Dear Congressman Barton,
Keeping our wildlife safe is of prime importance and we must balance the natural mix of all animals and the ecology needed for their existence.
I voted for you because you seem to have the backbone to stand up on your own and preserve what is the Peoples will.
Please consider the following:
As a supporter of Defenders of Wildlife and a constituent who cares about protecting wildlife, I urge you to sign on as a cosponsor of Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman George Miller's Protect America's Wildlife Act (S. 1535 and H.R. 3381), federal legislation to end the controversial practice of using aircraft and gunmen to chase and kill wolves in Alaska and stop the practice from being misused elsewhere.
In 1971, Congress passed the Federal Airborne Hunting Act -- legislation specifically designed to outlaw exactly this type of unfair and unfounded killing. However, since 2003 officials in Alaska have flouted the intent of that law and perpetuated a scientifically unfounded aerial wolf-killing program.
So far, more than 1,000 wolves have been chased down by gunmen in low-flying aircraft and killed with high-powered rifles. More than 250 wolves were killed during the 2008/2009 aerial wolf killing season, making it one of the deadliest in years.
This brutal practice has been condemned by wildlife biologists, hunters and conservationists from Alaska and around the world... and with good cause.
Under the program, the state issues permits to private hunters to allow the use of planes to track and shoot down wolves from above or chase them to exhaustion and kill them at point-blank range. Allowing private citizens to participate creates an unethical hunting program and the state has weak information on which to base their decisions on how many wolves are killed under the program or any solid data to substantiate the program's effectiveness.
The PAW Act would help restore science and integrity to wildlife management on America's Last Frontier by...
* Requiring states to provide a scientific foundation for their use of aerial gunning;
* Barring states from using aerial gunning to artificially boost game species populations; and
* Clarifying the conditions under which states can use aircraft to kill wolves and other predators to protect wildlife.
I am outraged by aerial wolf killing and hope that you will do everything in your power to stop this awful practice as a cosponsor of the Protect America's Wildlife Act.
Thank you for considering my comments. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Patrick A. Crothers
