Alaska: President Takes Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence; Alaska's Congressional Delegation Responds By MARY KAUFFMAN - The 44th President of the United States Barack Obama speaking to the nation Tuesday announced he is taking executive action to reduce gun violence in the United States. When making the announcement, Obama said, he was not speaking to debate the last mass shooting, but to do something to try to prevent the next one.

“We know that we can’t stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one?” President Obama, 01/05/16
Photo grab from White House video

Obama asked during his speech, "How did we get here? How did we get to the place where people think requiring a comprehensive background check means taking away people’s guns?"

President Obama said, "Now, I want to be absolutely clear at the start -- and I’ve said this over and over again, this also becomes routine, there is a ritual about this whole thing that I have to do -- I believe in the Second Amendment. It’s there written on the paper. It guarantees a right to bear arms. No matter how many times people try to twist my words around -- I taught constitutional law, I know a little about this -- I get it. But I also believe that we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment."

In his speech Obama said, We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can’t yell “fire” in a theater. We understand there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people. We cherish our right to privacy, but we accept that you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane. It’s not because people like doing that, but we understand that that’s part of the price of living in a civilized society."

During Tuesday's comments, Obama said, "Every single year, more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns -- 30,000. Suicides. Domestic violence. Gang shootouts. Accidents. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters, or buried their own children. Many have had to learn to live with a disability, or learned to live without the love of their life."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in 2013, there were 33,636 gun deaths. Suicides made up 63% (21,190). Homicides made up 33% (11,208). The remaining 4% (1,345) of the gun deaths included unintentional discharges, legal intervention/war and undetermined.

The President said the United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people. "We are not inherently more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesn't happen in other advanced countries. It’s not even close. And as I’ve said before, somehow we’ve become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal."

Obama said instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates -- despite the fact that there’s a general consensus in America about what needs to be done. That’s part of the reason the President is going to hold a town hall meeting this Thursday in Virginia on gun violence. "Because my goal here is to bring good people on both sides of this issue together for an open discussion."

New Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and Make Communities Safer include keeping guns out of the wrong hands through background checks; increasing mental health treatment and reporting to the background check system; & shaping the future of gun safety technology. (Click here to read the detailed Fact Sheet)

"How did this become such a partisan issue? Republican President George W. Bush once said, “I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure that guns don’t get into the hands of people that shouldn’t have them.” Senator John McCain introduced a bipartisan measure to address the gun show loophole, saying, “We need this amendment because criminals and terrorists have exploited and are exploiting this very obvious loophole in our gun safety laws.” Even the NRA used to support expanded background checks. And by the way, most of its members still do. Most Republican voters still do," said Obama.

Obama said what’s often ignored in this debate is that a majority of gun owners actually agree. Obama said, "A majority of gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking feud from inflicting harm on a massive scale."

Alaska's Congressional Delegation responded Tuesday to President Obama's announcement of his decision to take executive action to reduce gun violence.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said in a prepared statement, "Our Second Amendment rights are non-negotiable. Many Alaskans depend on the Second Amendment to safeguard their way of life, whether it’s for personal protection, subsistence, or sports and recreation. I have worked hard to ensure that these rights are not infringed upon and I will continue to do so.

Murkowksi said, “The President is no friend of practical bipartisan solutions to the gun violence problem, and he is no friend of the Second Amendment. He refuses to work with Congress on initiatives that will actually fix gun violence issues such as the bipartisan Grassley-Cruz proposal that I co-sponsored in 2013 or the bipartisan Cassidy-Murphy mental health legislation in the current Congress which I also co-sponsored. Instead, President Obama is yet again sidestepping Congress to act with the stroke of a pen on an issue concerning our Constitutional rights." - More...
Wednesday PM - January 06, 2016

Southeast Alaska: Endangered Species Protection Denied to Alaska’s 'Alexander Archipelago Wolf' By MARY KAUFFMAN - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced Tuesday it would not list the Alexander Archipelago wolf as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

Alexander Archipelago wolf
Image: J. Cannon, B. Armstrong, Courtesy Audubon Alaska Oct. 2015 Report

The decision responded to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace requesting Endangered Species Act protection for Alaska's Alexander Archipelago wolf. Tuesday's announcement by FWS stated that although the Alexander Archipelago wolf faces several stressors throughout its range related to wolf harvest, timber harvest, road development, and climate-related events in Southeast Alaska and coastal British Columbia, the best available information indicates that populations of the wolf in most of its range are likely stable.

