Strange Myths About Hunting In America’s National Parks

A controversial, yet delicate subject is hunting in America’s national parks.  Some groups argue it’s safe and helps control the wildlife populations; others say No way!  Too dangerous and will upset the predatory food chain and the park’s ecosystem. What’s more, some mysterious myths have been promulgated about hunting in the parks.  With this article, I’ll dispel the myths and reveal which national parks actually allow hunting and why.

MYTH 1:

There are those who believe in the reality of Sasquatch/Bigfoot, and that the creature migrates to those national parks that prohibit any and all hunting.  The premise is that Sasquatch is intelligent enough to know which parks don’t allow hunting and so establishes home base in parks where he is in less peril of being captured or killed.  If this were true, hunting in America’s national parks would become a “twilight zone” of badly targeted, lethal gunfire by overzealous Sasquatch hunters.  Surely, the Sasquatch, if real and a Primate, would possess intelligence higher than other wildlife, but there is no proof of either point.  And, if Sasquatch wanted to avoid human contact, he would stay away from all national parks, to which millions of visitors flock each year.

MYTH 2:

 Navajo Chief Henry Chee Dodge designated Mukuntuweap Canyon an official national park in 1901.  Chief Dodge lived about 90 years from mid- 19th Century to mid-20th and was politically influential, but he did not have the authority to make Mukuntuweap Monument a US National Park.  This was done by President Taft in 1919 by naming it Zion National Park about eighteen years after President Theodore Roosevelt designated Mukuntuweap a national monument.  Widely recognized as the definitive conservation president, Roosevelt set aside more than 230 million acres of land for posterity. He presided over the creation of the National Forest Service and signed the Antiquities Act, which granted presidents the power to protect natural landmarks. He used that authority to create eighteen monuments and establish five national parks during his tenure as president.

MYTH 3:  

Hunting in US national parks is strictly prohibited.  Though many members of the US Forest Service and Park Service believe this to be true, it is not.  The fact is that roughly one third of US national parks allow hunting, including the following.

1. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, in Eastern Washington State, is allowed under the Code of Federal Regulations 36 CFR, Section 7.55(A).
2. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in the State of Michigan, has hunting seasons.  A park of over 71,000 acres, Sleeping Bear has a special deer hunt each year on North Manitou Island.  One of the park’s official statements reads: Both hunters and non-hunters are asked to follow a few park rules and regulations and to work together in order to have a safe and enjoyable visit.  The deer hunt on North Manitou Island is a prime example of how hunting in America’s national parks is critical to maintaining a healthy deer herd and ecosystem.  In 1926, four bucks and five does (whitetails) were introduced on the island. By 1981 there were an estimated 2,000 deer on the island, says the National Park Service. “The island vegetation could not sustain such a large herd, so many deer starved. The surviving deer overbrowsed the island, eating all they could find. By reducing the deer herd with hunting, the vegetation has recovered significantly.”
3. Grand Teton National Park became official in 1950.  Immediately following national park designation, an annual elk hunt was authorized on the 310,000 acres to regulate the park’s elk population before the animals migrate to winter feeding grounds near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
4. Amistad National Recreation Area, in Texas, assigns five public hunting areas for archery and shotgun use.  This 58,500-acre park has whitetail deer, javelin, rabbits, mouflon sheep, turkeys, and blackbuck antelope. No rifles or handguns are permitted.
5. Assateague Island National Seashore has 41,000 acres of land to hunt on.  Whitetail deer and Sika are prevalent.

Hunting in America’s national parks has provided revenue to the government and maintained numbers of wildlife populations that help to preserve habits and ecosystems.

Strange Myths About Hunting In America’s National Parks

Article By: Clear Content Marketing