Prohibit Sales of Bear Hides in All 50 States

The hunting of bears is legal in areas of the U.S.  Support the immediate halt to the sale of bear hides nationally.  Wildlife management should not be directly effected by this ban.  In many states, the sale of bear hides is presently illegal.  Pass legislation to make this illegal nationwide.  By prohibiting the sale of bear hides, hunters will no longer have a motive to hunt purely for profit at the expense of bears in their natural environment.  Hunting bears should not be a source of income to hunters.  There should only be a minimal effect on wildlife management.  In cases where bears are hunted and killed, responsible hunters will be limited to killing for their own use, following strict guidelines already in place by individual states where licenses to hunt bears are currently issued.

This is a request to preserve the wildlife of Alaska and any other states allowing bear hides to be sold for profit.  The needless slaughter of these animals for profit is clearly inhumane.  Bear population may still be controlled through hunting, but we ask the immediate ban on bear hide sales throughout the United States.  Responsible hunters will not be effected in any way from hunting bears for their own use.  Hunters seeking profit will no longer have incentive to slaughter bears for profit, and will be limited to hunting for personal use in a responsible way.  Overpopulation of bears may easily be managed through other, humane ways.  States control the costs to hunt bears.  They set the limit on how many bears a hunter may kill during a season.  They control the dates of the hunting season.  They are able, if neccesary, to relocate these innocent creatures back to their native habitat and away from any area experiencing bear overpopulation.  I urge you strongly to end the sale of bear hides immediately, managing wildlife responsibly through the many alternative options I have listed here.  Be clear.  The hunting of bears is not effected.  Responsible hunters will still be able to kill bears, but ONLY for their own use.  Additionally, we ask that the practice of hunting bears only for their claws be illegal nationwide.  This is clearly slaughter at the hands of persons too irresponsible to hunt bears at all.

We look forward to your attention to this petition, investigation of the problem, the many alternatives available to responsibly manage our precious wildlife, and action to end this practice of slaughter for money.  In most states, they recognized the potential consequences and have already made this practice illegal.  We ask you follow their example making the sale of bear hides illegal in all 50 states.