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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Putting Alaska's Aerial Hunting Program On PAWs
Defenders' campaign to save wolves and bears in Alaska from state-sponsored airborne shooting has picked up some key supporters, with more than 110 members of Congress agreeing to back the Protect America's Wildlife (PAW) Act. The act aims to close a loophole in the federal Airborne Hunting Act that Alaska officials have exploited to shoot wolves from planes or to chase them to exhaustion and then land and shoot them. In some areas, hunters also use planes to kill bears.
"An overwhelming expression of grassroots activism was behind Congressional support for this measure," says Robert Dewey, Defenders' vice president of government relations and external affairs. Defenders' activists held dozens of meetings with congressional officials, made thousands of calls and sent more than 100,000 e-mails to members of Congress in support of the legislation. Other conservation groups and former Alaska wildlife officials also joined in the advocacy campaign.
To drive the point home, in January Defenders launched print advertisements in Congress Daily—one of Capitol Hill's most influential newspapers—and The Washington Post's widely read daily Express newspaper. Television commercials supporting the PAW act also ran in the nation's capital during newscasts in January and February. Nine PAW Act ads were also displayed for two weeks in the Capitol Hill subway station, which sees an average of 6,000 commuters each day, including many members of Congress and staffers. (See the ads.)
"With the help of concerned citizens from coast to coast, the PAW act now enjoys support from more than half the number of members of Congress necessary to pass the measure in the House," says Dewey. "Encouraging early congressional action on this vital measure is a top legislative priority for Defenders."
Nearly 200 scientists from around the country and the world have also voiced their concern over Alaska's airborne-shooting policies. They are calling on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to ensure wildlife management policies are based on sound science rather than on the discretion of the state board of game.
For more information and to view the ads, see www.defenders.org/aerial_hunting.
