Alaska Office

The staff in the Alaska office of Defenders of Wildlife focuses on three main areas: terrestrial predators and their habitat; imperiled marine species and the impacts of climate change in Alaska.

The staff monitors implementation of the state's intensive management act and its related predator control programs while promoting wolf, brown bear and black bear conservation.

All three issue areas focus on promoting and measuring the ecological and economic value of wildlife viewing and healthy ecosystems to the state of Alaska and the public.

The Alaska staff members work with the public, government agencies, scientists, schools, other conservation organizations, and coalitions and nature-based tourism associations.

Key Projects:

Terrestrial Predators: The state of Alaska has an intensive wildlife management act and a related predator control program. Defenders monitors the implementation of this program, with a special focus on the aerial hunting of Alaska's carnivores and monitors and supports state litigation regarding predator control.

Polar Bears: Polar bears are increasingly under threat from the loss of sea ice due to climate change. Defenders is developing and plans to implement a polar bear care program using a three-pronged approach -- increased public awareness, improved food waste sanitation for communities and training for polar bear patrols.

Climate Change: Defenders is participating in an innovative Public Land Managers Climate Change Activity that began with a workshop  "Adapting Land Use Decision-making to Conserve Biodiversity under a Changing Climate in Arctic Alaska."  Defenders is also an active member of the ad hoc Alaska Climate Change Commission Conservation NGO Working Group working to make Alaska a climate change leader for solutions with a focus on promoting forward-thinking state and federal legislation.

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales: Defenders is an active member of the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Working Group that helped secure the listing of the species under the Endangered Species Act in October 2008. The group is seeking protections for critical habitat and increased research. A Citizen Scientist Program launched in the summer of 2008 is increasing public involvement in both monitoring and reporting sightings to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Policy Leadership: Defenders monitors and provides testimony on relevant Board of Game proposals and Alaska Department of Fish and Game policies, Municipality of Anchorage and the at the federal level for the USFWS, NMFS on relevant marine and climate change issues, as well as increases public policy participation on key wildlife issues of members and activists and nature-based tourism companies.

Protecting native seabirds and marine wildlife: Defenders is an active member and supporter of the Rat Outreach Team, which seeks to educate the public about the need to prevent the spread of non-native rats because of their negative effect on imperiled native seabirds and marine wildlife.

Key Accomplishments:

• Helped lead a broad coalition that prevented the renewal of grizzly bear hunting at a key bear viewing area (Kamishak Special Use Area, adjacent to the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Katmai National Preserve).  Through a full page ad in the Anchorage Daily News and public pressure in the form of 40,000 comments—32,000 of which came from Defenders members and supporters -- the Alaska Board of Game decided to keep this area off-limits to hunting for at least the next 10 years. (2007)
• Testified before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife at public hearings in Anchorage in support of the proposed listing of polar bears as a threatened species. Together with its partners, Defenders generated over 100,000 comments in favor of the listing (2007).
• Generated well over 36,000 public responses in support of the Cook Inlet beluga whale proposed ESA listing (2007).
• Assisted Alaskans For Wildlife, a ballot measure group formed to place the issue of aerial hunting on the ballot for a third time. Nearly 57,000 signatures were gathered from across the state in support of the initiative to limit aerial hun ing of wolves, bears, and wolverines. This initiative was certified in January 2007 and will appear on the August 2008 primary state ballot (2005-2007).
• Worked with Denali National Park to educate park visitors how to safely view Denali’s famous wolves and avoid conflicts through a special joint publication, “Denali Wolf Tracker,” which was distributed to all park visitors (2004). 
• Developed education materials, including a 30-minute video, Imperiled Otters of the Aleutians, that aired on Alaska Public Television and a brochure and poster that explain how the southwest sea otter population has plummeted by over 80% in recent years. This work led to the successful listing of the sea otter under the Endangered Species Act. Defenders staff currently sit on the recovery team.
• Defenders' "Living with Carnivores"; and "Don't Invite Bears into your Backyard" programs educate Alaska residents with presentations, posters and handouts about the importance of storing garbage, pet food and food related items away from bears.