Monthly Archives: January 2014

Urge School District to Ditch Massive Plastic Dump!

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An estimated 20 million tons of plastic litter enter the world’s oceans

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

annually, killing more than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles. Yet on February 8, Alvin Independent School District in Southeast Texas plans to release 10,000 plastic turtles into Mustang Bayou—a waterway that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Foraging birds and other wildlife find small brightly colored pieces of degraded plastic irresistible, and many ingest the plastic or feed it to their babies. Their digestive systems become blocked, ultimately resulting in starvation (see more here). Alvin school officials claim to make dedicated efforts to retrieve all 10,000 plastic turtles at the end of its “turtle race” fundraisers, but a single one missed could have devastating consequences. Your voice is needed!

Please urge Alvin Independent School District officials to replace this event with one that won’t pose a threat to animals or the environment. And please forward this alert far and wide!

Polite comments can be sent to:
•Fred Brent
Superintendent
Alvin Independent School District
fbrent@alvinisd.net
•Alvin Independent School District Board of Trustees
twennerstrom@alvinisd.net
rmetoyer@alvinisd.net
charris@alvinisd.net
sstringer@alvinisd.net
mike@insurancetexas.net
cmccauley@alvinisd.net
ntonini@alvinisd.net

Read more: http://www.peta.org/action/action-alerts/urge-school-district-ditch-massive-plastic-dump/#ixzz2s0h2HR9G

Nuking Idaho is as Sick as What Hunters and Trappers Do

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Occasionally I get comments that I don’t completely disagree with, but are clearly from troll hunters and therefore by their very nature not allowable here, as per the commenting policy and scope of this blog, spelled out in the “About” section: https://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/about/

Today I received just such a comment, which starts out, “I think the comment about the whole state being nuked is seriously sick and just equally sociopathic as the actions of the ‘idiot’ dominators who care more about the money the state will gain from big game hunting tags…” Ok, I can see where you’re coming from there–the act of nuking Idaho would be about as bad as what hunters and trappers there do.  Don’t worry, I don’t think that particular commenter was even remotely serious about actually nuking Idaho. But, to be fair to others whose comments have been removed, and to avoid anyone comparing her comment to something a hunter might say, I’ll remove it.

I’ve removed or disallowed plenty of comments from hunters. The difference being, they aren’t just blowing off steam. When they talk about killing animals, it’s for real. So hunters, please don’t waste time writing a comment that doesn’t get posted. As a rule, I remove any comments that talk about so-called “ethical” hunters killing animals “respectfully.” That said, because it includes a few kernels of truth, here’s the full text of a comment I received today:

 

“I think the comment about the whole state being nuked is seriously sick and just equally sociopathic as the actions of the “idiot” dominators who care more about the money the state will gain from big game hunting tags and the big game small penis hunters that need to show their bravado (which means lack of courage) by placing any animal on their wall in their home. Ethical hunters don’t need to do this, they hunt/kill to eat and they do it respectfully. But, in our sick greedy culture of monster trucks and steroidal men who learn at an early age (through abusive words and actions) to stuff their emotions for fear of becoming too much like a woman or even worse a gay man and likely go home from drinking with the good ole boys who have experienced the same young lives, to beat their wives…we are creating more to come in the future of our country and yes, particularly in Idaho.”

 

Of course, since human beings don’t have to kill and eat animals in order to survive, there is no such thing as an “ethical hunter,” and taking the life of a healthy animal can never really be considered “respectful.”

1469842_668794219837443_817014975_n

 

Hunting guide permanently banned in plea deal

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[The lesson here is, you can hunt and kill all you want, but you’d better not “waste” anything.]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The license of an Alaska hunting guide has been permanently revoked as part of a plea agreement.

Alaska State Troopers say 45-year-old Michael Vanning of Verdale, Wash., pleaded guilty last week to guide offenses near Fort Yukon and Kotzebue.

The offenses include wanton waste, failure to salvage game and failure to supervise clients and assistant guides.

