Protect Our National Wildlife Refuges

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A proposal from the Trump administration threatens to open 2.3m acres of wildlife refuge and fish hatchery land for hunting and fishing.1 If passed, the new rules would allow the hunting of deer, bears, elk, mountain lions and migratory birds on public lands across the U.S.

The proposal would also allow alligator hunting at three national wildlife refuges, and sport fishing at hatcheries across the country.2

**At risk are lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System, founded by president Theodore Roosevelt in 1903**3, as well as the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, created the same year to protect threatened birds from hunters.

According to U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, "America's hunters and anglers now have something significant to look forward to in the fall as we plan to open and expand hunting and fishing opportunities across more acreage nationwide than the entire state of Delaware."4

However, this measure is nothing short of an insult to the millions who are sheltering in place, unemployed and struggling to support their families, pleading with the federal government to help them during the global pandemic.

Grand Canyon and Zion national parks have closed to discourage the spread of the Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as have state and local parks across the U.S.3 Meanwhile, Bernhard has also directed the National Park Service to waive entrance fees.

"Instead of responding to pleas by state and local officials for needed agency resources, assistance, and help during this generational pandemic, Secretary Bernhardt made a tone-deaf announcement that by no means could ever make up for the hunting opportunities and wildlife lost as a result of Trump's deregulatory agenda decimating our public lands and environmental protections," said Western Values Project director Jayson O'Neill.2

**We cannot allow these pristine lands to be destroyed in the pursuit of political gain. Sign the petition. Stop this proposal from moving forward, and protect our National Wildlife Refuges!**