To the Editor:

Over 25,000 deer have been killed by hunters, along with scores of other wildlife, in Rhode Island in an 11-year period according to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.

Now, President Trump wants more than 100 national wildlife refuges to be open to hunting and fishing and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed opening the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge on Aquidneck Island, all of the 133 acres of refuge on Block Island, the 461 acres on the John H. Chafee refuge, all the 883 acres at Ninigret, and 358 acres of Trustom Pond.

Ever since President Theodore Roosevelt established the first wildlife refuge by an executive order on March 14, 1903, other presidents have continued that protection for wildlife until now.

"The Refuge System was set up for the restoration of wildlife, and plant resources, and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations." The wildlife refuge system was not established to increase the number of animals that could be killed by hunters without any scientific justification. This is another example of how this administration has ignored the science let alone the humane aspect of increasing hunting in areas that have been protected since 1903.

Don't let this protection for Rhode Island wildlife be eliminated.

Please submit your views in opposition to the refuge by email at

rhodeislandcomplex Rhode Island NWR Complex, 50 Bend Road, Charlestown, RI 02813

Dennis Tabella

Warwick

The author is director of Defenders of Animals, Inc.