Even in this state were people generally support the hunting, gathering and trapping of animals, the issue of aerial control of wolf populations is divisive. Just a review of voter initiatives bears this out. Alaskan residents have voted to place limits on aerial wolf control three times to date, in 1996, 2000 and 2008. Likewise, the Alaska Legislature has regularly enacted legislation to overturn or modify the intent of approved voter initiatives.
The recent dust up in the press between Actress Ashley Judd and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin over wolf control has done little to clarify the issue with the public. It is fair to say residents of Alaska remain divided over the practice supported by the State of Alaska.
Wolf Control and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game operates under the guidance of regulations promulgated by the Alaska Board of Game. The Department points out that wolves and bears are very efficient predators of moose and caribou, placing these predators in competition with people for the same sources of food. ADF&G states that predators account for 80 percent of the morality experienced by moose and caribou during the year, while people account for 10 percent of animals consumed each year.
Predator control is seen by the Department as a necessary to boost the population of moose and caribou, when other management tools like hunting restrictions have failed to be effective. According to ADF&G, there are five wolf control programs currently in place that account for 9.4% of Alaska’s landmass. Permits are issued by the Department to allow aerial hunting and hunting during the same day as flying to control wolves.
The Department’s website says, “…wolf numbers will be temporarily reduced, but wolves will not be permanently eliminated from any area. Successful programs allow humans to take more moose, and healthy populations of wolves to continue to thrive in Alaska.”
An Alternative View on Predator Control Published by Scientific American
Recently the Ask the Experts Section of Scientific American’s online version of its magazine published an article titled Why does Sarah Palin support shooting wolves in Alaska? by Brendan Borrell. In the article Borrell interviews Shawn Haskell, a wildlife biologist that worked in Alaska and now manages deer populations for the State of Vermont.
The article focuses on management of wildlife populations and the impact of wolves on moose numbers in Alaska. Management of predators is in part a reaction to their competition for the same prey species like moose and caribou. Haskell points out that wolves aren’t the predator control advocates should be worried about, bears are the predominate predator of moose calves.
In discussing caribou populations, Haskell does say that wolf control might make sense to boost caribou populations, “It’s actually possible that culling the wolf colony on the North Slope of Alaska created conditions that gave rise to the caribou now called the Central Arctic Herd. They didn’t used to exist until wolves were moved from that area.”
So where do we go next?
It is not likely that the nationally publicized debate with our Governor will solve the wolf control controversy in Alaska. The issue will just as likely as not trigger another voter initiative to again limit the practice. Until a honest broker can be put in place to address the science of prey population management and predator control, effective decision making will never take hold. That said, as much as we seek shelter in the scientific basis of wildlife management tools, wolves hold an emotional value to people that cannot be expressed effectively by facts or figures.
Copyright © 2009 by Alan Sorum
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