WILDLIFE ALERT
The Sierra Club has voted to OPPOSE AB 1548 (Assemblyman Hill). Your letters of opposition are needed now!
AB 1548 would remove the Desert (Nelson) Bighorn Sheep from the state's list of fully protected species and allow the California Fish and Game Commission to allow sport hunting of this subspecies. While relocation of bighorns would be given preference by the bill's language, the ultimate decision on whether or not to hunt bighorn would be up to the Commission.
The Desert Bighorn (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is declining throughout its range in southern California due to many factors including disease, competition with domestic and feral livestock, poaching, encroachment of civilization on the habitat, etc. Proponents of AB l548, mainly the Department of Fish and Game, the Fish and Game Commission, and sport trophy hunting groups, assert that by shooting ("herd adjustments") bighorn, the numbers can be thinned on those herds which are over-grazing the range.
The Sierra Club opposes AB 1548 because sport hunting is the wrong way to manage a sensitive species in decline. AB 1548 mandates a number of studies of the status of bighorn - these are worthy provisions. But the key section of the bill authorizing sport hunting should be vigorously opposed.
If "herd adjustments" are necessary for some nelsoni herds, we favor relocation of excess animals to other habitats suitable for maintaining this subspecies. If shooting is the only alternative, expert marksmen trained by the Department should do the shooting, not amateur hunters. Opening a trophy hunt will encourage poaching and lead to a loss of animals in the herd in "trophy" condition, rather than thinning of weak or "less fit" individuals.
Letters of opposition should go to the following state Senators and your own state Senator:
Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee
Robert Presley (Riverside)
Jim Nielsen (north Central Valley)
John Garamendi (Motherlode - Stanislaus Co.)
Gary Hart (Santa Barbara)
Dan McGorquoda1e (San Jose) Milton Marks (San Francisco)
Henry Mello (Santa Cruz, Monterey)
H.L. Richardson (Los Angeles) John Seymour (Orange Co.)
ADDRESS FOR ALL: State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814
For further information: Mark Palmer (415) 658-7470