URGENT! Help Us Stop Airborne Wolf Killing on the Kenai!
Deadline: 5pm This Friday, Oct 28th
(noon for e-mail comments)
 In a major expansion of predator control in Alaska, the Alaska Board of Game next month will consider two proposals to implement aerial wolf killing on the Kenai Peninsula.
In summary,
- the proposals, ostensibly to increase the moose population for hunters, are not biologically warranted, and
- aerial predator control of any type is not appropriate in this densely populated area heavily used for recreation by Alaskans and visitors alike.
BOG proposals 35 and 36 would implement aerial wolf control in Game Management Units 15A and 15C, which include much of the western and southern areas of the Kenai Peninsula.
Your comments urging the BOG to defeat these atrocious proposals are must be received by 5:00 pm Friday, October 28, 2011.
By Mail or In-Person Delivery (5pm Friday, Oct. 28th):
ATTN: Board of Game Comments
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Boards Support Section
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, AK 99811-5526
By Fax (5pm Friday, Oct. 28th):
(907) 465-6094
By Email (noon Friday, Oct. 28th):
The BOG does not accept comments via email, however you may send your comments to info@akwildlife.org and we will make sure they are delivered prior to the deadline. Emails must be received no later than noon (Alaska time) on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011.
At the beginning of your comments, please specify the proposal number(s) you are commenting on and the word “oppose”. Also, please include your name.
Please submit individualized comments based on the talking points below. Multiple identical “form letters” are considered as one comment by the BOG and carry no weight in their decision-making process.
Some suggested talking points to include in your comments:
- Wolves are not the problem. The Alaska Department of Fish & Game’s own evidence presented to the BOG in March concluded that predation was not the cause of declining moose populations on the Kenai. So why target wolves?
In 15A, the ADF&G’s own data concluded that poor habitat is responsible for fewer moose. So why target wolves?
In addition, much of Unit 15A is within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, federally managed land that is off-limits to Alaska’s predator control programs. Targeting wolves in the remaining area would be inefficient and at best unlikely to affect moose populations.
In Unit 15C, according to the ADF&G’s own analysis, moose populations are not declining. A cited low bull-to-cow ratio cannot be traced to wolf predation, and killing wolves does not negate hunters’ prior overharvest of bull moose.
- Aerial wolf killing will be highly visible, controversial, and is not an appropriate action in an area that is heavily populated and a year-round recreation destination.
- In both units aerial predator control is simply not practical. Forested terrain makes tracking and shooting the wolves difficult. Landing a plane, in order to salvage a carcass or dispatch a wounded animal, is problematic and dangerous.
- Any private citizen with a permit – not trained ADF&G biologists - will be allowed to shoot wolves from aircraft.
- Public input on the proposals will be severely limited. The BOG directed ADF&G to formulate aerial wolf control plans at its March 2011 meeting, but the plans were only very recently published for public review. Further inhibiting public participation, the proposals will be discussed and voted on at the BOG’s meeting in Barrow, one of Alaska’s most remote and difficult-to-access cities. People from the Kenai and Southcentral Alaska – those directly affected by the proposals – will have virtually no opportunity for in-person input.
We ask that the BOG to postpone action on the proposals until its January meeting in Anchorage, when residents directly affected by the measures would have a fair opportunity to have their voices heard.
Thank you for your time, and for caring about Alaska’s wildlife. The BOG is scheduled to vote on these proposals at its Nov. 11-14 meeting, and we will share the results afterward.
Sincerely,
John Toppenberg
Director
|
Alaska
Wildlife Alliance
PO Box 202022
Anchorage, AK 99520-2022
info@akwildlife.org
907-277-0897
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"Wilderness
without wildlife is just scenery." –
Lois Crisler |
