Letters: Stop inhumane ‘hunting’ in refuge

Slaughtering bear cubs, wolf pups and coyote pups in their dens alongside their mothers. Flying overhead in planes to track bears so they can later be shot. Setting vicious steel-jawed leg hold traps and wire snares.

Only the most cowardly and unsporting hunters resort to these methods, which are banned on almost all federal lands.

Yet recently a few trophy hunters succeeded in getting the U.S. House to pass a resolution that would permit these inhumane and despicable practices on millions of acres of wildlife refuge in Alaska.

With the Senate set to consider a similar plan, I urge Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott to vote against Senate Joint Resolution 18 and stop it in its tracks.

These animals and this land are national treasures. We can’t allow a tiny minority to destroy them.

If we allow these practices in Alaska, what’s next? Would any of us want to see hunting in Yellowstone National Park?

Let’s stand up to a misguided, bloodthirsty minority and preserve our nation’s wise and far-sighted tradition of protecting our land and our wildlife for future generations.

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Letters: Stop inhumane ‘hunting’ in refuge."