Palin & Judd Lock Horns Over Plane Kills

[cathryn]

Palin & Judd Lock Horns Over Plane Kills

(Feb. 5) - 'De-Lovely' actress Ashley Judd and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have locked caribou horns over a controversial program up north that allows killing wolves and bears from airplanes.



Judd appears in a new video for Defenders of Wildlife, saying "It's time to stop Sarah Palin and stop this senseless savagery." In Alaska, private citizens are permitted to shoot wolves from the air or conduct land-and-shoot hunting of wolves in rural areas. Palin says it's an improtant tool to sustain moose and caribou population for the state's subsistence hunters.

Skip over this content Following the release of the video, Palin shot back at Judd and the wildlife group in her own statement: "It is reprehensible and hypocritical that the Defenders of Wildlife would use Alaska and my administration as a fundraising tool to deceive Americans into parting with their hard-earned money ... Shame on the Defenders of Wildlife for twisting the truth in an effort to raise funds from innocent and hard-pressed Americans struggling with these rough economic times."

Defenders of Wildlife is based in Washington, D.C., and has field offices in nine mostly Western states plus Mexico and Canada.

Palin belittled the organization, founded in 1947, as a "fringe group."

"We're not radical in any sense," said Wade Willis, the Alaska representative for the group. He says its local constituency is comprised of longtime Alaskans, as are the group's two paid employees in the state.

"Alaskans depend on wildlife for food and cultural practices which can't be sustained when predators are allowed to decimate moose and caribou populations," Palin said in a statement distributed by her office. "Our predator control programs are scientific and successful at protecting vulnerable wildlife."

It's not the first time Defenders of Wildlife has targeted Palin. Last fall, when Palin was John McCain's running mate, it ran ads in several states denouncing Palin and the predator control program, and raised more than $1 million. Judd had campaigned for President Barack Obama during the campaign.


http://www.popeater.com/movies/article/sarah-palin-ashley-judd-feud/331068