Teresa Sager-Albaugh, Governor Palin's latest appointee to the Board of Game, just participated in her first Board meeting -- and her voting record shows just how far she is willing to go to be a key player in Palin's escalating war on Alaska's wolves and bears.
The Alaska legislature will be deciding whether or not to confirm Sager-Albaugh to the Board of Game any day now.
Sager-Albaugh voted to allow controversial practices that are unprecedented in Alaska's 50-year history. To give you an idea of what she's capable of, here's a run down of the most egregious votes she cast at her first Board of Game meeting.
Sager-Albaugh voted to:
- Allow predator control in Denali State Park.
- Allow citizens who participate in predator control programs to use helicopters to support the killing of wolves and bears.
- Permit "agents of the state" to use poison gas bombs to kill wolf pups in the den and put snares in and around wolf dens.
- Let citizens snare bears -- even sows and cubs -- using bait to lure them to their death.
- Allow citizens to kill over 800 bears and sell their fur for profit, which would encourage poaching and the illegal sale of bear parts.
- Give citizens the go-ahead to use planes to spot, then land and shoot, brown bears -- including sows and cubs.
- Extend the wolf hunting season to when mothers are nursing newborn pups.
- Expand "predator control" programs in two new areas of the state -- an increase of 33%.
Sager-Albaugh's voting record isn't showing us anything new: she has a long history of anti-wildlife extremism. After serving as president of the Alaska Outdoor Council from 2005-2007, she continues to keep close ties to the radical special interest group that has been behind many of the state's most outrageous anti-wildlife laws and initiatives.
Palin and her hand-picked cronies on the Board of Game want to turn Alaska into a game farm for out-of-state trophy hunters. Is this the Alaska you want to see?
Sager-Albaugh's radical and unflinching zeal for killing Alaska's bears and wolves at any cost, using whatever means necessary is frightening -- and the last thing we need on an already-biased Board of Game.
We are doing everything in our power to block Sager-Albaugh's confirmation but we'll need your help to do it.
Alaska's Board of Game should reflect the broad diversity of the Alaskan people, not the extreme interests of a narrow few. There should be at least one seat for other interest groups around this powerful table to promote balanced discussion of the costs and benefits of predator control for ALL Alaskans -- not just hunters and trappers.
Help show our state legislators that Alaskans won't stand by and let Sarah Palin and her Board of Game turn our state into a game farm.
Take action now to make your voice heard and demand justice for Alaska wildlife.
Thanks for standing up for an Alaska we can all be proud of.
Wade Willis
Alaska Representative
Defenders of Wildlife |
