FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, August 18, 1997
CONTACT:
Mike Markarian, (301) 585-2591, MikeM@fund.org
RUTLAND, Vt. -- Today, in their continuing lawsuit to halt Vermont's controversial moose hunt, The Fund for Animals and several Vermont residents filed a 63-page motion for summary judgment in U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont. The plaintiffs seek judgment on the merits of their arguments before the next moose hunt, scheduled for October 18-21, 1997.
The lawsuit charges that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife violated the National Environmental Policy Act by using federal money to fund 75% of the moose hunt. The Court initially dismissed the case as moot because the federal government asked for part of the money back, but last year the U.S. Court of Appeals noted that "the continued federal funding of recommendations for harvest regulation' affecting moose densities' reflects an unambiguous involvement by the federal government in the design, magnitude, and conduct of a moose hunt" and that "the exclusion would likely be overridden by the highly controversial environmental effects' of the financed activity, which is, after all, moose hunting."
"This is the fifth year of Vermont's moose hunt, and this is the fifth year it continues to violate federal law," says Mike Markarian, Director of Campaigns for The Fund for Animals. "This hunt simply must be stopped before more moose and more federal tax dollars are shot to pieces."
Today's motion includes an affidavit from Dr. Brian L. Horejsi, one of North America's leading moose biologists. Dr. Horejsi questions Vermont's moose population estimate, and concludes that "it is my professional opinion that Vermont's moose management program is not founded on either a solid database or on good science. As a consequence of these deficiencies the hunt could well prove detrimental to the long-term survival and viability of Vermont's moose population."
Adds Markarian, "Vermont officials really have no idea how many moose are in the state, and they believe the only way to count the moose is to shoot them. We are just thankful that these people are not also in charge of the U.S. Census Bureau."
The number of moose hunting permits has increased every year, from the original 30 permits in 1993, to 165 permits in 1997, representing a 550% increase. The moose hunt has also expanded geographically from the Northeast Kingdom into additional areas that arguably have very few moose in them, areas that this year will include Montpelier, Barre, and Waterbury.
