Sarah Palin accused of breaking countryside rules in TV nature show

Source: The Guardian

In her television show tonight, Sarah Palin casts herself as a can-do superwoman of the natural world. She fishes, hikes across glaciers and preaches "respect for the elements" from a speedboat while clad in a yellow cagoule. But the programme has already plunged the Mama Grizzly-in-chief into controversy after a leading conservationist in her adopted home of Alaska accused her of flagrant irresponsibility by fishing too close to protected brown bears.

John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, said scenes in an online trailer for the programme appeared to show the former Republican vice-presidential candidate breaking the rules of Wolverine Creek, a famous spot where bears – and humans – come to fish. "It's clear from the video that she violated the guidelines," he said, calling her actions "a travesty".

In a preview of Sarah Palin's Alaska, a part nature documentary, part candid camera of the daily life of one of America's most controversial political families, the former state governor is seen fishing for salmon with husband Todd and family members. She can be seen apparently holding her rod towards brown bears on the river bank, while the party's boat appears to be closer to the bears than guidelines advise. The Alaska department of fish and game says people in a boat must not fish within 30ft of a bear. "It's clearly irresponsible," said Toppenberg. "She is encouraging the violation of important guidelines. Humans can get too close to the bears."

The irony of a right-wing conservative, who boasts of hunting moose and shooting wolves while campaigning for more oil drilling in Alaska, transforming herself into a nature fan for primetime has not been lost on environmentalists.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/14/sarah-palin-bears-alaska-television

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Sarah Palin and her team come face to face with brown bears.
Photograph: TMZ.com / Splash News

And am repulsed by the commercials.

Sarah is not my cup of tea - she is a two bit actress.

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This is what she means when she says she respects Nature

right next to the mash potatoes...
:thumbsdown:

Next to the Big Mac and fries. I know more about Alaska then her and never been there. I sense that in the back of her mind she's always looking for the next spot to stick a Pizza Hut.
Repubs deserve her.

Nasty and disgusting.

A grifter through and through and she'll always be one.

That is absolutely the best description of her, that I have ever heard.

Well Said!!!:toast:

Anyone who actually thinks she really engages in all those activities isn't paying attention. Nobody does all those things, and still remains perfectly coiffed and clean. Her "adventurous, outdoors woman" image is complete BS, as anyone who has spent any time engaging in the activities in which she allegedly engages knows.

Most people don't take their wardrobe stylist, makeup artist and hairstylist with them when they go fishing for salmon on their husbands' boats.

She is not a good mother. A good mother think of her children first above all else.

The beauty of our largest state, so you would have to watch it with the mute on in order to retain your sanity...lol

...

and make our littles just a little bit better.

Because she's bitter with a terrible texture.

would definitely get me to tune in to her program.

would definitely get me to tune in to her program.







Then we could all vote for the bear in 2012.

Sid

an idiot!

is an idiot

She is asking to be attacked

Ms Pretender, done in by a mama Grizzly!!! THAT I would tune in to watch!

some shotguns and 3 network camera crews! Just in case! Just like mama G!

I am at a total loss to understand why ANYONE would admire her...

Altho I tend to agree with Mike Malloy..the male repukes just want to see her naked...

Sarah Palin on the other hand.....

4 or 5 years ago some moron walked up to a grizzly sow in Yellow Stone and touched her on the ass. Rangers screaming at him running up trying to get him to stop, traffic jam on the road behind him. One of the volunteer wildlife guides was the first person to get to him after he did it, she said the bear just stood there. She yelled at the guy that he was right on the edge of death and he just gave her a weird look and turned around , walked back to his car and drove away. She said if there had been a way to ticket him for criminal stupidity she'd have done it.

That said, I ain't wasting my time watching Sarah Palin on TV

The likelihood is that the team filming it could have ha people hit high powered weapons - who if needed would have responded.

It wouldn't stop the bear before it got to the Palins

Y'know...depending on what lens is used and the angle, the camera can make her look much closer than reality. Shooting a ways away with a long lens squishes up and flattens the scene.