Vanning was fined $90,000, with $80,000 suspended, and banned from hunting for 12 years.

Vanning owned Gateway Guiding Inc. and operated sheep, grizzly bear and moose hunts.

The state dismissed other cases from Sand Point and Fairbanks. He had faced charges of guiding on private land, failing to report a violation and possessing or transporting illegally taken game.

The sentence is Vanning’s third since 1998. He forfeited an airplane in a previous case.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/01/30/3298549/hunting-guide-permanently-banned.html#storylink=cpy

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Bill to Fund Killing up to 500 Wolves Survives Committee

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http://magicvalley.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/bill-to-fund-killing-up-to-wolves-survives-committee/article_1dbf6eec-87dd-11e3-bbcb-0019bb2963f4.html

January 28, 2014
By Kimberlee Kruesi –

BOISE • Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s proposed $2 million fund to kill as many as 500 wolves barely passed its preliminary vetting Monday by the House Resources and Conservation Committee.

Committee members quizzed sponsors state Sen. Bert Brackett, R-Rogerson, and Rep. Marc Gibbs, R-Grace, on the effectiveness of creating a separate fund — which would come with a five-member oversight board — when the state already funds a predator damage board.

Bracket and Gibbs responded that the proposed expense would keep the focus on wolves instead of splitting resources on the state’s Animal Damage Control Board.

Federal support to control wolves will stop in 2016, Brackett said. In Fiscal Year 2013, the federal government provided $650,000 of the state’s $1.4 million wolf management budget.

If the bill passes, the $2 million would be a one-time appropriation with the livestock industry and hunting license fees contributing $110,000 each year.

“The priority of this whole effort is to keep the wolves delisted,” Brackett said.

Idaho’s wolves were taken off the endangered species list in 2011. Today, the state’s wolf population is estimated to be around 680 animals, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. If it falls below 150, the species will be once more classified as endangered by federal regulators.

The committee repeatedly questioned the need for two boards dedicated to killing predator animals that cause damage to livestock or Idaho’s elk population.

“How is this a more cost-effective approach to start a new board than to put a little more money into Idaho Fish and Game?” asked state Rep. Illan Rubel, D-Boise.

Gibbs countered that a separate board allows the state to be flexible.

The new wolf fund would not pay for livestock killed by wolves but to kill wolves that cause damage, Gibbs said.

“There are no new ways to control wolves being projected or being created by this bill,” Gibbs said. “They are simply subject to the tools we have today, which is sport hunting, trapping and aerial gunning.”

The committee voted 9-8 to move the legislation forward, with the chairman initially declaring the bill failed before Gibbs speaking out he hadn’t voted and provided the “yes” needed for the bill to be printed.

This is the second consecutive year lawmakers have tried to secure funding dedicated wolf control. Last year, Otter vetoed a bill that would have diverted money from Fish and Game to a wolf management fund. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, who voted against Brackett’s and Gibbs’ proposal.

Boyle said committee recommendations from the summer of 2013 supported added money to the Animal Damage Control Board for wolf damage.

“I feel like this is a breach of contract of what was promised in that committee,” she said.

Brackett said that while a committee may have submitted recommendations, their bill was based on what the governor wanted.

Idaho’s wolf control management strategies have received criticisms recently after Fish and Game hired a trapper for the first time to kill two packs in the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Wolf activists also spoke out against Idaho’s elk management plan during a recent public hearing updating the document.

copyrighted wolf in river

What Motivates a Wolf Killer?

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Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2014. All Rights Reserved

Text and Wildlife Photography ©Jim Robertson, 2014. All Rights Reserved

Killing a wolf is a crime against nature—and the motive depends on the kind of perpetrator. To a trophy hunter, a dead wolf is something to mount on a wall and brag about. By literally possessing the animal, they can relive their kill over and over, remorselessly boosting their flagging self-esteem every time they vacuously gaze at their victim’s lifeless body. For a fur trapper, a dead wolf is just a hide and a chance to play modern-day frontiersman. Although there’s no real frontier left, they consciously choose to revive a bloody, destructive lifestyle—partly for money, but mostly for a sense of identity.

