4/05/10   Group Distorts Record and Tries to Force New TV Show Off Air

(Columbus) – The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) is one of numerous groups that are condemning the latest public relations smear campaign by the animal rights group Defenders of Wildlife targeting former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Defender’s has sent out numerous e-mail pleas to its membership asking that they contact Discovery Communications Inc., the parent company of the popular Discovery and Animal Planet channels, and urge it to drop a proposed new documentary to be called “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” in which the former governor will star.

The Defender’s campaign largely rests on a gross mischaracterization of then Alaska Gov. Palin’s wolf management plan and recycled outrage at her opposition to designating polar bears as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

According to the Defender’s website, over 125,000 people have signed an online petition the group intends to forward to Discovery’s CEO David Zaslov. 

The USSA has stood up against Defender’s before when the group used the wolf issue during fundraising appeals in 2009.  At that time, the USSA and several other leading conservation groups sent a letter to Gov. Palin outlining support for the policy. 

The USSA stands by this letter as an accurate representation of the policy.  It clarifies that the Alaska program avoids game population decimation, especially for moose and caribou “through a rigorously controlled, scientifically based system.”  To view the full letter, Click Here.

The USSA also shares Gov. Palin’s concerns over the ESA designation of polar bears as endangered. That decision was based largely on an unverifiable 50 year projection of what could happen as a result of global warming.

“Once again, Defender’s of Wildlife have chosen to engage in misleading emotional appeals in order to tarnish the reputation of Gov. Palin,” said Bud Pidgeon, USSA president and CEO.  “Whatever one’s politics, Gov. Palin should not be falsely accused of being anti-conservation when her actions were in concert with wildlife management professionals and verifiable science.”

Take Action!  Sportsmen can let Discovery Communications know that they support their production of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” by writing a letter to David Zaslav.

Inform him that Gov. Palin is regarded as a conservationist by those inside and outside the wildlife management community and the rhetoric coming from Defender’s reflects an unscientific, emotional appeal.  It fails to take into account the science supporting the wolf management program in Alaska as well as the lack of science used to place the polar bear on the endangered species list.

Mr. Zaslav can be reached at:

David M. Zaslav
President and CEO
Discovery Communications Inc.
One Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910

For more information, contact the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance at 614-888-4868 or email info@ussportsmen.org.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.  For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussportsmen.org.