Congress Just Made It Officially Legal To Kill Hibernating Bears

Hunters in Alaska can now track and kill hibernating bears thanks to a U.S. House and Senate resolution rolling back Obama-era regulations against the practice.

President Donald Trump  signed the bill into law  on Monday, which rolled back Alaska’s ban on killing the vulnerable bears, along with wolf cubs in dens. It also allows for hunters to target the animals from helicopters.

The Republican-sponsored legislation impacts 76.8 million acres of federally protected national preserves across Alaska. 

Sens. Lisa Murkowski  (R-Alaska) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) took to the Senate floor last month to denounce the previous rule  that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued in August.

Murkowski called it “bad for Alaska, bad for hunters, bad for our native peoples, bad for America ,” and a “direct attack on states’ rights.”

In Sullivan’s argument, the lawmaker said the change was for Alaskans “who value hunting as a deep part of their culture.”