But to a “wolfer,” the kind of person whose central preoccupation is hiring on to rid an area of each and every last wolf he can, a prime sense of greed is the motivating factor.

Sure, a guy like that, such as the wolfer contracted by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to snuff out the Golden Creek and Monumental Creek packs in Idaho’s Frank Church Wilderness Area, must get an ego boost from being known as a “professional” wolf killer. He no doubt experiences some kind of perverse thrill every time he finds an animal desperately trying to free him-or-herself from one of his leg crushing traps. And he probably even gets off on hearing that his actions are upsetting a lot of empathetic wolf advocates who desperately want him to stop his atrocities. But the main reason the wolfer does the job he does is greed, pure and simple: a selfish lust for power, control and of course, money.

That may not seem like a lot to accuse him of in a country built on the spoils of selfishness and greed. Yes, he is surely evil incarnate, soulless and sick to the core, but as long as someone is paying him to “get the job done”… And who the hell pressed the state into hiring a hit man to eliminate established packs, tormenting individual wolves and disrupting nature’s time-tested order? Ask the Idaho trophy elk hunting syndicate.*

The wolves in the Frank Church Wilderness area weren’t after anyone’s cows or frightening school kids at bus stops, they were just doing what comes naturally to wolves. Killing off apex predators to make it easier for sport hunters has got to be the height of human arrogance.
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*syn-di-cate (noun) 5) an association of gangsters that controls an area of organized crime

Indiana Senate OKs Fenced-in Deer Hunting

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Photo by Jim Robertson

Photo by Jim Robertson

http://www.tmnews.com/senate-panel-oks-fenced-deer-hunting/article_91daaa9e-903f-541a-a12b-2fcbbfe5e130.html

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 BY ALLIE NASH TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate committee passed legislation Monday to legalize the state’s existing fenced deer hunting preserves — and allow new ones to open.

Senate Bill 404 now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

The vote comes four months after a Harrison Circuit Court judge ruled that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources didn’t have the authority to regulate a Southern Indiana fenced deer hunting operation. In previous years the Senate postponed action on similar bills while the lawsuit had been pending.

Another court ruling sided with the DNR, which had moved to shutter the operations.

Sen. Carlin Yoder, the bill’s author and chairman of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said with conflicting lawsuits, the General Assembly needs to step in.

“It’s the Wild West out there,” said Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford.

But opponents of the bill say they are concerned about the ethics of hunting deer in fenced-in areas. And they are worry about Chronic Wasting Disease, which is found in deer and elk and causes small lesions on their brains. The disease can only be detected postmortem.

The committee sought to resolve some of the ethical issues with an amendment that passed 6-1. It imposes a number of restrictions, including a 160-acre minimum for new preserves, a prohibition on the hunting of game birds within the preserves, and a requirement for a 50 percent escape cover for a released animal. It also would prohibit hunting an animal within 150 yards of a feeding station.

“Indiana residents don’t want this unsporting mockery in our state,” said Erin Huang, Indiana director of the Humane Society of the United States.

And opponents also said that an infected deer population could mean a big cost for the state.

“Wisconsin spent over $50 million just trying to manage Chronic Wasting Disease to protect their wild deer hunting business,” said Barbara Simpson, executive director of the Indiana Wildlife Foundation. “So this is an economic concern that we don’t often think about.”

Simpson said deer and elk hunting brings in $50 million annually to Indiana and wild deer hunting brings in $314 million. And, she said the sport employs 1,600 people.

Rodney Bruce, who owns one of Indiana’s four shooting preserves, said he has the same concerns.

“No one is more concerned about disease than we are,” Bruce said. We “totally believe in fair chase ethics and oppose canned hunting. We want to help start a dialogue so that we can coexist.”

Supporters say that fenced preserves could also be an economic boon. Since Indiana law does not allow deer to be imported from states with CWD – and that includes most states around Indiana – shooting preserves could be a boost for Hoosier deer farming businesses.

