UPDATE: The FWS has added two additional public hearings on its proposed changes for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The new hearings take place on Tuesday, 10/27 and Wednesday, 10/28. Each is capped at 75 people who can comment, so we urge you to register ASAP. The hearings start at 4:00 p.m. Alaska (8:00 p.m. EDT). |
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The nearly 17,000 comments our members and supporters submitted in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed changes to management of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Alaska made a difference! You spoke out against brown bear baiting, eliminating federal restrictions on trapping, and expanded snowmobiling, mountain biking, and ATV use on the Kenai NWR, and now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will hold a total of three public hearings plus an extended public comment period in response to the overwhelming opposition to their plan. We urge you to participate in the FWS’s virtual public hearing on Tuesday, October 27 or Wednesday, October 28 at 4:00 p.m. Alaska (8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The FWS added these two hearings after the October 26 public hearing slots were filled. It’s critical that the FWS hears from people around the country who care about the Kenai Refuge, its management, and the wildlife that lives here, rather than the trophy hunters and trappers who stand to gain from the FWS’s proposed changes. You MUST pre-register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting by Zoom or by phone. |
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It’s important to speak out against the proposed new rule which would allow the following: - the cruel and unethical practice of allowing hunters to shoot and kill brown bears over piles of bait;
- opening more of the refuge to trapping with fewer restrictions, which would indiscriminately kill more wildlife, reduce the abundance and diversity of wildlife, and cause untold suffering for animals that die slowly for days in a trap; and
- more access for snowmobiles, bicycles, and ATVs in non-wilderness portions of the Kenai NWR, which would further stress wildlife.
Instead, the FWS needs to protect wildlife on the Kenai NWR by: - prohibiting bear baiting of any kind;
- banning trapping altogether; and
- limiting recreation so as to lessen human impact on the land and its inhabitants.
Please register for the public hearings today and urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to reject the proposed new rule and instead administer the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge for the conservation purposes for which it was established. Thank you! Learn more on our website. |
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Help us protect wildlife and Wilderness on the Kenai Refuge and around the country. All first-time donations matched! |
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