Biden set to end donuts and other bear-hunting tactics in Alaska

A new rule proposed by the administration would also prohibit hunters from invading wolf dens to kill cubs.

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service is taking action to ban hunters on certain public lands in Alaska from baiting black bears with donuts and using spotlights to shoot bears and bears bear cubs hibernating in their dens, techniques authorized by the Trump administration but considered inhumane by conservationists.

A rule proposed by the National Park Service on Friday would essentially restore restrictions that existed under the Obama administration but were removed under President Donald J. Trump.< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Under the new policy, hunters in Alaskan wildlife preserves would also no longer be able to kill adult wolves and cubs in their dens, or use fishing boats. engine to shoot swimming caribou.

Those and other methods, which have been condemned as cruel by wildlife advocates, have been banned from federal lands in 2015 but, as of 2020, they are allowed on millions of acres of wilderness in Alaska. Agency officials said the new rule would "restore consistency" and protect the public.

"This proposal would reduce the risk of bears associating food with bait stations with humans and become conditioned to eat man-made food, creating a public safety concern,” the National Park Service said in a statement.

Activists called it a victory for animal rights.< /p>

"We have long argued that our government must protect our nation's precious wildlife and not working hand in hand with trophy hunters to sanction some of the most ruthless killing methods targeted at helpless animals,” Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a statement.

Sara Amun dson, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, released a statement calling the new rule "a victory for Alaska's iconic wildlife".

"Baiting the bears just to blow them up on a pile of donuts is just plain wrong," she said.

The Trump administration has prioritized the expansion of hunting rights on federal lands. Mr. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., an avid hunter, has championed trophy hunting. In 2020, the Safari Club International, which promotes big game hunting, auctioned off a week-long "dream hunt" through Alaska with the president's son as part of its annual convention. p>

Many Alaskan hunting advocates and state leaders have said they view Obama-era restrictions as an encroachment on wildlife rights. 'State. Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, called the Biden administration's plan a "clear violation of federal law" and said it was part of a "war" on the state. /p>

The new rule is likely to continue an already lengthy legal battle.

A coalition of conservation groups sued the government about Trump administration policy in 2020, and the case is still pending. Meanwhile, hunting advocates could challenge the Biden administration's plan once it's finalized, likely by the end of this year. The Safari Club International, a hunters' rights group that said it would oppose any further restrictions on access to hunting, did not respond to a request for comment.