Although the FWS decision said they didn’t consider the Prince of Wales Island wolves to be separate from the broader Alexander Archipelago wolf population throughout Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, the agency acknowledged “…that the taxonomic status of wolves in southeastern Alaska and coastal British Columbia is unresolved and that our knowledge of wolf taxonomy in general is evolving as more sophisticated and powerful tools become available…”, leaving the door open if new research warrants reconsideration.

“We are deeply disappointed by this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision, which will allow the Tongass National Forest timber program to continue to liquidate the magnificent old-growth forests of southeast Alaska, needed by the wolf and its prey,” said Larry Edwards, Greenpeace forest campaigner and longtime resident of the region. “There’s no question that the continued existence of Alexander Archipelago wolf populations in southeast Alaska is threatened.”

“This decision won’t help the wolves on Prince of Wales Island, but having the agency name logging as the major stressor of the wolf population calls on the Forest Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game to step up and make management decisions that will prevent the wolves’ continued decline in the Tongass. Ultimately, the Forest Service needs to end old-growth clearcut logging on the Tongass,” says Melanie Smith, Audubon Alaska’s Director of Conservation Science.

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) welcomed the FWS’ decision that no listing was warranted and that wolves on Prince of Wales and nearby islands do not qualify as a distinct population segment for listing under the ESA. Murkowski, in comments to the Service in the Summer of 2015, argued that the listing was not needed given changes in hunting and trapping quotas by the Alaska Board of Game and because of policies of the Service. Murkowski also expressed concern that a listing could have affected timber harvesting and other activities on both public and private lands on Prince of Wales Island, and perhaps in other parts of Southeast.

Murkowski said in a prepared statement, “Alaska has the largest population of gray wolves in America. There is agreement that the gray wolf population in Southeast Alaska is healthy and stable in most places and growing in others,” Murkowski said. “At a time when timber harvesting on Prince of Wales Island is barely a tenth of its levels of two decades ago, the attempt by some environmental groups to list the wolf seemed to be an effort solely to end the last of the remaining timber industry in Southeast Alaska. Fortunately, it did not work.”

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) said in a prepared statement, “I commend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for following sound science, instead of the political whims of Outside interest groups, to determine that the wolves in Southeast Alaska do not warrant protection as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. I’m also pleased that the agency determined that wolves on Prince of Wales and nearby islands do not qualify as a distinct population segment for listing consideration under the ESA.

Sullivan said, “As I wrote to Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe last month, the ‘listing of wolves in Southeast Alaska will have serious consequences, particularly in regards to land management on the Tongass National Forest and on the few private, state, and Alaska Native owned lands in the region.’ I sent Director Ashe the most recent studies on the wolves and urged him not to make a decision lightly. I’m pleased that he and his agency listened to Alaskans on this matter. And I hope that the agency will continue to make its determinations based on science rather than politics.”

Alaska Congressman Don Young (R-AK) also welcomed the news from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In a prepared statement Young said, “I appreciate the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service and hope they follow suit with this sound approach on other potential listings in Southeast, Alaska, including the Yellow Cedar,” said Congressman Don Young. “While this decision is welcomed and comes at a time when the State needs some good news, I have no doubt that outside organizations will attempt to revisit this issue in the future. Their imaginations know no end when attempting to manipulate the system to support their extreme agendas and goals.”

The Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace support listing the Alexander Archipelago wolves as endangered. They say the wolves den in the root systems of very large trees and hunt mostly Sitka black-tailed deer, which are also dependent on high-quality old forests, especially for winter survival. A long history of clearcut logging on the Tongass National Forest, private and state-owned lands has devastated much of the wolf’s habitat on the islands of southeast Alaska. In particular, the Tongass is currently logging 6,000 acres of old-growth forest in the Big Thorne timber sale, the biggest old-growth sale in more than 20 years. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 06, 2016