True Alaska mulls ban on bear baiting

By MARY PEMBERTON
The Associated Press

DAVID J. SHEAKLEY / AP A black bear and her cub wander around Juneau, Alaska, in this undated file photo. A ballot measure to outlaw a type of bear hunting has both sides in the debate accusing each other of allowing outside forces to determine what is good for Alaska.

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The Nov. 2 ballot measure would make baiting or intentionally feeding a bear for the purpose of hunting, photographing or viewing the bruin a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Bear baiting — putting out food as a lure — is illegal in 41 states. In Alaska, it can be used only to hunt black bears, not grizzlies.

Citizens United Against Bear Baiting (CUBB) sponsored the initiative. CUBB's 12-member board includes local hunters, an Alaska Native, a bear-viewing guide and one member and one former member of the Alaska Board of Game.

"We are an Alaskan organization, formed by Alaskans for Alaskans," said John Toppenberg, executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, a grass-roots group formed in 1978 that is CUBB's main source of support.

But Alaskans for Professional Wildlife, a political-action committee fighting the initiative, has cast the measure as an attack on Alaskans' way of life.

The theme resonates with many Alaskans, who pride themselves on being independent thinkers who do it their way, regardless of what people in the Lower 48 states think.

"Alaska's heritage is at stake," declares a mailing from the group, which includes state-based groups such as the Alaska Outdoor Council and the Alaska Trappers Association, and national groups such as the National Rifle Association.

Alaska has between 100,000 and 200,000 black bears. Baiting accounts for about 20 percent of approximately 2,100 black bears hunted and killed annually. About 1,300 permits are issued each year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The department contends bear baiting is a useful wildlife-management tool, particularly in areas of Alaska where dense vegetation makes it difficult to get close enough to get a good shot.

"If done right, hunting black bears over bait can be productive, exciting and inoffensive to others," according to the state Fish and Game Web site.
 
Opponents contend the measure was "proposed by out-of-state extremists like Greenpeace and PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]" and by anti-hunting activists.

"On every anti-hunting issue that you face you deal with a group of anti-hunting interests. They are in this collective group. Their target has now become Alaska," said Jerod Broadfoot, a spokesman for the Oregon-based Pac/West Communications, hired by the committee fighting the initiative.

Toppenberg, however, said CUBB is not anti-hunting and is not associated with Greenpeace or PETA.

"We have no history of being against hunting. We support ethical, fair-chase, sound-science hunting. We support subsistence hunting. We support Alaskans going out and meat hunting," he said.

He said opponents are trying to divert attention from the real issue.

"We think the Alaska way to hunt is fair chase. We think putting garbage in our wilderness is not a good practice," he said.

"We think it is a contradiction that hunters should be able to feed bears. We think hunters should be able to hunt bears."

Bear baiting mostly serves urban and out-of-state hunters who want an easy trophy, Toppenberg said.

"That is the main thing bear baiting is all about," he said. "It is a lazy form of hunting."