New Trump public land rules will let Alaska hunters kill bear cubs in dens

Source: Guardian

The ‘amazingly cruel’ move by the National Park Service reverses Obama-era regulations which also affect wolves and coyotes

Emily Holden in Washington
Thu 28 May 2020 06.30 EDT

The Trump administration is finalizing rules that will allow hunters in Alaska’s national preserves to shoot bears and wolves, and their cubs and pups, while they are in their dens.

The National Park Service is reversing regulations written by the Barack Obama administration, which banned some of the much-criticized practices for hunting the predators, including luring bears with food like doughnuts.

Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, called the rule change “amazingly cruel” and said it was “just the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America’s wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters”.

The park service’s deputy director, David Vela, said the change would “more closely align hunting and trapping regulations with those established by the state of Alaska”.

The regulation is expected to be formally published this week. Alaska laws would still apply. The state generally prohibits killing bear cubs, but it allows some exceptions in Alaska’s interior region.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/28/alaska-bears-wolves-trump-rules-hunters