Myron Miller, a deer farmer, also believes that everyone can work together. “If we do this the right way we can complement each other.”

Idaho hunter hired to kill wolves “gets the job done”!

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[This answers the question, “How many are left?”]

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/01/idaho_hunter_hired_to_kill_wol.html

by Associated Press, January 29th 2014

KETCHUM, Idaho — A professional hunter has been called out of a federal wilderness in central Idaho because he succeeded in killing all the wolves in two packs, a state agency spokesman said.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler tells the Idaho Mountain Express in a story on Wednesday that the hunter killed eight wolves with traps and a ninth by hunting.

Gus Thoreson of Salmon started hunting and trapping in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in mid-December as part of a state plan to eliminate wolves to boost elk numbers. The state agency had planned to keep Thoreson hunting through the winter.

“He had been pretty effective early on, but it had been two weeks since he had taken any wolves, so we decided there was no reason to keep him in the area any longer,” Keckler said.copyrighted wolf in river

Keckler said the average size of a wolf pack in Idaho is five wolves, so the agency determined it had reached its goal of eliminating the Golden Creek and Monumental Creek packs. Officials announced Monday that Thoreson was coming out.

Fish and Game Director Virgil Moore’s acknowledgement that Thoreson’s hunt relied on the use of the U.S. Forest Service’s backcountry airstrips and cabin had prompted strong emotions, including from wolf advocates who sued in federal court to force him to quit.

Defenders of Wildlife, Western Watersheds Project and Wilderness Watch filed the lawsuit Jan. 6 asking the judge to stop the plan immediately to give the case time to work through the courts. The environmental groups were joined by Ralph Maughan, a former Idaho State University professor, conservationist and long-time wolf recovery advocate from Pocatello.

They lost their initial bid on Jan. 17 when a federal judge rejected their request for a temporary restraining order. The conservation groups argued that Thoreson’s activities violated the 1964 Wilderness Act and other federal acts.

The groups had appealed that decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when the state agency announced the hunter was being pulled out.

“I am happy that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has relented, but it is unfortunate that so many wolves have been taken in this senseless plan to manhandle wildlife in an area that Congress recognized as a wilderness,” said Ken Cole, National Environmental Policy Act coordinator at the Boise office of Western Watersheds Project.

Wolves were reintroduced to Idaho in the mid-1990s and have since flourished in backcountry regions, including the Frank Church wilderness.

Last year, state game managers estimated Idaho’s wolf population at 683, an 11 percent drop from 2012. The highest total was in 2009, when it estimated 859 wolves were in the state.
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Information from: Idaho Mountain Express, http://www.mtexpress.com

Wildlife Hunter and Former Mayor Killed By Hunting Trap

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http://gawker.com/wildlife-hunter-and-former-mayor-killed-by-his-own-anim-1510043777

A local politician and wildlife hunter was shot and killed by a hunting trap in the remote mountains of the Philippines, making him the fourth human victim of the “improvised shotgun traps” now used by hunters in the high-elevation forests 250 miles north of Manila.

UPDATE: The original report doesn’t make clear which hunter set the trap. We have corrected this post to reflect that.

The hunter and former small town mayor, Donald Alubia, was killed by a trap sometime after January 16, the news website InterAksyon.com reports. That’s when Alubia and two companions entered the wilderness. When Alubia did not return to camp, a search began.

After villagers carried his body down from the mountainside, an autopsy revealed four shotgun pellets had struck Alubia at close range. Hypothermia was also a factor, as the hunter was shot and then bled to death in below-freezing temperatures at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet.

At his funeral yesterday in the Mountain Province, his relative Ruth Batane said the new shotgun traps had hurt two local hunters and killed another two, including Donald Alubia. The danger, she said, is in the new practice of adding a loaded shotgun to indigenous traps that have been used here for millennia.

 

Teen who shot friend on hunting trip will not spend time in prison

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http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Teen-who-shot-friend-on-hunting-trip-will-not-spend-time-in-prison-242318871.html

by TERESA WOODARD January 27, 2014

Bonnie Tatera sat in her home Monday evening, visibly shaken from the events of the day and of the last few months.

