Bear Baiting- Sample Letter to Your Legislator #1

(Remember to edit this letter and make it your own. Letters make a bigger impact on legislators if they are not identical to others.)

[Date]

Dear [Legislator’s Name],

I am writing to ask your help in bringing an end to an unsporting and inhumane practice that takes place in our state each year: bear baiting. 

Bear baiting requires no hunting and little skill. Bear shooters—they do not deserve to be called hunters—lug piles of garbage into the woods, usually rotting meat, stale pizza, or jelly donuts packed into a barrel. In one instance in Wyoming, a hunter was found baiting bears with parts of a horse’s body stuffed into a barrel and the horse’s head tried to a tree. 

All the hunters have to do is to wait for a bear to arrive and shoot her in the back while she eats her last meal. 

Not only is the practice unsporting, it poses a significant risk to public safety. Some bears take a bullet after feeding on this pile of food for just a few days, while others--perhaps deemed unworthy trophies--are allowed to feed with impunity throughout the entire hunting season. After becoming accustomed to human food, they are likely to become “problem” bears when the food source disappears at the end of the hunting season. They may then seek human food from other sources such as from homes, vehicles or garbage cans. Luring bears into close proximity to humans increases the potential for conflicts between bears and humans, putting humans and domestic animals at risk.

We are routinely cautioned that “A fed bear is a dead bear” and “Don’t feed the bears” through literature produced by the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. There is simply no difference between visitors to national parks who may accidentally leave their garbage accessible to bears and hunters who intentionally haul garbage into the woods for bears to feast on. 

Because of these same concerns, most states ban the baiting of deer, elk and other large game. Bear baiting is an unsporting and dangerous practice that ought to be banned as well.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important issue.

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Address]