To the editor:
We have Denali National Park, complete with defined boundaries. Along came the animal rights people who managed to excite enough people, with no knowledge of hunting or wildlife management, to create an emotional smoke screen and establish a buffer zone adjacent to the park boundary.
Fortunately, the Board of Game was able to get an expiration date established in the boundary provision. Now comes the time to either extend or abandon the boundary. Not satisfied with that, the animal rights people want to expand the boundary. Speaking of mathematics, it was noted that 10 or fewer wolves were taken near the boundary per year.
I would like to publicly thank the board for exercising the fortitude and the reason to quash the drive of animal rights folks attempting to again set their tent pegs out a little further. Had the board capitulated, the animal rights folks would be back in another six years expounding the virtues of the boundary and demanding that the tent pegs be again set out just a little further. Priscilla Feral is again suggestion we throw constitutional procedure to the wind and have the governor meddle in the affairs of the board.
I would like to see the board set up so that they could take hard facts, good science, serious discussion, and a dash of reason and establish their affairs in an atmosphere whereby the governor could not rescind their rulings. After all, the governor appoints men of knowledge and experience. The governor has enough to do directing the Legislature without allowing a constitutionally established quorum to establish good science-dictated rules and then destroy their work with a stroke of his pen.
The majority of problems with which the Board of Game has to contend are the result of uninformed people bringing political pressure to bear and being able to have poor legislation established by emotion. The saddest day we Alaskans will ever see will be if Fish and Game is controlled by emotional votes at the ballot box.
by Glenn R. Gregory / Fairbanks |