That's how they do that effect where (usually when a character as a devastating revelation) where the character stays still but the background seems to retreat or close in.... They start far away with a long lens and then quickly move closer while changing the focus.... or vice versa.

nt

make me that stupid, for just five episodes worth!

but after 15 kids, who counts any more?.

irresponsibly large family shows. It is a disgusting channel.

and approached them, she probably would have been shot.

Thirty feet? Good God, the limit should be ten times that. Lovely...the bears are habituated to humans so it's a good place for tourists. Being habituated to humans is the road to annihilation for many, many wild animals. And Sarah gives not one gold-plated crap.

I'll also add that what you see is within the frame of a camera shot. I guarantee you there are numerous other boats, cameras and people you don't see, disturbing the animals and polluting the environment. Having done wildlife rehab years back, I can tell you that this is a horrible disrespect for the needs and lives of the animals that Sarah is using for the dramatic background of her Teddy Roosevelt impersonation.

And no firearms while she is fishing.

But after some consideration, I decided that they don't want to be ill either.

the real "mama grizzly" would literally have Palin for lunch. Not knowing the regulations of her own state regarding interactions between bears and humans does not surprise me on single bit. TLC and Discovery should be ashamed for tapping her to showcase this beautiful land. She is about as ignorant as they come. Hopefully the producers of the show have an ulterior motive, showing her for the idiot that she is.

natural bear repellent. Certainly repels me...

This IS the authoritarian mind-set.

Considering her political record of covering up corruption this shouldn't be a surprise.

- how the devil do you violate "guidelines"??? They're just suggested guidelines - not laws.

Just another excuse to flash her pic and another excuse to make her a DU topic. Frankly, DU is as bad as the media at keeping her front and center.

a responsible person (esp celebrity) would uphold guidelines and most likely highlight them to encourage healthy behavior.

That being said, I neither watched the program nor am at all interested in it.

We all know it would be a godsend for her to win the Republican nomination. There'd be a Democratic sweep back into Congress.

but it's impossible to tell from that picture how close she really is, although maybe it's clear in the show that of course I did not watch.

Until it is gone. And if it cycles into continuous repeats, well, goodbye Discovery Channel.

Even if she was interesting and was saying something profound and worth hearing, I couldn't stand to listen.
I know that I am a crank about voices, but I don't understand why people who choose public life don't get voice training. This applies to progressives too.....there are some I can't stand to listen too. Cindy Sheehan is one. At least with Cindy I can read her columns and like what she has to say, but her voice just grates on me.
Men's voices can be irritating too, but they usually aren't so shrill sounding. I find too, that it is not always the timbre of the voice as much as it is an affectation of speech....like ValleyGirl...yeech! Although, I have noticed that that particular affectation is heard less these days...thank goodness for that small improvement!

Maybe it's just me, but for some reason her voice seems to have gotten more shrill the last two years too. I can't stand the sound of her voice either.

they paraded her around as if she were a serious candidate for VP.

Nothing shows the level of stupidity of the Republican Party in the 21'st century more than the pick of Sarah Palin for VP.

I described her voice on another thread a few days ago - some weird amalgamation of Alaska/Great White North/Valley Girl. ESPECIALLY that line in the commercial for this stupid TLC :wtf: show where she declares something like 'I'd rather be out here being FREE.'

Ugh.

almost made me puke.

it literally hurts my ears :cry: she sounds like a smoke detector. x(

bear ends up being killed because it killed someone who crossed its path, following her asinine example.

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In what session do they show the Palins' aerial shooting wolves and clubbing their cubs?

Boycott this travesty.

How weenie is that.

They would be laughable but for the carnage they cause.

And for Palin to enable them is just beyond the pale.

And for the Americans who think Palin is just dandy, you make me fucking sick, and I will tell your children how stupid you were.

good. Maybe they'll eat her useless ass.

nt

'nuff said.

fake. I saw the preview, or whatever it was, and it looked fake as hell. The was no shot that included the Palins and the bears in the same frame. The pictrue in the O.P. Looks fake as well. Really, would you put it past her?

