On the recordMarch 21, 2017
Mr. President, I will close on the issue of the CRA before us today. This CRA will turn back the clock on the management of native wildlife on our Nation's wildlife refuges. Methods of take, like shooting mother grizzlies with cubs, aerial gunning of wolves, killing wolf pups in their dens--these are not 21st-century tools for wildlife management. They are relics of the 19th century, before we truly understood the importance of predators to healthy ecosystems and populations. These practices have no place on our Nation's Federal wildlife refuges. This rule, frankly, doesn't stand up for subsistence hunters or hunters at all; it simply reinforces the politically driven and unscientific turn that the Alaska Board of Game has taken under Governors like Sarah Palin. This isn't about hunting; it is about dogma and dogma driving policy. I urge all of my colleagues tonight to vote for fair chase hunting, to vote for native wildlife, and to vote for our national wildlife refuges. To do that, I ask you to vote against this measure. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
