From: floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson)
Subject: Re: Aerial Wolf Hunting in Alaska
Organization: University of Alaska Computer Network
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 04:23:46 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.200256.8687@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> Kenneth R. Brownsberger <brownsbe@ucsu.colorado.edu> writes:
>I've heard a rumor that aerial wolf hunts are scheduled to begin
>again soon in Alaska ... the justification being the usual tripe about
>trying to increase the Moose and Caribou populations by removing
>their natural predators.  Does anyone have any hard FACTS on this?
>Is this rumor true?  Who is responsible for this decision?

The following is copied without permission, so distribution and
reuse is at your own risk.  From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner of
November 19, 1992, page 1, by staff writer Kristan Kelly (typos
and spelling errors are mine, the one sentence paragraphs are
Kelly's):

---------

TIPPING BALANCE OF NATURE, Game board passes wolf control areas

The Alaska Board of Game adopted a plan to kill wolves so more
moose and caribou will be available for hunters in some areas of
Alaska.

The management plans passed Wednesday and Thursday by the board
call for the killing of up to 80 percent of wolves in some parts
of Interior and Southcentral.

Wolf control measures in the mountainous area between Delta
Junction, Glennallen and Tok drew the most criticism.  While
biologists consider caribou and moose populations healthy there,
the area is frequently used by hunters from Anchorage and
Fairbanks.  In order to make more game for those hunters, the
board plans to kill wolves.

The plan allows private citizens with permits to kill wolves by
spotting them in aircraft and then landing and shooting the
animals.  Trapping and hunting of wolves will not be allowed in
the area, so biologists will have strict control of the number
being killed.

Environmentalists said the action was unnecessary because the
Nelchina caribou herd, which inhabits the area, has increased in
the last several years.

"This is friends taking care of friends, not biology," said Nicole
Evans, the executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance.
"They're turning our public land into moose and caribou hunting
farms, all at the expense of wolves and bears."

Fairbanksan Dick Burley, the chairman of the game board, said
although the caribou and moose populations in the area may be
healthy now, those populations could decrease in the near future
with the current levels of wolf predation.

The board also approved wolf control to increase the Delta caribou
herd, which lives between Fairbanks and the Alaska Range, and
Fortymile caribou herd, which roams the hills north of Tok and
east into Canada.

With wolf control, biologists hope to increase the Delta herd from
5,000 to 10,000.  They hope to restore the Fortymile herd to
60,000, from the current 22,000.

By gunning wolves in those areas from helicopters, the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game plans to reduce the wolf population by
up to 80 percent over three to five years.

The plans call for wolf killing to stop once the caribou herds
begin to recover.

Biologists point to past wolf control programs where wolves
rebounded quickly after being drastically decreased.  Bruce
Bartley, information officer at Fish and Game, said there would be
more wolves in 10 years because there will be more caribou and
moose for the animals to prey upon.

Hunters endorsed the plan.

"I think the department and board are going in the right
direction," said Sam Harbo, a Fairbanks hunter and retired
professor who taught wildlife statistics at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks.

The board created buffer zones around Denali National Park where
the wolves will be protected from hunters.  Wolves in the
Fairbanks and Anchorage areas will be protected under the board's
action as well.

But environmentalists argued that the urban closures were token
measures, since wolves rarely live in urban areas.

Board members said their plan was the best compromise between
hunters demanding wolf control and those wishing to protect
wolves.

"The board is charged with managing game, and that's what we're
trying to do," Burley said.  "I'd say both sides won't like this
plan.  I'd guess if you alienate both sides, you've struck a
balance that's reasonable."

Dave van den Berg of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center
said there was no balance in the board's decision.  His
organization tried to compromise with the state and endorsed a
limited wolf control plan during the three-year public process
that created the plan adopted Thursday, he said.

"We tried to meet the department halfway and we've been
steamrolled.  They've adopted the harshest array of wolf control
actions without any real consideration of any other options," van
den Berg said.

Five of seven board members were appointed by Gov.  Walter Hickel.
However, the two members remaining from past Democratic
administrations -- Rosemary Maher of Northway and Skip Wallen of
Juneau -- joined the unanimous vote for the wolf management plans.

The board hopes to have the new regulations on the books by Jan.
1.  First they must be reviewed by the state Department of Law and
then signed by Lt.  Gov.  Jack Coghill.

Environmental groups are already talking about lawsuits and voter
initiatives to stop wolf control.

-- 
floyd@ims.alaska.edu    A computer guest of the Institute of Marine Science
Salcha, Alaska          at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks
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