WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Rocky Mountain National Park Elk in the Crosshairs

WildEarth Guardians howls for a Preemptive Ceasefire
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

DENVER-Today, WildEarth Guardians made an official request to key members of the Obama Administration for an immediate moratorium on the use of volunteer sharpshooters to kill elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. The request indicates that the elk shooting plan should be reconsidered in light of the longstanding moratorium on firearms in national parks-a rule only recently lifted by the Bush Administration-and in light of the economic implications of the culling plan itself.

“National Parks are supposed to be sanctuaries from firearms,” said Rob Edward of WildEarth Guardians. “The National Park Service is using members of the public to solve with rifles that which should be the bailiwick of wolves,” said Edward.

Edward indicated that the culling, which uses public volunteers, should be halted until the Administration can fully consider the economic and safety implications of the plan. Specifically, Edward challenged the Administration to halt the plan until it reconsiders a January 15, 2009 Bush Administration rule that lifted the ban on guns in national parks.

In early January, National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court (D.C.) that seeks an injunction against enforcement of the Bush Administration’s new regulation allowing loaded, concealed firearms in national parks. The two organizations argue that the rule change increases the risk to visitors, park staff, and wildlife. Click here to view press release.

“Clearly, there is much ado about the issue of loaded weapons in our nation’s parks. Using members of the public to cull elk in these parks simply raises the urgency of this debate,” said Edward. “The Park Service should take a deep breath, and then refocus on the real problem, which is the lack of wolves in Rocky Mountain National Park.” Edward urged the Administration to act swiftly.

Background

In an attempt to rescue aspen and willow in Rocky Mountain National Park, the government plans to cull hundreds of elk each year, as part of an effort to stem the decline of trees that have withered under intense browsing from sedentary elk. During the planning process, the National Park Service flatly ignored scientific evidence generated from Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere, which links the decline of aspen and willow in western ecosystems to the eradication of wolves from the West. That same scientific evidence shows that the restoration of wolves has yielded a swift, dramatic and sustained benefit to native plants.

One of the primary mandates of the National Park Service is to manage lands under their control in a manner that ensures the protection and restoration of natural ecological process. In 2008, WildEarth Guardians filed a legal challenge, which underscores this mandate from Congress.

“Just as we must restore fire to balance and rejuvenate wild landscapes,” said Edward, “so must we restore wolves and the unique ecological process they drive in the American West.”

View elk moratorium letter here.