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The organization Defenders of Wildlife would like you to believe that the group's name describes what they are all about. This is the mission statement:
Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.While that may have indeed been the organization's goal at one time in its history, today that mission statement is a lie. Truth is, Defenders is nothing more than a front group for radical leftist politics. Consider that if the group's real purpose was protecting animals in their natural communities, they would show at least a modicum of concern for the herd animals -- caribou and moose -- which are the prey of wolves. But no, all the hacks want to talk about are fuzzy, lovable wolves.
One doesn't have to do much research to learn that if left alone, wolves would decimate the herds in Alaska. Do the math. Wolves bear litters of four to five pups at a time, while caribou and moose are limited to single births. Those same caribou and moose are the wolves' favorite food group, and their hunting tactics are deadly efficient. Every time the State of Alaska has taken a hiatus from controlling the wolf population, the numbers of herd animals quickly drop to alarming levels. We say "alarming" because Alaska's native people depend on hunting caribou and moose to feed their families.
Most native Alaskans live in very small, remote villages which don't have supermarkets, and even if they did, the price of beef and pork would be prohibitive for the natives, many of whom live at the subsistence level. Indeed, many of the villages are so remote that electric power transmission cables and natural gas lines are only a pipe dream. They burn wood for heat and have to depend on portable generators for electricity. The primary modes of transportation are dog sleds and four-wheelers. Hunting caribou and moose is not a sport for these people, and it is much more than a tradition. It is a necessity.
This is why the Fish & Game Department practices scientific predator control. It's not done out of rank cruelty, as Defenders and other such groups insinuate, but rather to protect the herds from their primary predators -- the wolves. What is cruel is the impact wolves would have on Alaska's native populations if Defenders of Wildlife is allowed to have its way, as this video from Defenders of Wild Food attests:
Which is more humane -- a clean shot through the head of a wolf, or the pack running down and eating caribou calves alive? Now we have no quarrel with letting the wolves get their meals in the wild, but again, in certain areas, to keep them from driving down the herds' numbers to dangerously low levels, the wolves' numbers have to be managed through the practice of predator control.
Defenders of Wild Food is an organization which was formed to fight the lies being spread about wolves in Alaska by the well-financed Defenders of Wildlife, and to educate people about the importance of wildlife to the everyday lives of Alaskans.
We've covered all of this before, here, here, here and here, just to cite a few of our posts on the issue.
But again, it's not about wolves or wildlife. To answer the question posed in the title of this post, no, Defenders of Wildlife, at least those who control it, are not that stupid. In its present-day incarnation, the group exists primarily for the purpose of promoting the radical far left political agenda. That's why they ignore the facts of Alaskan life and continue their attacks. And those attacks, especially since the day she was named to the number two spot on the 2008 GOP presidential ticket, have been almost exclusively aimed at Sarah Palin. It's clear to anyone capable of rational thought that the aim of these leftists is not to save wolves, but to destroy Sarah Palin.
One thing that leftists abhor is the unencumbered presentation of both sides of an issue so that people can decide for themselves. Free speech is not an option for anyone but those who are on their side of the issues, so they are pouring their considerable resources into an all-out campaign to try to convince Discover Networks, Inc. to drop the series "Sarah Palin's Alaska" before it even gets a chance to air. Rather than let people decide with the channel buttons on their remote controls, the leftists want to silence the former governor.
Please take action. Let Discovery Communications know that you support their production of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” There are two ways to do this. The easier option is to sign this petition. You will have the option of including comments, if you so wish.
You can also write to David Zaslav, Discovery’s CEO. Please let him know that Gov. Palin is regarded as a conservationist by those familiar with the principles of wildlife management and predator control, and the anti-Palin rhetoric coming from Defenders is at best an unscientific, emotional appeal and at worse pure politics. Mr. Zaslav's address is:
David M. Zaslav
President and CEO
Discovery Communications Inc.
One Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910
You can also send Discovery an email about its programming by clicking here or call Viewer Relations at 1-859-342-8439.
Thank you for supporting Gov. Palin, Native Alaskans and reasonable, scientific methods of wildlife management.
- JP
