It has become obvious that Theodore Roosevelt National Park superintendent, Valerie Naylor, prefers animal slaughter over hunting. It also appears that Governor John Hoeven is treading lightly or isn’t aware that what is intended by some and the reality of others, aren’t jiving. Hoeven announced that he supports using “qualified volunteers” to shoot elk in TRNP, while Naylor says that if “qualified volunteers” are considered sharpshooters they must abide by the rules she dictates, according to the Bismark Tribune.
Park superintendent Valerie Naylor said she’s already asked park officials to clarify whether qualified volunteers fit the definition of a sharpshooter.
In any case, using volunteers as sharpshooters would require that they be closely controlled, accompanied by park staff, told sex and other characteristics of the animal to kill and the elk meat would be donated to charity, Naylor said.
She said those conditions are used for sharpshooters in other park management actions and qualified volunteers would have a much different experience than a typical hunt.
She said she expects to get some clarification on the matter in a relatively short time, based on her request and the governor’s personal interest.
So now the question is, is the Governor supporting public hunting of the elk or does he know that volunteers could be used as sharpshooters to slaughter elk? In my own assessment and commentary on this issue, as with the similar circumstances within the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, volunteers would be used to “hunt” the elk. That means a licensed hunter, given a permit for a specific animal to harvest, would do so in the traditional sense. This would include dressing the animal, removing it from the woods and fields and taking the meat home for consumption.
Again, the question is, what is the Governor supporting? It’s clear Naylor is determined to not allow hunters to do what they do and they would gladly do it for nothing or little or no fee cost. Would volunteers, i.e. hunters, willingly line up and give of their time to shoot elk that have been corralled into pens by helicopters as Naylor suggests?
Naylor said it’s still not certain that the final decision will involve any form of killing and hunting by sharpshooters, whether or not they include volunteer sportsmen.
Alternately, the park may use helicopters to push the elk into holding corrals for killing, processing and meat distribution to food banks and charities. It also is looking at killing and testing enough elk to insure there is no chronic wasting disease among the survivors and then transferring them.
I hope that they wouldn’t.
Governor Hoeven had contacted Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and asked him to intervene, meanwhile, Sen. Byron Dorgan has submitted legislation(pdf) that would give the Interior Secretary the authority to open the park so that hunters can thin the herd. But, Dorgan’s bill only states that licensed hunters could be used in accordance with the Elk Management Plan of the Teddy Roosevelt National Park. It does not specifically say that licensed hunters will be able to hunt the elk in the traditional sense.
sec. 3. MANAGEMENT OF ELK POPULATION.
(a) In General. -Nothing in section 4 of the Act of March 2, L929 (16 U.S.C- 198c), or any other provision of law, prohibits the secretary from permitting an authorized individual to use lethal means to reduce the population of elk located within the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in accordance with the elk management plan.
(b) Consultation -The Secretary shall consult with the appropriate agency of the state to determine the level of participation of the appropriate agency in carrying out this Act.
(c) Limitation of Authority -The Secretary shall not permit an individual to take any elk located with in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park for any purpose other than to carry out the elk management plan.
I’m not sure that Dorgan’s intent of the bill is so that TRNP authorities can use volunteers to do their slaughtering for them and not see any of the rewards for their efforts.
I have sent Mr. Dorgan an e-mail requesting clarification.
Mr. Dorgan,
Could you kindly answer me a question. Your legislation to allow for the hunting of elk to reduce populations in Teddy Roosevelt National Park, I believe is intended to allow for hunting of elk in the park. However, the wording of the bill seems to say that it gives the park superintendent the authority to use “qualified” hunters to implement the Elk Management Plan. With what I am hearing from superintendent Valerie Naylor is if this authority is granted, she would use hunters as sharpshooters, which may involve using helicopters to corral the animals and then be slaughtered.
As a representative of the hunting community, I would not want to see licensed hunters be used in this capacity and I don’t think there would be too many who would.
Could you please verify for me what the intent of your proposed legislation is and whether this wording will accomplish that? I would appreciate your help and I await your response.–
Thomas K. Remington
Managing Editor
U.S. Hunting Today
Black Bear Blog
tom@ushuntingtoday.com
There seems to be some serious discrepancies between what many of us in the hunting community, myself included, are being led to believe about the use of licensed hunters to reduce elk populations and what park authorities are saying they will allow. Governor Hoeven may be supporting hunting in the traditional sense or he could be knowingly or unknowingly, supporting the use of licensed hunters as sharpshooters whose only function will be the slaughtering of elk.
Hopefully, I will soon hear from Sen. Dorgan about his legislation and what it will realistically provide. In the meantime, for those interested, I would suggest contacting your representatives and finding out.
Tom Remington
