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Who benefited most from charity Alaska bear hunts for veterans?When Corey Rossi took a trio of Outside men on a 2008 bear hunt that would eventually cost him the Alaska wildlife director's job he'd long coveted, a lot was happening in the tiny village of Tyonek just across the brown waters of Cook Inlet from Alaska's largest city. Four years later, the poaching-related charges against Rossi that came to rock the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are now much in the news, but little has been revealed about the plans then afoot to make the area around Tyonek the black-bear slaughtering capital of North America. Rossi and his crew weren't the only ones there. There were a whole lot of others -- dignitaries and minor-league celebrities with more yet to come. Eventually, the first charity ever created by Joe the Plumber -- yes, the infamous Joe the Plumber, the Larry the Cable Guy of American politics sans the comedy act -- would spring from the pile of bear hides left after these hunts. Joe was not previously known for either his philanthropy or his ability to bankroll charities. But it helps to do good works if you're planning to run for Congress, which Joe -- real name Joseph Wurzelbacher -- is now doing. The one-time plumber who became famous for confronting presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trial is now himself campaigning for a seat in Ohio, where he has been forced to pay himself a salary out of campaign donations because he has no other visible means of support. Charity, much more than any possible poaching, was the big thing going on in Tyonek in 2008. And there is no doubt a small group of paralyzed veterans came to benefit greatly from being given opportunities to spend time in the wilderness and hunt bears. But four years on, events in Tyonek -- and those that followed -- have come to raise some disconcerting questions about how charities function in the 49th state. In some cases, it appears invited guests and businesses might actually have benefited more than injured veterans. Some of the participants involved in the 2008 hunt are now refusing to talk and others are dodging questions, making it difficult to sort out exactly what all happened in Tyonek. But there was clearly an interesting collection of characters gathered to try to do some sort of deal, or deals, to help a charity, or charities, kill bears. Motives for these bear hunts appear to have differed, but most claim to have been based on the idea that shooting bears could prove a healing experience for U.S. servicemen coming home after suffering wounds in faraway wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A hunting organization called Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, the organization with which Rossi and his cronies were associated, took the lead in getting things started. SFW sponsored bear hunts in the Tyonek area in the hopes of significantly reducing bear numbers around the community of 180 people. SFW's belief was that reducing bear numbers would result in more moose, a sometimes prey of bears, for hunters to shoot and eat. Alaskans love their moose meat. The Tyonek Native Corp. quickly jumped into the bear-killing business to try and buttress the economics of a struggling lodge by making it something of a Mecca for handicapped hunters. The lodge subsequently hooked up with a Texan promoter named Doug Warren, who'd worked for years for Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), an organization then getting failing grades from a charity-rating service. Warren had an affection for Alaska and was scouting for a place to take veterans hunting. The “Paralyzed Veterans of America” aka PVA leaders have used this as their personal hunting trip. Regular members rarely go, it is mostly National PVA Board members and past Board members. It is a shame, PVA uses its power as a large Veterans organization to raise money for Paralyzed Veterans, but the money stays at the top and with their lawyers. I know, as a paralyzed veteran and I was once a member until I became a whistle blower on their actives. You should see the money they waste on NASCAR events. Alaska has a lot to offer disabled veterans,in the way of experiences that many of them grew up dreaming of,. (The outdoor experiences many of us take for granted),the first charity group to recognize this was wounded warriors,they made a few trips in the begining,mostly fishing and rafting, the reality of outdoor expiriences in Alaska is that it is physicaly dificult even for uncompromised participants and unavoidably expensive, it did not take long before wounded warriors was compromised by admin costs and corporate culture issues to the point that just bringing them here was too expensive,regardless of the volentier work provided on this end,. The quality of volentier work always starts out at the high end,but eventualy deteriorates to the point that the free labor is worth what it costs, thies charities, understandably, are trying to do good works with funding gatherd from sympathetic Americans from all walks of life ,it is something everyone wants to be a part of but their are major corporations that have brought in significan amounts of money as a result of the wars and that is where the money should come from,assuming there is some way to keep dishonest people away from the charity groups, that is hard to do, to an unscrupulose con man,disabled vets are low hanging fruit,. The vets themselves are not by nature vulnerable people, thies are tough aggresive men that have ben physicaly compromised but still mentaly tough, the con man is using them to get to the weakness/compassion in us all,the volentier charity becomes their conduit because it is there,.The hole in our fish and game laws that allowd for people like rossi to slip into hunting for money without paying his dues are just too big to keep the con men out and the outside groups wanting to exploit our resorces, we have a lot of work to do, work we pay our politicians to do, this is all an unfortunate development brought about in most part by the States non existant manegment of wolves during the Knowls administration,and the resulting knee jerk reactions from both sides of that issue,sure bears eat moose calves but degrading black and brown bears to the status of rats is a huge mistake for the state, all of the bad developements atributed to either side of this entire issue can be traced to either some individual or some group from outside that sees Alaska as an oporotunity to expand their cause and suport base,. the Alaska outdoor council has ben fighting either the state or federal