Changes to wildlife management that include goals of the animal-rights movement rarely take place in sudden , monumental shifts . Instead , the slide down the slippery slope often begins as a small change to game commissions , a policy question or petition originating from seemingly concerned individuals ( usually aligned with animal-advocacy organizations ). Other times , it ’ s legal action questioning a policy , demanding more evidence for a season or forcing the adoption of a regulation . The East and West Coasts hold prime examples |
of states exploring or outright adopting animal-rights rhetoric as part of their policies , but even the most passionate hunting states are susceptible to this slide .
WASHINGTON A bastion for animal rights , the Evergreen State has anti-hunting game commissioners who permanently ended “ recreational ” hunting for spring black bears , and who have recently questioned salmon and steelhead fishing regulations , beaver trapping and even snow goose hunting . Now , the Biden administration has renewed Obama-era plans to establish a
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permanent and sustainable grizzly bear population to the North Cascades . Not only does this add another predator species to the wolves , mountain lions , black bears and coyotes in the state , it hands animal extremists legal leverage to argue that grizzly bears in Montana , Idaho and Wyoming can ’ t be delisted until Washington ’ s population is selfsustaining , which is estimated to take 60 to 100 years .
MONTANA When Montana liberalized wolf hunting limits and methods , including the use of
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