Due to public outcry earlier this year, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) abandoned plans to contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to kill bears and mountain lions as part of a study of the impacts of predation on elk in the Clearwater region. However, despite acknowledgement by agency biologists that degraded habitat is the primary direct and indirect factor for poor elk survival in the region, the Idaho Game and Fish Commission decided to approve the ill-conceived study by substituting sport hunters and outfitters for federal agents.
This politically motivated decision was designed simply to pacify certain elk hunters and outfitters who continue to view predators as unwelcome competition for their recreational and commercial pursuits.
To make matters worse, now IDFG officials are lending a helping hand to these predator killers by purchasing and distributing tons of dog food to bait animals to increase the hunters’ success rate. Such actions by department officials fly in the face of much ballyhooed principles of fair chase and violate sound ecosystem management principles that embrace the value of all members of the ecosystem. The IDFG should not be in the business of engaging in a practice that even most hunters find reprehensible.
Please contact the IDFG, Commission, and Governor’s office to express your opposition to the study in general and to the agency’s involvement in baiting in particular. Please find contact information below.
You may want to make the following points:
- Most hunters and nonhunters agree that bear baiting is contrary to the notion of fair chase. IDFG should not serve as a facilitator for hunters who choose to engage in unethical practices.
- Predators are beneficial and necessary to healthy ecosystems and their presence should be welcomed. Wildlife agencies must not return to the unenlightened policies of the past simply to quell the clamor of a few dissatisfied hunters.
- While the collection of scientific information is important, it does not require killing certain animals to understand population fluctuations and dynamics. Biology is a discipline within the “life” sciences. Wildlife agencies need to step into the 21st century and use nonlethal methodologies to conduct studies and
research.CONTACT:The Honorable Dirk KempthorneGovernor of Idaho
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0034
(208) 334-2100
Fax: (208) 334-2175
Rod Sando, Director
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
P.O. Box 25
Boise, ID 83707
(208) 334-5159
Fax: (208) 334-4885
Idaho Fish and Game Commission Members:
Nancy Hadley
4325 Whiskeyjack Rd.
Sandpoint, Idaho 83864
(208) 263-2380 (h)
Alex Irby
2666 Preston Road
Orofino, Idaho 83544
(208) 476-4597 (o)
Don Clower
5103 West Cherry Lane
Meridian, Idaho 83642
(208) 888-7020 (h)
Roy Moulton
60 E. Wallace Avenue
Driggs, Idaho 83422
(208) 354-2345 (o)
Marcus Gibbs
632 Highway 34
Grace, Idaho 83241
(208) 425-3385 (h)
Fred L. Wood III, M.D.
P.O. Box 1207
Burley, Idaho 83318
(208) 678-2370 (h)
(208) 677-3136 (fax)
John Burns
Box 264
Carmen, Idaho 83462
(208) 756-3645
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