The term “ballot box biology” is a myth trophy hunting groups use to maintain their outsized power and influence over wildlife policy.
State Wildlife Management
Valuing Animals As Individuals
Valuing animals as individuals is essential because each animal has intrinsic worth — including unique experiences and emotions— and a vital role within their ecosystem. Individual-level valuation recognizes the importance of compassion and ethical treatment of...
Who Is The Anti-Wolf Lobby?
Journalists in Utah have revealed that an anti-wolf lobby group fraudulently misused public tax dollars to fund its activities, highlighting the entrenched power and corruption of the anti-carnivore lobbyists within state wildlife management.
The ESA Is The Floor, Not The Ceiling
The ESA is the floor, not the ceiling. It can’t bring wolves back to full species recovery, and we can’t rely on its protections forever.
New Mexico Game & Fish Cancels Squirrel Killing Contest
Last week, a Wildlife for All board member, along with other concerned citizens in New Mexico, helped to stop a squirrel killing contest.
Florida Wildlife Federation joins growing list of opponents to Florida “right-to-hunt” ballot initiative
The Florida Wildlife Federation is the latest group—and the first sportsmen’s organization—to announce its opposition to the so-called “Right to Hunt” amendment on the November ballot in Florida.
New Survey Reveals Strong Support for Wildlife Policy Reform
A new nationwide survey conducted by Colorado State University and Project Coyote reveals strong support for criminalizing acts of cruelty to wildlife, including practices like running over wolves with snowmobiles.
Committee Fails To Ban Snowmobiling Over Wildlife
A Wyoming State Legislature Committee had the opportunity to address the public’s overwhelming demand to ban snowmobiling over wildlife—but didn’t.
Hunters Need Predators
Recent research on ungulate diseases like CWD calls into question the wisdom of states’ permissive, in some cases unrestricted, hunting and trapping of cougars, wolves, coyotes and bobcats. If the whole of nature is good, no part can be bad. It’s time for all hunters to recognize predators as allies, not competitors.
Wild Ground is Common Ground
In a recent op-ed, Will Marlier pushes back against the narrative often repeated in the wildlife management community that interest in hunting is waning because young/urban people are disconnected from nature and too immersed in their screens.
Why Florida’s Right to Hunt Amendment is Unnecessary
Wildlife for All has joined with other groups in opposing a so-called “Right to Hunt” ballot initiative in Florida that would tie wildlife managers’ hands and privilege hunters and anglers over the majority of the public. Read more here.
The Role of Wildlife Governance in Rewilding
State wildlife agencies are failing to restore and protect wildlife because they prioritize hunting, fishing and trapping over ecological conservation, according to a new study in the journal Bioscience.
Wyoming Wolf Torture Incident Highlights Need to Drastically Reform State Wildlife Management
Wildlife for All and partners renewed our call for Wyoming and other states to overhaul their wildlife management policies in the wake of an incident of a wolf having been captured and tortured in Wyoming.
A Proposed VT Bill Would Add Nonhunters to the Fish and Wildlife Board
A bill in Vermont would democratize wildlife policy making by adding nonhunters to the state wildlife board. This NY Times article links it to similar efforts to shake up wildlife management in other states.
Webinar: Beyond Wildlife Policy to Social Justice: Rethinking Wildlife Management in the U.S.
Join us for a one-hour introduction to Wildlife for All, a national campaign to reform wildlife management in the U.S. Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11 am PST/2 pm EST.
Hunting group files lawsuit against Washington wildlife commissioner, says more legal actions to come
By Eli Francovich
The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation has sued WDFW Commissioner Lorna Smith, claiming that she is “pushing an extremist view of fish and wildlife management and is adamantly opposed to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.”
Are Butterflies Wildlife? Depends Where You Live
By Catrin Einhorn
“‘State agencies are really at the forefront of conservation for wildlife,’ said Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society, a nonprofit group that advocates for insect conservation. ‘But in these states where they can’t work on insects, or in some cases any invertebrates, they don’t. So, you see things just languish.'”
State wildlife management: A crisis of legitimacy
By Charles Fox
“The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish supports itself by selling off the public’s wildlife for recreational killing. But the vast majority of New Mexicans who do not hunt or fish never agreed to this arrangement, and have virtually no say in how their wildlife is managed.”
Wildlife management in New Mexico needs modernizing
By Bryan Bird & Kevin Bixby
“The time for the [New Mexico Department of Game and Fish] to pivot from being a relic of the past to a modern, wildlife conservation agency is long overdue. With the number of species moving toward extinction growing daily, the need is urgent. The Legislature needs to pass modernization and commission reform legislation while also approving license fee increases. It can do that with HB 184 and HB 486.”
Game Commission reorganization should become law
By Christopher Smith
“House Bill 184 would improve the State Game Commission, the appointed body that oversees the Department of Game and Fish. The legislation, which already passed its first committee, would help create a commission that represents all New Mexicans and insulates wildlife policy decisions from political whims and financial influence.”
