Bibb letter: Anti-wildlife legislation

Sadly the votes of Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo on H.J.R. 69/S.J.R. 18 is overturning a ruling put forth by the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife which protects bears, wolves and coyotes from inhumane killing techniques. “Under this [new] legislation, bear cubs and wolf pups (and their mothers) can be killed in their dens; grizzly bears can be chased to their demise from helicopters or planes and piles of sweets and other foods can be used to lure them to an area where they will be shot; indiscriminate use of steel-jaw leghold traps and neck snares will be allowed — all of this on 76 million acres of national wildlife refuges.” The protections will be eliminated and cannot be reinstated.

How can legislation like this be considered fair by any senator — it prevents undoing a piece of legislation in the future. And this particular piece of legislation had a vote count of 52 to 47, not a huge majority favoring this.

Idaho earns countless millions of tourist dollars from people who want to see wildlife, to photograph wildlife and to share this rare experience. Idaho, with lots of public lands and wildlife, is threatened by this legislation.

Please expose this dangerous legislation and our senators who voted for it.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Bibb letter: Anti-wildlife legislation."