This was posted on IL. Bowhunter Society web site




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Anti-hunters are pressuring federal officials to ban hunting and trapping on an Illinois National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).



The Animal Protection Institute (API), a national anti-hunting group, is urging its supporters to demand that refuge officials prohibit hunting and trapping on Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge near Marion, Illinois. The antis’ action is in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) to guide refuge management. Proposed in Sept. 2005, it recognizes hunting and trapping as “compatible” with the purposes and goals of the refuge and recommends that the activities continue.



The API initiated a similar letter writing campaign in 2005, demanding that refuge officials change long-term use plans for 39 North Dakota refuges and ban hunting, fishing and trapping. Animal rights groups have also tried to ban hunting, fishing and trapping on refuges via the courts.



In 2003, the Fund for Animals filed a lawsuit challenging the USFWS’s decision to open hunting on 39 refuges since 1997. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina granted a motion by the Dept. of Justice, U.S. Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund, Safari Club International and others for a partial dismissal of the suit in September.



Public comment on the Crab Orchard NWR plan will be accepted until Jan. 17, 2006.



Take Action! Sportsmen nationwide should contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in support of the CCP. Explain that hunting, fishing and trapping are priority public uses on refuge units and a vital management tools for sustaining healthy wildlife population.



Correspondence should be mailed to:
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
Attn: Draft EIS Comment
8588 Route 148
Marion, IL 62959



E-mail: conwr-ccp@fws.gov