World-Famous Alaska Denali Wolf Packs Threatened
Game Board to Decide Fate of Major Alaskan Tourist Draw
(02/26/2004) - FAIRBANKS , Alaska – Four proposals before the Alaska Board of Game would do away with a crucial buffer zone around Denali National Park that protects the park’s world-famous wolves from hunting and trapping. Eliminating the buffer zone would allow the wolves to be killed when they step outside of Park boundaries onto state land. Defenders of Wildlife and other organizations and individuals worked for years to establish the zone to protect the Denali pack for the hundreds of thousands of tourists that journey to Alaska each year to see them."The Denali wolf packs play a crucial role in Alaska ’s tourism industry. They are one of Alaska ’s main attractions for out of state visitors,” said Karen Deatherage of Defenders of Wildlife. “Is it too much to ask that we protect these 19 wolves for all to enjoy?”
The Toklat (also known as East Fork) and Margaret wolf packs occupy the vast majority of territory along the Park road where over a quarter million visitors each year come to see wildlife. These wolf families are the most viewed and most photographed in the world, and biologists have studied them continuously since the late nineteen thirties. In 1998, their number was reduced to just two as a result of intensive hunting and trapping on the state lands bordering Denali National Park. Three packs which previously occupied the Margaret pack territory were all wiped out by hunting and trapping.
Last summer, Defenders, in partnership with the National Park Service, developed a wolf education program to teach visitors and residents alike about wolves and how to properly view them. Defenders produced a video entitled, “Keep Denali’s Wolves Wild” and a publication, Denali Wolf Tracker. The video plays at the park visitor center, and tens of thousands of copies of the Wolf Tracker have been distributed. Defenders staff have also made numerous “Keep Denali’s Wolves Wild” slide presentations at hotels, lodges and visitor information centers from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula.
“For a quick buck, trappers want to target wolves that bring in hundreds of thousands of park visitors and support the economy around Denali . Surely the board will weigh the interests of thousands of Alaskans against a handful of trappers, and reject the proposals to target these wolves,” says Deatherage.
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America's Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 450,000 members and supporters, Defenders is an effective voice for wildlife and habitat. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
Contact(s):
Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237William Lutz, (202) 772-0269