government on behalf of its members since 1980's passege of ANILCA,predetor controll has always ben an issue in ALASKAThe Alaska wildlife aliance has ben on the opposing side of any predetor coontrol for as long as it has ben around, they made great strides in the baattle durring the Knowles administration,only causing the AOC,to streangthen its political clout in juneau,where it turned its atention to eliminating bears, in my estimation an enormose mistake both biologicly and politicly, going the direction it was/is going, the state will end up being sued and it will be tough to win that one,the states constitution requires manegment of ALL resorces ,for the benifit of its resedents,that means wolves and bears should be maneged/used in such a way as to promote their value, it will be a long time before the damege done is not evedent,.When we start electing governors again who are not interested in politics as a way of life but as a means to bringing good ideas to fruition for the betterment of the state and its people,The issues we strugle with here are all close to the hart no mater what side we are on,but in order to keep things under controll and in prospective we need to resist the temptation to solicit help from outside, most people and groups from outside do not understasnd how we live here and are only interested in using our issues to generate money or political clout,they do not understand so involving them generaly makes things much worse (.pdf) from the Alaska Legislature It is a shame the governor and legislature; through cash donations of public funds and political appointments to boards and commissions, and most especially charitable associations dedicated to wounded soldiers find themselves with the 'deer in the headlights' look by their enabling of players who are openly associated with organizations like Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife when these players and orgs eventually expose themselves as is happening now in the Rossi affair. The extent to which orgs like Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife have gone and will go to force the commercialization and psudo-privatization of predator control on the majority of Alaskans in order to achieve their goal of turning Alaska into a game farm for the benefit of outside hunters apparently has no bounds. Even wounded soldier charities; with all that comes to a persons mind when we think of the sacrifices and the societal debt to those who serve, are used as standard bearer's to draw our eye''s off the SFW ball. (.pdf) from the Alaska Legislature for example: Let's hope the silver lining to all this Rossi business is a realization that the public process has truly been corrupted by SFW's aim; by hook (wounded soldiers) or by crook (Rossi), to change the culture of Fish and Game management in Alaska and Alaskans respond in such a way as is necessary to re-set the course SFW has put Alaska on. Great investigative journalism; however, the segue at the bottom of page 3 that leaps into Palin's speech at UCS was really poorly done (no fan of SP, but what exactly did she have to do with this article or the bear hunts again?). McDowell sounds like a decent guy, I hope he doesn't become a victim of guilt by association with conmen like Warren and Joe the unregistered plumber. -TomClark Lets see if I can get this straight. Take our physically challenged Veterans out of one Killing Field and putting them into another Killing Field to become what...grounded/restored and all of this in the name of Charity and good intentions? The bears might not think this to be a good thing and whatever happened to "Employ a Vet"? It would seem there is more value to everyone in employment than killing a bear while rubbing shoulders with some celebrity with a drug addled brain who is probably more mentally challenged than one of Americas Vets overcoming a serious battlefield injury. Many veterans have been hunters and fishermen since childhood. It is part of their personal history and self-identity. The veterans in this article have suffered the loss of limbs and are casualties of war who are trying to reconnect with their history and sense of self so that they can come back to the US and live a fulfilling and purpose driven life after being subjected to the inhuman conditions we ask of our soldiers. How dare you pass judgement on any of these veterans. -TomClark Tom Clark, perhaps I was not making myself clear to you. My meaning was not disrespectful of Veterans, but rather that I believe most returning Veterans would find more value in gainful employment than they would find in this particular charity hunt. If this is not clear enough for you then I would have to believe your misguided words might be an indication of running for some political office or other. You think that supporting our veterans is only for guys stumping for political office? The purpose of most Veterans organizations and non-profits are to help reintroduce Veterans to the lives they put on hold to defend our Country. Employment assistance is the focus of some groups; however, personal interests, hobbies and socializing with like minded people are all important aspects of who we are as well. If this is not clear enough to you, then perhaps you should consider changing your moniker. Thanks for clarifying your last post because it seemed to be more concerned about bears than about Vets. -TomClark Healing by killing, What a concept! I've wondered about "Healing Hearts" since I first heard S.E. Cupp bragging about how she shot and skinned a bear. You can find a video on YouTube. Most of the "celebrity" names associated with HH are well known for their extremist right wing politics. I figured this might be a way for wealthy people to write off hunting trips to Alaska as "charitable contributions," and to accumulate good p.r. for themselves. On its website, I found a PDF of a state grant for $80,000, mostly for high priced equipment. Why would the state chip in that much for largely out of state hunters? HH removed the PDF from its website, but you can find it here. http://omb.alaska.gov/ombfiles/12_budget/CapBackup/proj56884.pdf There are an awful lot of flaky charities out there. By claiming they are from some sort of a purportedly "noble" cause, they escape scrutiny by those who are skeptical of such scams. Even the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV) have a lousy record of making actual contributions or providing services to those they claim to serve. Joe the Plumber (Samuel Wurtzelbacher, the plumber's helper) was charging $10,000 speaking fees, during his 15 minutes of fame. |
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