Alert: New Head Of CA Fish & Game Hunted & Killed Mountain Lion For Sport - Bragged & Posed For 'Trophy' Photo! Please all, take a moment to express your outrage and forward this alert widely to others. We must demand that Dan Richard be removed from his post immediately! http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/ca_fish_and_gam... CA Fish and Game Commission President Shoots Cougar and Boasts About Hunt in Magazine by Maureen Nandini Mitra <http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/oeuvre/maureen-mitra/> -- February 17, 2012 Humane Society of US Urges Californians to Voice Concern About Dan Richards' Leadership Apparently Dan Richards, the new president of California Fish and Game Commission likes to hunt and is willing to travel to states that allow people to kill big wildlife --- environment, conservation, and simple compassion be damned. Photo courtesy www.ForestWander.com <http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/ca_fish_and_game_comission_president_shoots_cougar_and_boasts_about_it/www.ForestWander.com>We can't post the photograph in question here since it might be subject to copyright. To view Richards with his "trophy", click here <http://www.wonews.com/images/image-manager/2012/feb/3%20yrs%20110%20lb%20cat.jpg>. Yesterday, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), CA, posted a picture of the Richards holding up a dead mountain lion he shot during a hunting expedition in Idaho. It's illegal to shoot mountain lions in California. So Richards schlepped over to another state to fulfill his bloodlust. A little snooping around on the Net turned up the site where the original photo was posted --- a blog in Western Outdoor News <http://www.wonews.com/Blog.aspx?id=1646> --- a fishing and hunting weekly. Here's the caption accompanying the photograph that Richards himself supplied the publication. */"NEW COMMISSION PRESIDENT CELEBRATES A SUCCESSFUL HUNT --/*/California Fish and Game commissioner Dan W. Richards travelled deep into the wicked terrain of Idaho's Flying B Ranch to fulfill a long-held goal. "It was the most physically exhausting hunt of my lifetime. Eight hours of cold weather hiking in very difficult terrain. I told the guides I appreciated the hard work. They were unbelievably professional, first class all the way," he said. Richards said he took the big cat over iron sights using a Winchester Centennial lever action .45 carbine. Asked about California's mountain lion moratorium, Richards didn't hesitate. *"I'm glad it's legal in Idaho." *(emphasis added) / Wow! The blog also notes that Richards is outspoken opponent of the Marine Life Protection Act <http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/> (MLPA) that requires the state to improve the way it protects the ocean. Richards' decision to "not only hunt an animal whose protection has twice been approved by California voters, but to post a photo showing his glee over the trophy kill, undermines Californians' confidence in the state's leadership and commitment to wisely managed natural resources," HSUS' California director Jennifer Fearing said in a statement today. "Richards' example stands in stark contrast to the work by dozens of stakeholders -- including The HSUS -- which just yesterday culminated in the adoption of an interim strategic vision <http://vision.ca.gov/docs/Final_EC_Adopts_ISV_120216.pdf> for California's fish and wildlife," she added. The Humane Society is urging Californians to contact the Fish and Game Commission <http://www.fgc.ca.gov/contact/> and voice their concerns about Richards' leadership role. I urge you to heed their call. PS: When I contacted the Fish and Game Commission this afternoon I was told that their phones had been "ringing off the hook" but there were no senior officials around today to field the calls. *Maureen Nandini Mitra <http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/oeuvre/maureen-mitra/>, Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal.*Maureen Nandini Mitra photo In addition to her work at the Journal, Maureen is a columnist for The Faster Times <http://thefastertimes.com> and writes for several other magazines and online publications in the US and India. A journalism graduate from Columbia University, her work has appeared in the San Francisco Public Press <http://sfpublicpress.org>, The New Internationalist <http://www.newint.org/>, Sueddeutsche Zeitung <http://www.sueddeutsche.de>, /The Caravan <http://www.caravanmagazine.in>/ and Down to Earth <http://downtoearth.org.in>.