To quote The Simpsons, when the advertising mascots came alive, "Just don't look!"

LOOK she's just like you! she hunts, she fishes, she doesn't know or follow the rules, and endangers wildlife! SOooooo qualified.


Bush said the other day in an interview- " i don't get to Crawford as much as I'd like BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH A BUSY SCHEDULE"

So now that you are not PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, (easy job), you have LESS TIME to GO TO THE RANCH?

RIGHT.

Faker

who sits in the White House now. You betcha - she will win the hearts of idiots more and more these next 2 yrs.
and those idiots vote

can you believe how many Americans fell for his fake cowboy routine? HE IS AFRAID OF HORSES.

he's a serious coward and will always be a serious coward.

it is part 3 in the trilogy- Reagan, Bush, Palin

but I'm sure Palin welcomes the free publicity it will provide.

It was beyond dangerous and irresponsible, and demonstrated that neither she nor Tahd, nor whomever was directing the show, have even a basic understanding of "bear-watching". I understand it was also in violation of state law, which requires people keep at least 30 feet away from bears.

Having done some "bear-watching" in the Colorado Rockies and in Alaska, I'm here to tell you that bears move VERY fast, and several of the bears could have been atop the Palins' boat in a matter of seconds.

between 10, 15 and 50 feet on camera based on the shot above where one is in the foreground and the other is in the background. Yes, we are all very concerned for the safety of Palin and her husband (:sarcasm:) but it sounds like this guy is doing far more to give her free publicity than any actual problems it may cause her.

zoom lenses have a tendency to squash perspective. A wildlife expert doesn't necessarily know how cameras work... in this case i think she's a lot closer to 30 feet away than he thinks. Mind you, i still think 30 feet is too close to a bear with cubs.

I'm certainly not gonna watch the special to see for sure, but from this one picture, i'd say she's clear.

maybe i'll check the link for other photos... maybe not. waste of time. just don't care enough...

:)

...or if it's moving forward.

Why can't I avoid this creature?

pleading the 5th

They end up more bonded to her than ever no matter what the gaffe.

Auurrrgh!!

Why does the media keep aiming cameras at this person? Why do the media reviews I've seen/heard ignore the essential banality and phoniness of this self-serving political infomercial? Why do they say Palin is "entertaining"? Why do they keep telling me how "fascinated" all us Americans are with this cretin? Am I not an American? Then, how come every time Palin opens her "flippin'" mouth and emits some inane tripe, I feel like ripping my ears off?

until she gets tired of Todd and has an affair with a bear. I think that's what this fetish of hers is going to lead to.

After Discovery purchased TLC in the early 90s, programs were "jazzed" up, and while it remained focused primarily on instructional and educational programming through much of the '90s, it began to air shows less focused on education and more themed towards popular consumption and mass-marketing toward the end of the 90s and has literally gone nuts since then in a quest for higher ratings. O Brave New World of unfettered capitalism!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_(TV_channel)#History

Here is a list of its programs, many of which are truly sick, IMO. http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/tv-shows.html

She Who Quit is a once and future grifter - and nothing else but. But she is aided and abetted in her grifting by too many people who should know better.

Besides, she talks like an idiot and her voice actually hurts to listen to.

I'd hate to see the bears get sick but I'd tune in if they ate Sarah.

one of the New York City rich women?

A brown bear eating a Mama Grizzly, that would be news!

I'm going to see if I can go my whole life without seeing an episode, or even a clip, from this program, despite my interest in Alaska. (I won't count the pic in the OP.) It will be a sacrifice, but I'm determined.