Near a raging fireplace sat a large picture of her son, Nate Maki, who died in August. He was 18 years old.

“Can you give me just a minute?” she asked as she put her face in her hands for a moment.

Tatera lost her son, and the boy who admits to killing him will spend five years on probation.

Michael Bryce Underwood was 17 at the time of the shooting on his grandfather’s property near Bowie, in Montague County. He pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide Monday. Underwood will spend no time in prison.

It is a plea deal Tatera doesn’t like, and she found the strength to talk about it.

“Honestly, I wish [Underwood] would’ve gotten some time, to actually sit and think about what he had done. Whether it was an accident or not,” she said. “I mean, since day one he’s been out. He’s gotten to be with his family. He hangs out with his friends.”

As terms of his probation, Underwood cannot drink alcohol and must finish high school.

“No, I didn’t agree to it,” Tatera said. “I had no say, actually.”

Underwood must also speak at a gun safety course, which is a condition Tatera did request.

Michael Underwood made a tearful call to 911 after shooting

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Photo Copyright Jim Robertson

Maki in August of 2013.

“We were hunting coyotes,” a tearful Underwood told the dispatcher. “I was calling them. I pulled my gun to the left and I accidentally pulled the trigger. The safety was off and it went off in his head. Nate, Nate please. Nate. Oh my God. Sir, I’m begging you. It’s my best friend.”

That 911 call is the only explanation Tatera has ever heard.

“I don’t know the whole story at all,” she said. “And I believe that’s why it hurts so much.”

She said Underwood didn’t look at her during Monday’s court proceeding.

“I feel that he maybe tried to avoid looking in our direction,” she said. “We didn’t have any eye contact. No words were spoken from him to us.”

Nate Maki was a standout football player at Denton Guyer High School. He was a member of the state champion teams and died as his senior year had just started.

His father, Harold Maki, lives in Wisconsin. He sent an e-mail to the Montague County District Attorney, hoping it would be read aloud during Monday’s hearing.

It wasn’t.

He shared that written statement with News 8’s Jim Douglas, saying communities from Texas to Wisconsin were mourning Nate’s loss.

“It hurts so bad!!!! We’ve heard so many stories of what happened the night of August 31, 2013. I believe Bryce has lied too many times [about] what happened that night. I don’t know if we will ever know the truth!”

The elder Maki also said probation was less than a slap on the wrist.

He and Tatera said every facet of their lives are different. They did not think their pain could get any worse, but both say the outcome of the court proceeding proved them wrong.

Because Underwood hasn’t shown remorse, or said he’s sorry, Tatera said she has not found forgiveness.

“And I can’t right now, I can’t find peace,” she said.

Good News….Idaho Halts Wolf Extermination In “The Frank”…

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Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity: “The wolves were only playing the role they play in nature and should never have been killed. It should not take court action to stop such cruel, unnecessary and wasteful killing, but I’m glad it has stopped.”

Nabeki's avatarHowling For Justice

Nature Cold Warriors_pack traveling through snow

From Center For Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, January 27, 2014

Contact: Tim Preso, Earthjustice, (406) 586-9699
Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (971) 717-6403
Ken Cole, Western Watersheds Project, (208) 890-3666
Suzanne Stone, Defenders of Wildlife, (208) 424-9385

State-sponsored Wolf Killing Ends in Idaho

Faced With Looming Court Challenge, Idaho Halts Unprecedented Program

POCATELLO, Idaho— Faced with a looming deadline to defend its actions before a federal appeals court, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) announced this afternoon that it is halting its wolf extermination program in the Middle Fork region of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness as of today.

The announcement represents a stay of execution for the remaining wolves that constitute the Golden Creek and Monumental Creek wolf packs, which inhabit the Middle Fork region. To date, nine wolves from the two packs have been killed by IDFG’s hired hunter-trapper, who entered the…

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