It is actually part of a wildlife conservation effort. She was following recomendations from the State's Division of Wildlife Conservation:

Doug Larsen, director of the state Division of Wildlife Conservation, from Juneau: "Nobody likes to go out and kill critters," Larsen said. "But when you have a specific objective and that's the way to achieve that objective, sometimes you have to do things that you don't like."

Larsen killings to halt a "precipitous decline" in the Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd. The herd has declined from an estimated 4,100 animals to 600 in six years, in large part because wolves prey heavily on newborn calves.

Of course these so called recommendations were not available to the general public because Gov. Palin would not release them. (suits are pending)
And let's not forget the mass cariboo kills either.
Go back in your cave butch, maybe someone in a low flying airplane will hunt you to exhaustion later!

a "precipitous decline" in the Southern Alaska Peninsula Caribou Herd

Which decline is caused largely by people like Sarah Palin and her husband who run around hunting them for sport on snowmobiles. Funny thing, just as the wolves can't outrun the planes and helicopters, the caribou can't outrun the snowmobiles.

The smell of the blood is quite intoxicating to some people.

Guess I didn't realize you were so against hunting. To each his own, I guess.

Incidentally, snow machines are used to access remote, roadless game areas, not to 'run down' carribou. You couldn't get within 500 yards of a carribou on a snow machine with the noise those things make.

Exactly! Jack

Actually, butch your extreme ignorance is showing! Watch out...you may be pulled from that cave of yours yet.
The newer motors are not as noisy and rather like the buffalo, moose or elk in the lower 48, the some of the creatures are pretty well used to the machines.
Tell me butch, do you support 'cage hunting' too as a form of "recreation"?

Even in predator/prey relationships with very little hunting/habitat pressure, a sine wave pattern is exhibited, with continual "boom and bust" periods. These periods can even be reliably predicted because they are so well documented. In other words, there's no need to "help" a population crash when it's going to crash anyway due to starvation; and there's no need to "help" a population recover unless you irreparably put it out of balance by your "help" in the first place.

Furthermore, this sine wave pattern keeps populations healthy and disease-free by sparing the most vigorous and hearty animals--rather than picking off the biggest and best trophies.

Predator/prey populations are never static! That's not how biology works. Ya'all just need to stop fiddlin' with it and git out of the way.

Oh, and one more thing... friggin' STOP using ecology as a foil for your hobby. Hunting is a stress on the natural system... sometimes allowable (like hunting suburban cougars), but a stress none-the-less because our species no longer follows the sine wave die-off pattern of other predators.

(The population sine wave is basic, long-proven biology, taught up at WSU, Vancouver)

Geico Caveman for VP. He's a real reformer, family-values guy.

portland native,

I am the proud owner of two 2007 Polaris Dragon 700 RMKs. I could get nowhere near a caribou. Dammit! I knew I should have upgraded to the 'Ultra-quiet Caribou Murdering Exhaust Kit'!

There are lots of hunters in PA

Here's a video of Butch on his "Bad Boy" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNd0gAkay5o&feature=related

good for you butch.
I hope the wolves stay out of your way.
Hunting for food is one thing. Chasing down animals for "sport" is quite another matter.

I don't hunt, but I fish "for sport" quite often. I often eat the fish I catch, but sometimes catch and release. So am I an awful, evil person? I admittedly inflict suffering by way of a hook in the mouth of those trout for my own selfish pleasure. Maybe you think so, but I don't think that argument will win over the heartland.

And do you know whether the Palins hunt for sport or for food or both? Or are you just projecting onto them the most evil motive (in your mind) of the three? That seems to be the MO around here...if their is an evil angle that can plausibly or inplausibly be projected onto the Palins, that is the one that's true. I'm sorry this race has stooped to that.

I have a video of Butch going fishing too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUeT3q0nG8M

Hey butch we DO have something in common I fish too! How about that?
I really don't see how this has much to do with the Palins' personal hutting and fishing habits though.
This has to do with Alaska fish and game policies which were not open to the public for either discussion or debate as I currently understand the situation.

Hey, Butch! You need your own blog.

I've tried hunting suburban cougars before, but it's a stress on my natural system...especially when they're married.

Butch,

Rhythmic Gymnastics is a sport.

Actually, Alaska's fish and game policies were recently subject to public debate, in the form of Ballot Measure 2, which would have banned aerial hunting of wolves. The Measure failed 44% to 56%, despite heavy funding from the national environmental lobby.

Rhythmic Gymnastics is NOT a sport. I would support shooting rhythmic gymnasts from low flying aircraft. Better yet, combine two olympic sports into one new and improved one. Synchronized shooting of synchronized divers (or anything synchro).