Palin put a bounty on wolves - $150 for fresh cut legs (no joke)

[jefferson_dem]

State puts a bounty on wolves

$150 EACH: The official kill program is far behind in its effort to protect moose and other prey.



By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News

Published: March 21, 2007
Last Modified: March 21, 2007 at 05:19 PM

State game managers will pay people to kill wolves in an effort to boost Alaska's predator- control program.

The 180 volunteer pilots and aerial gunners who are the backbone of the program can get $150 in cash for turning in legs of freshly killed wolves, Gov. Sarah Palin's office announced Tuesday.

Previously, the only reward was a wolf pelt they could sell, usually for somewhere between $200 and $300, said Bruce Bartley, Department of Fish and Game spokesman.

The state created its current wolf-kill program four years ago to protect the moose and caribou that wolves eat, and it's been controversial since day one. Animal-rights groups have sued unsuccessfully, sponsored "howl-ins" and urged tourists to boycott the state.

But the effort to boost moose numbers for subsistence-food gatherers and other hunters has its fans, particularly in parts of rural Alaska.

The Palin administration is anteing up cash because the number of wolf kills this winter is behind schedule, the state said Tuesday afternoon.

State biologists wanted 382 to 664 wolves killed by the time the snow that helps with tracking disappears this spring. The predator-control season ends April 30.

As of Tuesday morning, 98 wolves had been killed by aerial gunners, hunters and trappers.

Pilots have complained that fuel prices are too high to fly and there hasn't been enough snow on the ground to track the elusive animals, Matt Robus, Wildlife Conservation director, said in the release. There are also fewer wolves to kill now because of kills in past years, he said.

<SNIP>

Palin prefers cash incentives because they are less expensive than renting helicopters and they help families where the wolf killing occurs, Leighow said.

In addition to paying cash, the department plans to:

• Permit more people to kill wolves by contacting those who have applied but never won a permit.

• Charter flights so state biologists can spot wolves from the air, then share the information with permitted volunteers.

<SNIP>

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/story/8726730p-8628810c.html

[MessiahRp]

1. Palin: Kill Wolves who hunt moose, celebrate me hunting moose as awesome!

Nice.

Rp

[lukasahero]

2. I thought I loathed Shrub

There are no words for how I feel about Palin.

[NatBurner]

3. How do hunters rationalize this shit?

Why kill an animal you are not going to eat? Do Alaskans eat wolves?

They're killing wild animals for EATING WILD ANIMALS? WTF?

How perfectly ghoulish. I'm disliking this woman more and more, every day.

[hamsterjill]

4. This is just plain sick

Anyone who votes for this woman is missing a screw.

If ordinary, normal Americans cannot see that Palin is one screwed up person, then heaven help us all.

Sick, I tell you. Sick!!!! It's depraved. Kill an animal and then cut off its legs?