Activists say US government is funding hunts of endangered animals

The U.S. The Department of Interior has been accused of funding state-organized hunts of a number of endangered species instead of upholding its mandate to protect the animals. 

Large endangered animals like gray wolves and grizzly bears have long been the target of state-organized killings and a coalition of over 35 groups is sounding the alarm bells. 

Led by the Global Indigenous Alliance, the activist coalition sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland calling for an answer to their earlier petition launched in 2021.

In September 2021, submitted a petition to the Department of the Interior calling for the review of funding being allocated to “controversial ‘conservation’ projects underwritten by The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act or Pittman-Robertson Act.”

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The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, often referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Act because of its sponsors Key Pittman (pictured) and Absalom Willis Roberston, was passed in 1937 and imposed an 11% tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery sales in the U.S. 

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The Sierra Club noted the money collected from the government tax was given to the Department of the Interior where it was used to “fund state programs for habitat management, wildlife surveys, species reintroduction, and hunter education.”

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The model was revolutionary at the time according to the magazine and it provided the foundation for what has become the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

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“People often say that this funding model for conservation in America is the greatest story ever told,” Executive Director of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Ron Reagan explained. 

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“A lot of people think that fish and wildlife work is funded by taxpayers, when in reality the majority of conservation is funded by sportsmen and women,” Reagan added. 

However, the Global Indigenous Alliance and its coalition of animal welfare groups say the Department of the Interior is using some of these funds to help pay for the killing of endangered animal species, an issue they petitioned the government to stop in 2021. 

In the recent letter sent to Haaland, the coalition noted that they had not received an answer to their earlier petition, and claimed in the years since, the U.S. The Fish and Wildlife Service funded a number of “irresponsible and controversial predator-control projects.”

The coalition’s letter requested a meeting with Secretary Haaland so they could discuss the rulemaking petition before going on to explain the details of recent hunts which saw the hunts of several endangered species. 

For example, the coalition pointed out that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said it killed as many as 94 brown bears, which included five cubs, as well as 5 black bears, and 5 wolves as part of a goal to improve the Mulchatna caribou herd population. 

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The deaths were well above the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s stated intention to only kill 15 to 25 brown bears according to the coalition's letter, which went on to point out worrying hunting practices and chastise the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

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“The FWS is tasked with preventing extinctions, using sound science when making decisions to prevent those extinctions, and with being accountable to the entire public—not funding controversial predator-control actions for the purported benefit of a few,” the letter read.

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The Guardian noted Wisconsin, Montana, and Idaho all have similar state agencies that facilitate the hunts of endangered animals in order to preserve their herds of caribou, moose, and elk—and added the coalition’s petition was hoping to stop these practices. 

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