Palin lies about hunting from helicopters in new book

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is taking a lot of heat over purported inaccuracies in her new book, Going Rogue.

Among the less-known is a claim Palin makes that Alaskans don't shoot wolves from helicopters, a fanciful image touted by liberals in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Referring to a prank call where she thought she was talking to French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Palin writes that the prankster "suggested we get together and hunt from helicopters, which Alaska hunters don't do."

"Then [the fake] Sarkozy started talking about hunting and suggested we get together and hunt from helicopters, which Alaska hunters don't do (despite circulated Photoshopped images of me drawing a bead on a wolf from the air)."

But Media Matters for America has found that the aerial hunting program wasn't just something Alaska hunters do -- its a program Palin herself endorsed.

"In 2007, Palin introduced a bill to 'simplify and clarify Alaska's intensive management law for big game and the state's 'same day airborne hunting' law,' which she stated would 'give the Board of Game and state wildlife managers the tools they need to actively manage important game herds and help thousands of Alaskan families put food on their tables,'" the group notes.

On Sunday, Palin attacked the Associated Press for questioning claims in her book.

Former Alaska Governor lashed out at the Associated Press Sunday for doing a fact-check on her memoir, "Going Rogue."

"Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the AP somehow nabbed a copy of the book before it was released," she wrote on her Facebook page. "They're now erroneously reporting on the book's contents and are repeating many of the same things they spewed during the campaign and afterwards. We've heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, "fact checking" research!"

The AP reported that Palin's account often contradicted her record as well as current events. Her depiction of the McCain campaign is also frequently at odds with internal campaign emails.

Alaska state wildlife officials do target wolves under a program aimed at protecting caribou and moose. Reported the Anchorage Daily News in 2008:

State wildlife officials believe they have saved more than 1,400 moose or nearly 3,000 caribou -- or some combination thereof -- with a winter program to kill wolves from aircraft, although the wolf kill remains far below what the state wanted.

Pilot-gunner teams have taken 124 wolves to date, according to Bruce Bartley, spokesman for the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation. The goal was 455 to 670 wolves.

Correction: The original version of this story suggested that Palin had introduced legislation regarding wolf hunting. The legislation did not in fact specifically refer to wolves.