louise Kane, JD
18 Beach Plum Lane
Eastham, MA 02642
July 30, 2013
Dear Senators Markey and Warren,
There are some things we don’t get a second chance at. Preserving ecological integrity in places that we have set aside for wildlife and humans to be free from killing, to remain wild and unmolested, falls into that category. The threats our wildlife face come from many directions, loss of habitat, trophy hunters, poaching, conflicts with humans and or human-based activities, as well as the hardships of living in the wild as predator or prey. The last thing we need right now is to open our national parks or wilderness areas that do not allow hunting, to more killing. Many of our public lands are already minefields for wildlife and people, as well as our pets, laid with traps and snares that most other civilized countries have already outlawed.
In this world of Internet access and social media we see evidence of wildlife abuse daily. Trappers boast online about littering public lands with traps and snares, hunters poach wild animals like wolves and promote sss (shoot shovel and shut up) or may brag about gut shooting an animal to make it suffer and avoid having to claim it as a kill. Often wolves, coyotes and other predators take the worst abuses. It’s become “sporting” to torture and maim wildlife. In the best of circumstances, most wildlife spend 6-9 months a year dodging bait traps, bullets, arrows, snares, traps, cable restraints, poisons or being chased down by packs of dogs. Our national wilderness and public areas should provide some refuge for wildlife, and for the majority of Americans who do not agree with this nonstop culture of killing.
In addition to opening up our wilderness to more pressure from hunting, each new version of the “sportsman heritage act” attempts to eviscerate or eliminate environmental protections or expand consumptive or disrupting uses of public lands. In the last version of the euphemistically entitled sportsman act, the act sought to prevent NEPA review of the effects of hunting on non-target species and their habitats and prevent EPA regulations on lead ammunition. This newest version again seeks to impose permanent restrictions on the ability of regulatory agencies to control lead ammunition, a problem that is causing great damage to ecosystems and the wildlife that rely on healthy habitats. It’s unconscionable to allow this bill or any version of it to pass.
Globally humans are squandering natural resources with lightning speed and with little regard for the future. This bill and its former versions are backed by lobbyists like the NRA, Safari Club International and other special interest groups that, if left to their own, will turn our public lands into hunting zoos. Many if not most Americans, do not support trophy hunting. We do not want to have our public lands and wilderness turned into killing fields to satisfy people who want to kill for fun. When you get right down to it that’s what trophy hunting is. The Sportsman Act is not designed to protect a dying culture of hunter gatherers rather its an ill-concealed attempt to expand an unsustainable and often inhumane “pastime” or “sport” that revolves around killing wildlife.
I believe that this bill poses a significant threat to our wildlife and wilderness. Furthermore, the special interests that back this bill are also the same obstructionists that oppose all attempts to prevent any logical forms of gun control. If these same people can not be trusted to stand with the majority of Americans who want to see reasonable gun control laws enacted they certainly can not be allowed to expand their killing grounds into public and wilderness areas nor can they be allowed to prohibit restrictions on lead ammunition or to turn wilderness into shooting ranges. I am vehemently opposed to this legislation and urge you to vote against it in total.
Thanks Louise, there’s some great stuff to go by here.
Yes! Our National Wildlife “Refuges” are full of destructive human activities, and I just saw a photo of one in southern Colorado, which shows thousands of cattle grazing–but not a wild animal to be seen. Here in New Mexico, the Livestock Industry has the water rights in areas where National Refuges are. This means there is no priority for water to be distributed into the refuge (if there is any at all), because the ranching industry gets it. They also (as seen in this photo I mentioned), “use” these wildlife refuges for grazing, and to hunt and trap. It is a disgrace.This is why we are losing the battle to save native wild animals. The Livestock Industry also has Wildlife Services (the federal wildlife killing agency) at their command, to slaughter wolves, coyotes, badger, beaver, prairie dogs, mountain lions & more–on our public lands. http://www.foranimals.org
Hello Jim: I just posted the above and left our link to our website –which has a link to your site. If there is anything you want us to post, please feel free to let us know!
Thanks Rosemary
http://www.foranimals.org
Hi! Please help stop the New Mexico Horse Slaughter Plant!
I just signed the petition “New Mexico Environment Department: Please Deny Groundwater Discharge Permit for Valley Meat Company” on Change.org.
It’s important. Will you sign it too? Here’s the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/new-mexico-environment-department-please-deny-groundwater-discharge-permit-for-valley-meat-company?share_id=XhBcnoBpml&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition
Thanks!
Rosemary
Signed the petition Rosemary.
Thanks for the petition!
We appreciate everyone here signing the petition! And, please share it with others.
http://www.foranimals.org
We, apex animals lovers in particular, but wildlife refuge, and wildlife lovers in general should expose Sally Jewell (Interior) and Dan Ashe (USFWS) at every opportunity and target then for firing. They are the enemy not the friends of wilderness and wildlife.
Reblogged this on Exposing the Big Game.
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