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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Alaska's War on Wildlife Persists
In the latest battle against wildlife in Alaska, Gov. Sarah Palin proposed a new bill that would make it even easier to kill wolves and bears.
Palin’s proposal would eliminate the requirement that a game-management plan be in place prior to beginning an aerial predator-control program that tracks and shoots wolves and bears from airplanes. The bill would leave all decisions about public hunting with airplanes to the discretion of the Board of Game—not to wildlife managers who would apply scientific standards to ensure there is no long-term harm to the ecosystem.
“Rather than addressing the terrible policies of the Murkowski administration, which ignored Alaskan voters who twice passed ballot measures to halt the barbaric practice of aerial gunning, Gov. Palin’s legislation would pave the way for the Alaska Board of Game to greatly expand the deadly control programs,” says Tom Banks, Defenders’ Alaska associate.
The bill, which was introduced late in the legislative session and not yet voted on, fails to acknowledge the role carnivores play in keeping ecosystems healthy. “The state needs to pass wildlife management laws that are based in science, are economically feasible, address all user groups and have widespread public support,” Banks says.
Palin also recently approved $400,000 in state funds for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop an “educational campaign” that promotes the state’s predator-control programs. “The state government’s interest in this campaign is no surprise,” adds Banks, “as it is timed to influence Alaskan’s views on predator control prior to the August 2008 ballot measure vote on aerial gunning.”
Scientists from around the country and the world are voicing their concern over the governor’s actions. A recent letter signed by more than 150 scientists called on Gov. Palin to exercise sound conservation and management of Alaska’s wildlife.
Meanwhile, for the first time in Alaska’s history, the Board of Game approved the hunting of black bear sows and cubs in an 11,000-square-mile area northwest of Anchorage where the goal is to kill 60 percent of the black bear population. Prior to this only male black bears could be hunted. The board also approved the trapping of wolverines in Chugach State Park, a popular recreation area on the doorstep of Anchorage.
