Trump will let hunters use cruel tactics to kill bear cubs and wolf pups

Alaska hunters will soon be able to use doughnuts to lure hibernating bears out of their dens and other practices deemed cruel by conservationists, thanks to a new rule that’s soon to be implemented by the Trump administration.

The rule, set to be published on Tuesday, will reverse a 2015 rule put into place by President Obama to prohibit certain hunting practices on federal land, the Washington Post reported. It will take effect 30 days after it is published.

In addition to allowing hunters to lure bears from hibernation, the rule will let them hunt wolves in their dens, as well as shoot animals from planes and snowmobiles.

Supporters of the new rule claimed the previous rule infringed upon the rights of hunters.

The Trump administration change “protects Alaska’s hunting and fishing traditions and upholds long-standing states’ rights,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, according to the Post.

Environmentalists and conservationists disagreed.

“Shooting hibernating mama and baby bears is not the conservation legacy that our national parks are meant to preserve and no way to treat or manage park wildlife,” Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, said about the rule in May.

National Parks Conservation Association told the Post the real goal of the new rule is to reduce the number of predators, such as wolves, in order to increase the population of game animals such as moose and caribou

The Trump administration’s rule “is barbaric and inhumane,” Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation organization focused on North American wildlife, said in a statement.

The Trump administration has often reversed the conservation and environmental policies implemented by Obama.

In June 2017, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, a global agreement to address the climate change crisis considered to be a cornerstone of Obama’s environmental legacy.

Two years later, the administration rolled back limits put in place by the Obama administration on how much pollution coal plants could dump into waterways. The Trump administration allowed more wastewater containing coal ash, arsenic, mercury, and selenium to be dumped, saving coal companies $175 million per year in compliance costs.

And in April 2020, the Trump administration gutted fuel milage standards put in place by President Obama, meaning cars and trucks can emit more pollution and will get less gas mileage than under the previous rule.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.