Wednesday August 27, 2008, 11:31 pm
Sad News for Alaska's Wolves

By Rodger Schlickeisen

I have some sad news. Unfortunately, Alaska voters defeated a ballot initiative yesterday that would have ended the state's brutal aerial hunting program.

Thousands of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund supporters gave invaluable support to this important campaign, but in the end, deep-pocketed special interests carried the day.

This morning, I spoke with Nick Jans, co-chair of Alaskans for Wildlife, our grassroots partners in The Last Frontier who spearheaded the state ballot initiative to end Alaska's brutal aerial hunting program. He wanted me to pass on this message to you:

"I want to thank Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund supporters for their help in this hard-fought campaign.

"We faced an approximately $750,000 campaign from our opponents -- including Safari Club International and a $400,000 state-funded campaign approved by Governor Sarah Palin and the Alaska legislature. They used deceptive propaganda and the authority of the Alaska government to defeat the ballot initiative.

"But thanks to the generous support of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund activists and donors, we were able to reach thousands of voters. Yesterday, over 75,000 Alaskans voted to end this barbaric practice.

"Despite this loss, we're not giving up -- Alaskans for Wildlife will continue to hold the state Board of Game's feet to the fire and redouble our efforts to end this brutal program."

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund will continue to partner with groups like Alaskans for Wildlife and our sister organization Defenders of Wildlife to end Alaska's slaughter from the skies.

As we prepare for another bloody season of aerial hunting in Alaska, we are redoubling our efforts to pass the Protect America's Wildlife (PAW) Act in Washington, DC to bring an end to Alaska's aerial hunting program -- and prevent programs like it from spreading to places like the Greater Yellowstone region.

This bill already has strong bipartisan support in the House of Representatives -- now we must ensure that this important bill gets passed.

Please take a moment to write to your Representative in Washington, DC and urge him or her to support this important wildlife-saving legislation today.

Once again, thank you for your support in this important campaign. Together, we'll continue to fight for sensible wildlife management -- and end the senseless slaughter of wolves by airborne hunters.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 1:32 am
Thank you Tom. Very tragic and sad news.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 3:47 am
I really hated hearing this. Sadly noted Thanks Tom.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 4:00 am
These fools are so shortsighted as well as stupid. What is the object of this killing? Grrrrr...

Thursday August 28, 2008, 6:44 am
Yes...VERY SAD news...shows with BIG $$$ can accomplish..animal welfare suffers..BUT..it is our obligation to these wolves to continue being pro-active for their welfare...this most important fight MUST continue!!

Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:03 am
I met with my Rep here in Maine back in February on this matter, as well as for his support on the PAWS initiative. He is on board with his support. This news is very, very sad for me and for my wolf buddies up there in Alaska. Let's keep fighting and finally put an end to the corruption, deception and cruelty in Alaska.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:38 am
This makes me so mad. In the 3 years I lived in Alaska... and I was ALL OVER the state, in remote villages, etc., I NEVER saw a wolf. Not one. My husband saw one in Denali National Park once. I saw tons of moose... bears... caribou... arctic fox... I was even charged by a polar bear. But, I never got to see a beautiful Alaskan wolf. And they want to keep on killing them...

Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:49 am
wow, I'm totally deappointed in this and really saddened that people don't understand the problem.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 8:03 am
sadly noted

Thursday August 28, 2008, 12:41 pm
Noted, heartbroken & frustrated that once again the animals are being sacrificed for the sake of $. ARGHH!! I will write to my Rep asking him to support PAW, who I know from experience will ignore my letter & do what the big$ says to do instead.

I don't know what else to do! All over the world, animals are being driven to extinction, & our protests fall on deaf ears. They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions & expecting different results. Guess that makes me crazy, but I refuse to give up on these poor animals.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 3:03 pm
Very upsetting.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 7:49 pm
NEVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT..THANKS TOM....HURTS ME IMMENSELY..ANIMALS HAVE NO CHANCE WITH ARIEL KILLINGS....DISGUSTING !!

Thursday August 28, 2008, 8:50 pm
I suspect voter fraud in this election.

TY, Tom.

Thursday August 28, 2008, 9:43 pm
this is so wrong... bears & wolves both.. this is sick.. to vote for death of wolves & bears... was watching a show tonight about Alaska & the person talked so highly of the wolves.. but never said once that they were being slaughtered from planes.. I wanted to slap that guy against the head... why don't they just tell the truth instead of saying the wolves are beautiful & live free from harm.. what a lie... I told my husband that guy lies they are being killed & poisoned & its sick...

Thursday August 28, 2008, 9:44 pm
i did note but didn't go :-(

Thursday August 28, 2008, 11:02 pm
there's a petition on Defenders of Wildlife site to keep at it til this law is removed and wolves are protected from this murder or sport as they call it

Friday August 29, 2008, 1:04 am
The only way the logic of killing off one (or two) species to save another only flies if you intend to kill off the species that is threatening them. The moose and caribou populations are failing because of one species only--the trophy hunter! Predators, not even subsistence hunters, are a threat to any species. It is greed and abuse--like that inherent in the arial massacre of wolves and now bears--that destroys s species. This practice will only result in more devastation.

Saturday September 20, 2008, 12:12 am
Going For The Gut

by digby

I can't honestly say that I'm prescient about much of anything, but I have said from the day she was nominated that her attitude toward animals was a serious weak point for Palin. It wasn't about regular All American hunting. This was about her not caring if the polar bears drown and supporting aerial wolf hunting,
which takes her way into the outer boundaries of the anti-environmental
and gun culture. She is far from being mainstream on a whole host of
issues, but this is one that creates a visceral, emotional reaction and
shows just how extreme she really is.

It looks like that disturbing wolf hunting ad moves voters:


A new national focus group among 312 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents, revealed that after viewing a new ad by the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund regarding "Palin's Wildlife Record", there was moderate movement among all parties toward Barack Obama.

The study was conducted by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) on September 15, to obtain Americans' perceptions of a new ad which questions Governor Sarah Palin's record in regard to wildlife in Alaska.

"The ad which focuses on Governor Palin's record regarding the treatment of wildlife in Alaska seemed to strike a chord with voters," commented Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research. "The recent ads from both parties have had little impact among voters. This is the first ad in over a month that seems to have broken through," he added.

Among the study findings:

The ad earned Barack Obama a Political Communications Impact Score (PCIS) of 29.4 and John McCain received a score of 5.9, resulting in a net score of 23.5 for Barack Obama. The scores can be compared to a mean score of 9.3 for previously tested Obama ads and 7.5 for previously tested McCain ads. To date, the total mean score for all previously tested ads is 8.3

The most prevalent emotional responses reported from voters were "angry" and "disturbed" after viewing the ad.

It's one thing to be a frontier gal who hunts moose in Alaska for food. But most people instinctively get that there's something fundamentally wrong with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQobIUE1zTU

digby 9/19/2008 05:00:00 PM
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