BOARD STICKS TO GUNS; ILL YOUTH TO HUNT BEAR.

Byline: Associated Press 

A terminally ill Minnesota boy will be granted his wish to hunt a kodiak bear in Alaska despite protests from animal rights activists, the Make-A-Wish Foundation board of directors decided Monday.

``We may suffer some retribution from those in the animal rights community, but we feel we have a commitment to this child, and we are going to stick by it,'' said Douglas Elmets, one of 25 directors of the nonprofit, international foundation that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.

In a conference call Monday, the foundation board decided ``resoundingly'' to proceed with granting the $4,000 hunting trip despite the controversy it has sparked in recent weeks, Elmets said in a board announcement issued in Sacramento.

Several urban chapters of the foundation, including those in Los Angeles and San Francisco, objected to the Minnesota chapter's decision and urged the boy's family to call off the hunt.

Animal rights groups put word of the hunting wish out on the Internet. Actor Pierce Brosnan offered the boy an alternative wish - a week's visit with him at the Idaho set where he is filming a James Bond movie.

But the 17-year-old boy and his family, who have a long tradition of hunting and fishing trips, stuck with their dream of an Alaskan bear hunt.

Elmets said board members were ``deeply disturbed'' that a family has had to endure the controversy after the long and difficult illness of the boy, who has a brain tumor. He said the family looks forward to both excitement and a respite from hospitals on the Alaska trip.

The bear hunt is being donated to the foundation by the Safari Club of Minnesota.

Elmets said several wishes for hunting have been granted previously by Make-A-Wish chapters, but this was the first to create controversy within the 13-year-old organization. Individual chapters determine which wishes should be granted, he said.

``Our wishes are limited only to the child's imagination,'' Elmets said. ``Part of our mission is to reflect the diversity of lifestyles and community values.''

The foundation, which is based in Phoenix, has 82 U.S. chapters with 11,000 volunteers, and 13 affiliates in other countries. It has granted more than 37,000 wishes in the United States, at an average cost of $3,500 a wish.