That should tell you volumes about how much she cares about nature.

behavior, I can tell by the way the bear is standing/looking, ears up and eyes focused, that sow, (female at water's edge, not female in skiff), is assessing a possible threat. A Brown Bear can be very dangerous, and depending on the threat level to the cubs in particular, will charge w/o hesitation. In just a few bounds, she could be tearing that boat and it's contents to shreds. If there is someone out there with a rifle, a wounded bear is far more dangerous and if they kill the sow, they will have orphaned the cubs...just wondering about any "logic" behind this.

On another level, I find this whole thing little more than Palin produced idiocy...another excuse to keep her in the public's eye.

she may be ok. It's hard to tell from the picture how close she is. But she may be beyond that.

A brown bear can more very quickly, so I'd bet there's a shooter nearby to stop the bear if it moves in the right direction. Sarah may be stupid, but she's no dummy.

I missed the show, and plan to continue to miss it in the future. I wish her well in the 2012 Republican presidential primary.

:hi:

Nom! Nom! Nom!

the palin`s are a blight on society.....

I was flipping channels and came across this show. The longer I watched the more and more she appeared as an immature and ignorant person and her husband is no better. I hope that came across to people who have followed her.

She has no respect for nature and that came across also. I could only handle about 15 minutes of it.

It wasn't a hungry Grizzly Bear in the picture.

Not only did she put Piper's life in danger, should the bear have charged the boat, seeing it as a greater threat to herself and her cubs, but in introducing additional threats, multiple boats with cameras, and chattering people, but Palin distracted the mother bear from the real threat to the cubs by the other bear and she could have been left the cubs unprotected.

So much for Sarah's maternal instincts. Any one with concern for the cubs would have backed away and allowed the mother to concentrate on warning off the real threat of the other bear. On the other hand Sarah is easily distracted from the need to care for her own children, so I guess this situation could be expected.

People with cameras, need to remember that a camera's lens, to an animal, looks like a huge staring, treating, predator's eye and can stimulate all sorts of fight and flight reactions. After all a big eye means a big animal with a big eye.

It also doesn't say much for TLC team for not knowing Alaskan regulations, and for not caring about the safety of the mother and her cubs.

Oh yeah and the safety of Piper.

Of course the crew probably had some rifles for protection, so what was the plan if momma attacked Sarah to protect her cubs. Kill momma bear to save a dime a dozen wanna be politician and leave the cubs to die?

Brilliant Sarah. A real encyclopedia of Alaskan outdoors life.

We are remembering aren't we that Sarah wants bears and wolves killed off so she can have more elk to hunt?

Sarah WolfKiller could care less if the cubs were orphaned because of her recklessness. It's all about her and always will be. She should be charged with wildlife endangerment.
I believe her bounty for severed wolf paws was to boost the tourist caribou hunting guide business.
She has cronies that make lots of money guiding imbeciles on trophy hunts. She sees wolves as a threat to Caribou herds (bullshit) and the profiting of her friends in the hunting business.

didn't you offer your professional services to TLC for this production? Your knowledge would be a real asset to them.

I'm disgusted with Discovery, and I haven't been watching it either.

So, yoo-hoo, advertisers, you are wasting your money.

'nuff said.

Where's Trig?!?!? :shrug: Seems like every photo-op she is in, she is toting Trig.

I believe as he is getting older, he is becoming an unruly and unmanageable two year old and NOT useful anymore as her prop.
I saw a video clip where she picked him up and he started arching his back and flailing his arms wildly. THAT spoke volumes.
It doesn't help that he is a Downs child and Palin so far, has not gotten him the things that he needs (hearing aides and glasses for example). He is being abused by those aids being withheld...in fact,it borders on criminal.

no not using his name but Sarah Palin is like the sexist male that she really is.

or do they just fish and complain about the neighbors all day long?

conserving anything, respecting anything at all?

The Thuglican party that loves her would not give a damn, they'd likely applaud her.

showcase that cesspool called Wassila where urban sprawl has poisoned the lakes surrounding the city.

I will be able to read a good book.

who was in greater danger: the bear or Palin.

a brown mama bear with cubs is not exactly something that I would want to be within a 100 yards.

:wow: