Lately, these shows have also filmed killing of wolverines, lynx, grizzly bears, rattle snakes, and crocodiles for no reason other than ratings. The wolf, above, was no threat to Tanana. The show exploits viewer’s naivete about guns by shooting this animal with an AR-15 semi-automatic gun. That’s not how Alaskans hunt, they use hunting rifles, not assault weapons that look good on camera. In fact, Alaskan outdoorsmen and women are appalled at this blatant exploitation of both the animal and the audience. There is no need for this.
My point is that we are at a critical time in human history. Species are going extinct at a rapid pace, science education is under attack from aging politicians, and young people are generally experiencing nature less and less.
I am genuinely worried about the future of this country’s environmental leadership. Federal conservation programs, which have taken decades to create, are weakening. The ethic of conservationism (a conservative ethos) is dwindling. Young people are being pulled in the direction of technology, and away from grandeur, away from fresh air and nature.
It seems to me that one important aspect of this messy new milieu are education based TV companies who heretofore have been untouched by healthy criticism.
I think it’s time to analyze the impact of these shows. I believe that the Discovery Channel et al are not contributing to a healthy planet nor are they assisting educating viewers. It seems to me they are mastering fear for short term gain and profits. If I am correct, and I believe I am, these companies need to stop and focus on their mission, which is non-fiction, education-based media - not sensationalism or harm.
After reading Adam Welz’s take down, “Bloodthirsty “factual” TV shows demonize wildlife,” of the Discovery Planet’s animal killing TV show, Yukon Men, I did a little bit of research. The City of Tanana, where the show is filmed, is absolutely not the secluded, dangerous place as the Discovery Channel advertizes. The town has never been “attacked” by bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx, etc., as the show will have you believe. Still, each type of these animals is gunned down for your viewing pleasure.
The City of Tanana (above) is small, no doubt. But it is not a remote outback full of danger.
Local Alaskans posting in various wilderness and hunting forums are calling Discovery’s ‘Yukon Men’ a joke, full of lies and exploitation. They even make fun of the choices of guns that the characters in the show use (no local hunter, they say, uses an AR-15 to shoot animals in Alaska).
I dug around and found other interesting facts that belie the Discovery Channel’s claim that the town is a dangerous remote outback. Tanana has schools, an agricultural extension of the University of Fairbanks, annual foot and dog-sled races, and even family and emergency services provided by the Tanana Chiefs Council (this is in addition to services provided by the State of Alaska).
Learning from and enjoying the wilderness is one of the greatest privileges we Americans enjoy. Creating a false myth that nature is scary is not what we need, especially now with so many people unhealthy from increasingly sedentary lifestyles. In my opinion, Discovery needs to set the record straight. They need to refocus on educating viewers of the deep importance of our dwindling natural resources. They need to do this rather than exploiting animals and creating fear all for a quick buck.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals is refusing to block the scheduled opening of Minnesota’s inaugural wolf hunting season on Nov. 3.
In an order Wednesday, Oct. 10, a three-judge panel said two groups that sued to stop the hunt failed to show that letting the season proceed would cause irreparable harm.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Howling for Wolves claimed in their lawsuit that the Department of Natural Resources failed to allow for adequate public comment before it adopted its regulations for the upcoming wolf season. The DNR countered that it received extensive public input.
just following-up my wolf hunt posts last month. via TwinCities
Wolf pack that killed cattle taken out by sharpshooters
Sharpshooters taking aim from a helicopter shot dead six gray wolves this week, wrapping up Washington state’s strategy of killing off the pack because it had become accustomed to eating cattle.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made both professionally as well as personally,” Phil Anderson, director of Washington’s Department of Fish & Wildlife, told NBC station KING5.com on Thursday after the last wolf, the alpha male, was shot dead. “Going out and killing wildlife is not what this agency is all about.”
Entire wolf pack family to be shot by government to protect private businesses. The businesses already have government subsidized insurance (paid by your taxes) to pay for damages from predators. Double win… Full story here.
Obama administration green lights killing 170 wolves in Wyoming after private businesses win years of lobby efforts. Techniques will be aerial gunning and gassing pups in dens. Via. (Connection to climate change).
You all know by now I love wolves. And I have incredible respect for those who work to enforce America’s environmental laws, like the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife are the heavy hitters in animal and habitat protection (they sue the shit out of the federal government to enforce environmental policy, which is a good thing).
In between my climate and environmental posts, every once in a while I post a donations/petition link for wolf protection. This one is important, as there’s only two weeks left:
The Interior Department just announced plans to approve the mass killing of Wyoming wolves on August 31. We have only three weeks to prepare an emergency legal case to stop the slaughter.
Wyoming’s plan will allow wolves to be indiscriminately killed outside Yellowstone National Park and a few other safe havens: 80 percent of the state will become a wolf-killing zone.
That means close to 200 wolves — highly social animals with intricate family structures — will be shot or trapped to death. If the government has its way, it will be open season on Wyoming’s wolf families.
The Center for Biological Diversity can save Wyoming’s wolves. With an unparalleled record of stopping wolf killing in the northern Rockies, Oregon, the Southwest and the Great Lakes, our lawyers and activists are the best in the business at saving endangered species.
Help stop this nightmare for wolves in the northern Rockies by making a donation today to our Emergency Wolf Protection Fund and passing this appeal along to your networks.
The alpha female of the Fox Mountain Pack of Mexican gray wolves will be shot due to the seven-member pack preying on four head of cattle over several months. The owners of the cattle will be fully reimbursed, but the wolf family will lose their matriarch, according to a kill-order issued Wednesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to its sister agency, U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services. Last year, only 58 Mexican wolves and six breeding pairs survived in New Mexico and Arizona, their only home in the wild.” More: CBD
My readers know that I love wolves (and birds). Protection of their habitat has a special place in my heart and me wee brain. The Mexican Gray Wolf is protected by the Endangered Species Act. There are about 40 left, and they live here. They cross into Mexico, making it a trans-boundary species that, in my and some conservation lawyers’ opinions, ought to be subject to international law and protection. They’re not.
“Under attack from the left, White House defends Obama’s environmental record” - Houston Chronicle
Let’s be clear: Obama approved the Keystone XL oil pipeline, allowed arctic oil drilling in Alaska, increased natural gas fracking, doubled-down on deepwater ocean oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, approved several foreign mining operations on public lands, ditched the UN’s climate conference, and, one of my favorites that I’ve blogged extensively about - subverted the ESA to allow hunting wolves.
Obama’s legacy on the environment will be apocalyptic.
“An anticipated 6,000 wolves will be gunned down from helicopters above, or killed by poison strychnine bait planted deep in the forest. Biologists and other experts say the cull is misguided, and that their studies have been ignored or suppressed. Worse, they warn that although the government is framing the wolf cull as a temporary measure, it has no foreseeable end.”
During WW-II, battling Russian and German troops agreed to a temporary truce to join forces and kill packs of wild Wolves. The wolves, numbering in the hundreds, were attacking the troops on the front lines because they had no food. Troops used poison, machine guns, and grenades to kill the wolves. Once the wolves were dealt with, the troops went back to killing each other. The aristocrats!
A blog about the interactions between the built environment, people, and nature.
I'm a climate change consultant specializing in climate adaptation, environmental law, and urban planning based in the U.S. In addition to traveling and hiking, I research, publish, and lecture on how cities can adapt to climate change.
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