Alaska to Pay Pilots in Plan to Kill Wolves
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Alaska will pay pilots licensed to shoot wolves from the air $150 for each wolf they kill under a new plan intended to protect their prey, including moose and caribou, state wildlife officials said yesterday.
Efforts to control the wolf population have been complicated this year by rough winds, limited snow and higher fuel prices, making it harder to follow wolf tracks and more difficult and expensive to fly, said Ron Clarke, assistant director of the states Division of Wildlife Conservation. So far this year, 98 wolves have been reported killed. State officials have a goal this year of killing 382 to 664 wolves in five key areas, Mr. Clarke said. The state said Wednesday that another reason shootings had declined this year was the success of control efforts in the past.
The aerial shooting program has been controversial since it began in 2003. At the time, moose populations had declined by about 50 percent over the previous two decades, affecting sport hunters and people who rely on moose for sustenance, said Bruce Bartley, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
We have more wolves in Alaska than in the entire rest of the states combined, Mr. Bartley said. Everyones so fearful that were out to obliterate the wolves. Its just not true.
Wolves number from 7,700 to 11,200 in Alaska, according to the state. Heavy snow in past years weakened moose and caribou populations in some areas, leaving them more vulnerable to wolves and creating what is known as a predator pit. State officials say they cannot recover without aggressive control of wolves.
But Karla Dutton, director of the Alaska office of Defenders of Wildlife, issued a statement on Wednesday saying the group was outraged by the decision. Bounties have no place in modern wildlife management and undoubtedly would lead to the illegal killing of wolves, Ms. Dutton said. She said her group believed wolf shootings had declined this year because the population is actually lower than the state estimates.
Permits have been awarded to 111 pilots and 144 gunners to shoot wolves from fixed-wing aircraft, largely in remote, interior areas of the state. Pilots and their gunners sometimes shoot from the air, flying at very low speed and altitude, while other times they may land near a pack and then shoot.
The reward for shooters has typically been the wolfs pelt, but Mr. Bartley said the challenges and costs of flying had reduced the motivation of some pilots and prompted the state to offer payment this year.