801 Kingsmill Parkway, Columbus, OH 43229

Ph. 614/888-4868 • Fax 614/888-0326

Website: www.ussportsmen.org • E-mail: info@ussportsmen.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    Contact: Greg R. Lawson (614) 888-4868 ext. 214

February 12, 2009                                Sharon Hayden (614) 888-4868 ext. 226

Leading Conservation Groups Respond to Attacks on Alaska Governor

(Columbus) – A consortium of conservation organizations today sent a letter of support of Alaska’s wolf management program to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The letter, spearheaded by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and signed by 8 other organizations representing nearly 3 million conservationists nationwide, came in  response to unwarranted attacks on the Alaska wolf management program by the animal preservation group Defenders of Wildlife (DoW). 

The attack includes a television ad featuring actress Ashley Judd. The ad is as part of an aggressive media campaign to cast public disfavor on Alaska’s scientifically valid and sound method of predator management.

The conservation groups’ letter clarifies that the Alaska program avoids game population decimation, especially for moose and caribou “through a rigorously controlled, scientifically based system.”

The letter also highlights “the critical importance of science in wildlife management” and states that “the future of effective wildlife management necessitates that emotional pleas not substitute for reasoned analysis.”

According to USSA Senior Vice President Rick Story, “It is imperative that people understand how important science is to maintaining healthy populations of wildlife species. In the absence of this program, not only would wildlife be destroyed, eventually, disease and hunger would kill far more wolves.” 

Story concluded, “It is simply wrong for an environmental group to use Hollywood glitz and glamour to hide science from the public.”

The signers of the letter include:

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
The Archery Trade Association and Bowhunting Preservation Alliance
Boone & Crockett Foundation
Conservation Force
The Dallas Safari Club
The National Shooting Sports Foundation
North American Bear Foundation
Pope & Young Club
The Texas Wildlife Association

To view the letter please visit: http://www.ussportsmen.org/Palin

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.  For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.

Nonresident Any-Deer Bow Licenses Issued March 1

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will have 1,290 any-deer bow licenses available to nonresidents in 2009.

The number of nonresident any-deer bow licenses available is 15 percent of the previous year’s mule deer gun license allocation. The Game and Fish Department issued 8,600 mule deer licenses in the 2008 deer gun lottery.

The department will begin issuing any-deer bow licenses March 1. All applications received on or before March 1, 2009, will be treated equally. If more applications are received than there are licenses, a drawing will be held to issue licenses. Applicants can request to apply together as a party.

If licenses remain after March 1, these will be issued daily on a first-come, first-served basis.

For immediate release: Jan. 6, 2009

Brown County Winter Hike, Jan. 17

Brown County State Park is hosting a winter hike to highlight the experience of nature during the quiet month of January.

Hikers may choose between two routes in the park. The Southern Loop begins at the Nature Center and offers a leisurely 3.5-mile hike along a limited access road into Strahl Valley, and around Lake Strahl. The Woodland Hike begins at the park’s recreation building and offers a 2.75- mile hike through Ogle Hollow Nature Preserve, and around Lake Ogle. 

Both hikes begin at 9 a.m. Boy Scouts will be on hand to provide s’mores at Strahl and Lake Ogle shelters during the hikes.

A hiker’s buffet breakfast, featuring naturalists who will discuss what to expect and what to look for along either trail, begins at 7 a.m. in Abe Martin Lodge. The price for the buffet is $8.99.

A Hiker’s Buffet luncheon will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The price of the lunch buffet is $9.99.

Winter Hike patches and yearly chevrons will be sold by the Friends of Brown County State Park at the lodge, starting at 11 a.m. 

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Media Contact: Jim Eagleman, interpretive naturalist, (812) 988-5240

Potato Creek and Summit Lake state parks will temporarily close for controlled goose reductions, Dec. 6-7 and Dec. 13-14.

The parks will close to the general public the evening before each of the two efforts and re-open the morning after each two-day reduction ends.

Having attempted numerous non-lethal methods of managing the Canada goose populations at the two parks with little success, the DNR will conduct the two controlled reductions in an attempt to manage issues such as severe erosion and degraded water quality brought about by dense populations of Canada geese.

Participants already have been drawn from a pool of eligible applicants. Only hunters drawn last October, along with the partners indicated on that application, may participate. Information regarding future goose reductions will be available at the parks after June 2009.

Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Division of State Parks & Reservoirs

402 W. Washington St., W298

Indianapolis, IN 46204