President Donald Trump on Monday signed a resolution approved by the U.S. House and Senate to revoke a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule, overturning former president Barack Obama's wildlife protection law.
Under the previous wildlife protection law introduced by Obama, it was illegal for hunters to use aggressive and unfair tactics to capture grizzly bears, wolves and other Alaskan wildlife. However, the Alaskan hunting bill signed by Trump allows hunters to shoot hibernating bears, set up traps when wolves are resting with their cubs and use aircraft to track and kill wildlife refuges.
Metro UK cited that Alaska is home to 16 national wildlife refuges, which together cover 76 million acres of land.
The bill was co-authored by Ronald Young, Republican Congressman for Alaska, Independent News mentioned. The National Rifle Association (NRA), America's highly influential gun rights lobby, has also supported the bill.
"What the House did today should shock the conscience of every animal lover in America," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, in a statement. "If the Senate and President concur, we'll see wolf families killed in their dens, bears chased down by planes or suffering for hours in barbaric steel-jawed traps or snares."
Trump's administration has been repealing a number of other federal climate and conservation laws put forward by the Obama administration.
READ: Trump's Move to Abolish Clean Water Rule Puts US Drinking Water at Risk
Last March, he has also signed an Executive Order to dismantle the Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the United States. Dismantling the rule will leave pollution standards to individual states, risking the safety of those that share waterways with other people in other borders.
In the same month, his proposed federal budget revealed cutting the funds of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), slashing $2.6 billion from the agency that is responsible for most of America's climate change programs and initiatives.
READ: Border Security Over Environment: Trump's Budget Cuts Climate Change Funding