News & Commentary
Please email media@wildlifeforall.us with press inquiries.
Press Release: Gov. Inslee Listens to Wildlife Advocates, Fills Commission Seats with Individuals Who Take Their Public Trust Duties Seriously
Wildlife for All commends Governor Jay Inslee for appointing three qualified Commissioners with substantial professional expertise in wildlife science and policy to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The Commission sets wildlife policy for the state.
WA State Senate introduces several bills that aim to reform Fish and Wildlife Commission
Members of the Washington State Senate introduced several bills that would make changes to how and who selects the members who serve on the state Fish and Wildlife Commission. One bill would give authority to the Legislature to fill empty commission seats if the Gov doesn’t act within 12 months. The other bill would take away the power of the fish and wildlife commission to hire the Department director and give it to the elected State Lands Commissioner. It would also take away the power of the governor to appoint commissioners, and give it to the State Lands commissioner.
NM Department of Game and Fish considers stocking nonnative hybrid bass
Less than half of New Mexico’s native fish species are protected by law, yet the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish wants to introduce another nonnative fish species into the state. A department spokesperson could not point to any conservation benefits when questioned about the introduction of this species.
Earth Matters Radio Interview with Kevin Bixby
Wildlife for All’s Executive Director Kevin Bixby and Donna Stevens of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance recently had an in-depth conversation about the status of wildlife protection in New Mexico.
Species in Peril: Defending the Arctic Refuge ~ Wildlife for All ~ Picture Ecology
The Species in Peril project at the University of New Mexico (UNM) is a public service initiative. The project was founded in April 2020 to foster conversations, creative production, public scholarship, and grassroots initiatives to bring attention to the intensifying crisis of biological annihilation, which includes human-caused species extinctions, mass die-offs and massacres. In their most recent newsletter they gave Wildlife for All a shoutout.
In tied vote, Washington commissioners suspend controversial spring bear hunt
By Eli Francovich. The Spokesman-Review.
This article highlights an important example of a wildlife commission following the will of the public. Due to an unfilled commission seat, the vote ended in a 4-4 tie putting the controversial bear hunt on hold. The commissioners that voted against the hunt questioned WDFW’s population data and cited public opinion as a main reason for their vote.
Panel won’t ban coyote-killing contests
By Carol Shaye. Reno News & Review.
The article discusses the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners 5-4 vote against banning coyote-killing contests. However, as the article mentions, at least one Nevada lawmaker has vowed to bring the issue to the Nevada Legislature if the wildlife board failed to impose a ban. Changing the composition of the commission is also something legislators may consider.
Indigenous activists seek high-level help for gray wolf push
By Michael Doyle. Greenwire.
This story is noteworthy because indigenous activists are forthrightly declaring wolf management by the states to be a “social justice” issue. We couldn’t agree more.
How a B.C. conservation officer’s refusal to kill two bear cubs sparked a debate about managing wildlife
By Nancy MacDonald. Originally published in The Globe and Mail.
Although this story is about events in Canada, it illustrates how provincial wildlife management, like its counterpart in state wildlife management in the U.S., is driven by an ethos of domination (often leading to the death of wildlife) rather than coexistence, a predictable result perhaps of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation’s view of wild animals as soulless resources.
New campaign with New Mexico roots pushes for wildlife management reform
By Hannah Grover. Originally published in The New Mexico Political Report.
A newly launched initiative seeks to reform wildlife management not only in New Mexico, but across the nation.
Does culture war fit with the state’s hunting values?
By Henry Redman. Reprinted by permission.
This article from the Wisconsin Examiner illustrates how wildlife issues are about much more than wildlife. They are about values, identities and power, and ultimately about who gets to decide what our relationship with non-human nature and the planet will be.
Opinion: Fighting Hate With Love and Lawsuits
By Michelle Lute. Originally published in Earth Island Journal.
Wisconsin’s war on wolves is a war on its people, particularly the disenfranchised voices that speak up for a moral, just life. But their voices will not be silenced.
Opinion: Missouri’s upcoming black bear trophy hunt is reckless and irresponsible
By Cody Atkinson. Originally published in the Missouri Independent
With its trophy hunt on black bears in the state set to begin in a few days, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has taken a reckless and irresponsible turn. A turn against science. A turn against ecology. A turn against public values.
Like many wildlife agencies around the country, and driven by its governor-appointed commission, the MDC is trapped in a century-old mindset, one that assumes we must kill bears to conserve them.
Opinion: Nevada’s wildlife commission is broken. Is it beyond repair?
By Patrick Donnelly. This piece originally appeared in the Nevada Independent
Nevada’s Board of Wildlife Commissioners is intentionally designed to protect the entrenched interests of people who shoot wildlife. By promoting policies exclusively designed to improve opportunity for hunters, they have perpetuated an unjust system which benefits a small number of Nevadans.
Wildlife for All national campaign launched to transform wildlife conservation
(LAS CRUCES, NM) Today the Southwest Environmental Center announced that it is launching Wildlife for All, a national campaign to reform state wildlife management to be more ecological-driven, democratic and compassionate.
“This is the culmination of our three decades of advocacy for wildlife,” said Kevin Bixby, executive director. “Wildlife management in every state is stuck in the past, a legacy of when wild animals were viewed as inanimate resources, without consideration of their importance in natural ecosystems or intrinsic worth. It’s time to align our conservation efforts with modern ecological knowledge and changing public attitudes. We can’t stave off the Sixth Extinction crisis without this kind of systemic change.”
Why Hunting Isn’t Conservation, and Why It Matters
Why Hunting Isn’t Conservation, and Why It Matters By: Kevin Bixby September 22, 2020 In late December 2014, I received a call from a friend. He and his wife had made a gruesome discovery while exploring the desert outside of Las Cruces. They had stumbled upon the...
Why Hunting isn’t Conservation and Why it Matters – Kevin Bixby
Kevin Bixby is the Executive Director of the SW Environmental Center and recently published an article titled “Why Hunting Isn’t Conservation and Why It Matters." I asked him on the show for this episode to help me better understand what he means by this. Listen to...
Grizzly Times Podcast – Episode 39 with Dave Stalling
David Stalling is a hunter, angler, writer, activist and former Force Recon Marine! A devoted conservationist, David here shares his experience as “an anti-hunter who hunts,” a serious bow hunter who has rejected the high-tech gear of many hunters – and the kind of...